---
title: "Mum"
year: 2016
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/mum"
fi1m_id: "mum"
imdb_id: "tt5687446"
tmdb_id: 66372
wikidata_id: "Q25184345"
fi1m_score: 84
critics_score: 75
critics_reviews: 7
published: "2026-09-17"
updated: "2026-09-20T21:18:33.569258+00:00"
region: "EE"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Mum (2016)

Created by Richard Laxton, Stefan Golaszewski · 30m · Comedy

## Identity

Mum

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/mum
- **Type:** Series
- **Fi1m ID:** mum
- **IMDb ID:** tt5687446
- **TMDB ID:** 66372
- **Wikidata ID:** Q25184345
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5687446/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/66372, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25184345

**Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 75 from 7 reviews

*In a sentence:* Twelve months of tea, tact and Peter Mullan standing in a hallway not saying the thing

> Stefan Golaszewski’s sitcom about a widow’s first year, and the family who will not let her have it, is small, slow and extremely good. Its people are drawn thick and the first episode does not sell it, but Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan reward patience.

## Synopsis

Cathy (Lesley Manville) has just buried her husband. The first episode is the day of the funeral, and the family are back at her house for sandwiches. Her son Jason (Sam Swainsbury) is upstairs with his girlfriend Kelly (Lisa McGrillis), who cannot stop talking. Cathy’s brother Derek (Ross Boatman) has brought his new girlfriend Pauline (Dorothy Atkinson), who thinks the house is beneath her. The dead man’s parents, Reg (Karl Johnson) and Maureen (Marlene Sidaway), argue about the parking. Michael (Peter Mullan), her husband’s oldest friend, arrives, quietly makes himself useful and cannot find the moment to say what he has come to say. Cathy makes the tea. Each episode is one day, a month or more after the last, across the year after the death.

## Review

Stefan Golaszewski’s *Mum* begins on the day of a funeral and, for its first two series, hardly leaves the house. Cathy (Lesley Manville) has just buried her husband, and her family have come back to eat sandwiches and not talk about it. Golaszewski wrote all eighteen episodes and directed alongside Richard Laxton; his last sitcom, [*Him & Her*](https://film.one/tv/him-and-her), barely left a bedsit, and this one barely leaves a semi. It is quietly excellent, and the first episode does not make that obvious. The people around Cathy are drawn with a thick pen, and half an hour with them can feel like being stuck at somebody else’s wake.

Each episode is one day, a month or more after the last, and named for the month, so the first series is the year after a death told in six visits. The camera stays put: the hall with its coats, the kitchen, the strip of garden, the landing where people stop to say things they should not. Shots are wide and held, and nobody is cut to for a reaction. There is no studio audience, no laughter track and almost no music beyond Cat Stevens’ *Wild World* over the titles.

Manville plays a woman whose whole method of grieving is to be useful. She finds people’s coats, refills the kettle and takes each small insult with a nod. The joke is how much she is absorbing; the sadness is the same thing seen from a step back. Peter Mullan is Michael, her husband’s oldest friend, who turns up with a carrier bag, fixes whatever needs fixing and stands in the hallway wanting to say something. Mullan has spent a career playing hard men and plays a soft one here, and the two of them make a scene about a bus timetable carry more than most dramas manage with a deathbed.

The rest of the house is louder. Jason (Sam Swainsbury), her son, eats standing at the fridge and cannot see his mother. Kelly (Lisa McGrillis), his girlfriend, is the only person who actually talks to Cathy rather than past her, and she never stops. Derek (Ross Boatman), Cathy’s brother, wants everyone to get on and gets no one to; Pauline (Dorothy Atkinson), his new girlfriend, is a snob and the show’s villain in a good coat. Karl Johnson and Marlene Sidaway are Reg and Maureen, the dead man’s parents, whose arguments about the car park are the best-written nonsense in the series.

We laughed at Kelly in the first episode. Then, a few episodes on, McGrillis lets you see that Kelly knows exactly what everyone in that house thinks of her, and we stopped laughing and felt like Pauline. Turning a broad comic character into a person for ten seconds, then letting them go back, is Golaszewski’s best trick, and he plays it on nearly everyone. Not on Pauline, who stays dreadful, and whom Atkinson plays with such conviction that we came to look forward to her arrivals.

The flaws come with the method. The first episode leans on the types too hard: Jason’s gormlessness, Pauline’s face at the crisps. Several reviews of that opening half-hour found it soothing rather than sharp, and we can see why; the sharpness is in what accumulates. The repetition is deliberate, but it is still repetition, and there are half-hours in the second series where waiting for Cathy and Michael to finish a sentence feels like being kept in a queue. Against *Him & Her*, it is less rude and less often funny.

*The Royle Family* is the obvious ancestor, but Golaszewski has a story to tell, and by the third series, which moves the family somewhere we will not describe, it has become a love story that was under our noses from the first sausage roll. The last minutes of the first series, which we will not describe either, moved us more than a PG comedy has any right to. It was Manville’s face, one line and a door.

Watch it two or three episodes at a time, not six; this family are best in small doses, which is roughly what Cathy would say if anyone asked her. It first went out on BBC Two on 13 May 2016, and it has not dated by a day.

*Fi1m score 84, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics like Mum, and they like it for the same reasons. The praise clusters on Stefan Golaszewski’s writing, which reviewers describe as slow, observational and truthful about the odd limbo that follows a bereavement, and on Lesley Manville as Cathy, whose polite, restrained widow several reviews treat as the reason the series works at all. Lisa McGrillis is picked out from the ensemble, and more than one critic notes how the scripts find real vulnerability under characters who are, on the surface, broad comic types.

The reservations are mild and the spread is narrow. The Telegraph finds the opening episode soothing rather than biting, leaning on familiar sitcom habits, though it expects Manville to deepen as the series goes on. The Guardian, otherwise warm, thinks it more grown-up than Golaszewski’s previous series but less rude, less visceral and less funny. Nobody dislikes it; the argument is only over how sharp it is.

## Straight answers

**Is Mum worth watching?**

*Mum* is worth watching for anyone with patience for a slow, quiet sitcom about grief, and we scored it 84. The first episode leans too hard on its broad types and does not sell it, but Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan reward staying on. Watch it two or three episodes at a time rather than six.

**How long is Mum, and what is it rated?**

*Mum* has episodes of about 30m. It is a comedy series.

**Where can I watch Mum in Estonia?**

*Mum* is not on any streaming or rental service in Estonia at the moment. It is available in 4 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How does Mum compare to Him & Her?**

*Mum* is the gentler and slower of Stefan Golaszewski's two sitcoms, and [*Him & Her*](https://film.one/tv/him-and-her) is the ruder and more often funny. Both are built on one small space and people who will not leave it, but *Mum* has a story to tell across its three series where the earlier show's pattern wears. Choose *Him & Her* for laughs, *Mum* for the long game.

**What should I watch after Mum?**

After *Mum*, try [*Him & Her*](https://film.one/tv/him-and-her) (2010, Fi1m 84): Golaszewski’s earlier sitcom: one bedsit, two lovers, ruder and faster than this. Then [*The Royle Family*](https://film.one/tv/the-royle-family) (1998, Fi1m 85): The ancestor: a family on a sofa, no laughter track, nothing happening beautifully; and [*Detectorists*](https://film.one/tv/detectorists) (2014, Fi1m 87): Another slow, kind British comedy where the jokes arrive quietly and stay.

### Reviews we read (7)

- **Radio Times**, Ellie Walker-Arnott (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as a brilliant, truthful take on grief and the strange no-man's-land after losing a loved one. They single out its subtle, slow-paced observational comedy that is sofa-squirmingly painful yet emotionally charged. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/the-creators-of-him-her-are-back-and-their-new-bbc-comedy-mum-is-painfully-funny/)
- **Evening Standard** (80/100, inferred): Lesley Manville delivers a poignant tour de force as Cathy in this tender sitcom about bereavement, family tensions, and unspoken feelings. The review highlights the strong ensemble cast, situational comedy, and moving messages about grief and restraint amid awkward family interactions. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/mum-lesley-manville-s-poignant-tour-de-force-propels-the-mother-of-all-sitcoms-a4154161.html)
- **The i Paper**, Barbara Speed (★★★★): Stefan Golaszewski’s sitcom is hailed as the perfect mix of hilarious and bittersweet moments, with strong writing that captures painful transitions and family reliance. It singles out the heartstring-pulling small moments and the central relationship dynamic for particular praise. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/mum-bbc-two-series-3-final-cathy-michael-review-290690)
- **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): The sitcom shares the warmth and subtle characterisation of its creator's previous work, with believable characters and lovely performances, especially from Lesley Manville and Lisa McGrillis. It is a bit more grown-up than the prior series but not quite as rude, visceral, sexy or funny. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/14/mum-review-lesley-manville-stefan-golaszewski)
- **The Times**, James Jackson (★★★★☆): The critic praises Lesley Manville's subtle and deep portrayal of the polite widow Cathy in this suburban sitcom about family dynamics and quiet desperation. It compares the show favorably to Mike Leigh works for its mix of chuckles, recognition, and underlying emptiness. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tv-review-mum-working-with-weinstein-here-and-now-gmb0x3lv7)
- **The Telegraph** (3/5): The funeral setting offers family dynamics and dark comic potential but the episode is more soothing and enjoyable than biting, with some weak patches and familiar sitcom tropes. Lesley Manville's performance hints at greater depth to come as the series develops. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/05/13/mum-episode-one-review-soothing-and-enjoyable-but-lacks-real-bit/)
- **Den of Geek**, Louisa Mellor (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as a very funny and affecting portrait of grief and family dynamics with subtle emotional insight. They single out the writing's light touch in revealing vulnerability beneath exaggerated comic characters. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/mum-wonderful-heart-felt-low-key-comedy/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Richard Laxton, Stefan Golaszewski
- **Director:** Richard Laxton, Stefan Golaszewski
- **Writer:** Stefan Golaszewski
- **Producer:** Georgie Fallon
- **Cast:** Lesley Manville as Cathy; Peter Mullan as Michael; Sam Swainsbury as Jason; Lisa McGrillis as Kelly; Dorothy Atkinson as Pauline; Karl Johnson as Reg; Ross Boatman as Derek; Marlene Sidaway as Maureen
- **Runtime:** 30m
- **Release (Estonia):** 13 May 2016
- **Genres:** Comedy
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lsn78RWa18

## Where to watch in Estonia

Not streaming, renting or buying in Estonia at the last check.

Also available in: AU, CA, GB, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Him & Her* (2010), Fi1m 84: Golaszewski’s earlier sitcom: one bedsit, two lovers, ruder and faster than this. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/him-and-her.md)
- *The Royle Family* (1998), Fi1m 85: The ancestor: a family on a sofa, no laughter track, nothing happening beautifully. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-royle-family.md)
- *Detectorists* (2014), Fi1m 87: Another slow, kind British comedy where the jokes arrive quietly and stay. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/detectorists.md)
- *Another Year* (2010), Fi1m 87: Mike Leigh gives Manville a lonely woman to play and does not look away. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/another-year.md)
- *Tokyo Story* (1953), Fi1m 92: Ozu’s elderly parents visit children too busy to notice them; the same wound, sixty years earlier. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/mum