Motherland season 3: who is in the cast of the BBC drama starring Lucy Punch and Anna Maxwell Martin?

The BBCs hit sitcom, Motherland, is back for a third season after it's Christmas special thrilled fans.

The series first aired in 2016and features four mums and an irritating stay-at-home dad who cannot keep up with the ‘Alpha mums’ - the elite group of well organised, groomed and high achieving mothers who rally at the school gates. The drama is relatable, authentic and a reflection of the ups and downs of parenthood.

So, who joins Anna Maxwell-Martin in the leading role as Julia, and where might you have seen the cast before? This is what you need to know.

Who is in the Motherland cast?

The main characters of the comedy drama will be returning for the third season.

Anna Maxwell-Martin as Julia

Events planner Julia is organised in almost every aspect of her life, with help from her mother Marion. But when her mum decides she is no longer a free child-sitter and taxi service, Julia struggles to keep up with the ‘alpha mums’.

Maxwell-Martin is comical, witty and all too relatable in her role as Julia, but you may also recognise her for her recent performance as DCS Patricia Carmichael in Line of Duty.

For her role as Julia, she was previously nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.

The twice British Academy Television Award winner also led in the role of Esther Summerson in Bleak House, played ‘N’ in Channel 4's Poppy Shakespeare and Kelly Major in Code 404.

Diane Morgan as Liz

Morgan is best known for her comedic persona, Philomena Cunk, which she portrays on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe.

An actress, comedian and writer, she brings hilarity to Motherland in her role as chaotic free-spirit, Liz.

She is a single mother who doesn’t mince her words, proving unpopular and unrelatable to the ‘alpha mums’, which makes her all the more approachable for Julia.

Morgan is also known for her roles as Mandy in Sky comedy, Rovers, and played Kath in Ricky Gervais’ Netflix comedy series After Life.

In 2019 she wrote, directed and starred in the BBC2 comedy short Mandy. She also starred in Gold sitcom The Cockerfields.

Paul Ready as Kevin

Kevin is the irritating ‘I love my children so much’ stay-at-home dad. He tries hard to be a part of the ‘alpha mums’, but to no avail.

Ready has spent the vast majority of his career in theatre acting, in roles such as Romeo in the National Youth Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet, aged just 17.

He played supporting actors in several television productions before his debut as Kevin in 2016. He has since starred in roles such as Rob MacDonald in the BBC’s Bodyguard and Harry Goodsir in The Terror.

His most recent work includes playing journalist Nick Caplan in BBC television series MotherFatherSon and earlier in 2021 he starred in Netflix’s The Dig.

Lucy Punch as Amanda

Punch stars as the leader of the ‘alpha mums’ in Motherland, a bunch of well-organised, well groomed, spotless mums who have no time for Julia and her crowd.

Amanda is idolised by many of the other parents and is the epitome of supermum, but her attitude is less impressive.

Punch is a well established actress, having starred as the murder victim in Hot Fuzz (2007).

She later won Best Actress award at the Monaco International Film Festival for her performance in Are You Ready For Love? (2007) and played the supporting role of receptionist Elaine Denham on ITV’s Doc Martin.

In 2018, Punch starred as Esmé Squalor in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and will play Kate Middleton in upcoming HBO series The Prince.

Philippa Dunne as Anne

Actress and writer Dunne is known for her role as Mrs Haplisch in the 2021 HBO series The Nevers. She also played Geraldine Devlin in the BBC’s Derry Girls.

In Motherland, she plays the sidekick of Alpha Mum ring leader, Amanda.

While she is polished, primed and organised, she reveres Amanda and seeks to be of the same calibre.

Tanya Moodie as Meg

Moodie joined the Motherland cast in season two, as businesswoman ‘Alpha mum’ Meg.

While Julia and other other mums aspire to like high flying professional Meg, they are unaware that she is actually a rule-breaking party girl.

Viewers may also recognise her from her roles in Sky fantasy series A Discovery of Witches, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Amazon series The Feed (2019).

How can I watch Motherland?

Motherland series three began on BBC Two, on 10 May at 9pm.

The 30-minute long episodes will air weekly for five consecutive weeks, you can also catch up on Motherland on the BBC iPlayer.