Motherland | Research

This is a brand new comedy that has only recently aired. Before we started this idea, this sitcom wasn't around to influence us, however upon watching it I've realised that it is very similar to our show, in terms of filming techniques, content, story and characters.

'Motherland' is a Sitcom that first broadcast in 2017, on BBC 2.

"Motherland is a show all about navigating the trials and traumas of middle-class motherhood, looking at the competitive and unromantic sides of parenting - not the cute and acceptable public face of motherhood."

"We meet the 'Alpha Mums' headed by Amanda, who is very much the Queen Bee: everything is organised, clean and sparkly - even the kitchen cork board is a statement of success. Yet at the other end of the spectrum, we meet Liz, who's totally chaotic and feels the kids should enjoy free expression."

"Somewhere in the middle is Julia, who, when she forgets it's the school holidays, realises her organisational skills are nowhere near the level of the 'Alpha Mums'. Also in the mix is Kevin. He's the stay at home dad, who, rather than fighting against it, is embracing it with gusto - much to the irritation of the other mothers."

"Motherland isn't the public face of motherhood, it's unromanticised parenting: competition, cafes full of kids, dog-poo bags standing in as replacement lunchboxes..."

Filming Style

Upon watching this sitcom, it looks like each episode is shot with a single-camera set up, and could quite possibly use more than one camera to shoot. Like other shows such as 'Outnumbered', it looks like this show is shot handheld and not on a tripod, which differs from our desired look. As previously mentioned, we want our shots to be stable which means they will have to be on tripods throughout the whole episode. I think the reason why this production chose to shoot handheld was due to the chaotic behaviour of the main character and the problematic scenarios that occur in each episode. Due to our characters not being as chaotic, it isn't a key aspect we wish to show within the filming style.

The colours are also quite similar to how I wish ours to be - they're natural colours but still quite vibrant. Some of the bright colours are used to clearly portray and show the main character within the show, like Julia is always wearing a red coat too make her stand out from the others. This could be something we might include in our episode, to clearly indicate who the main characters are compared to the others.

Content & Characters

The characters are all quite realistic and relatable to people watching the show. Some of the characters are chaotic and all over the place, which some audience members might relate to upon watching the show. Some of the characters are also seen as quite high class and bossy, which might be relatable for people watching as they might know someone who has the same mannerisms as those sort of characters.

For parents that do the school run or are part of the PTA, they might find this show very relatable and almost start to sort their friends into the same characters in the show. This is something that we want to interpret into our show, as we want the younger audience members to associate the main characters with their own grandparents, and the same with other characters.

I think this will add a humorous and relatable aspect to our show, and it'll make audience members more intrigued and interested in watching our show.

Overall, the relationships some of the characters have with one another is very similar to the relationships some of our characters have, but naturally there are some differences. I think this new sitcom shows off a completely new side of comedy that doesn't sugar coat life, and makes it a whole lot more relatable for audience members. As previously said, this is something that is important to our show in terms of character types and target audience.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/motherland/