Maternal

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Maternal

Series overview

Maternal tells the stories of Maryam, a Paediatric Registrar, Catherine, a General and Trauma Surgeon, and Helen, a Registrar in Acute Medicine, as they each attempt to balance their increasingly demanding jobs in post-pandemic frontline medicine with their lives as new mothers.

Dr Maryam Afridi is returning to work after two years on maternity leave. As a parent of two kids under 2 (with husband Raz) life is chaotic, and Maryam’s return to City General Hospital sees her catapulted straight back into frontline duties. An incident in Maryam’s first week impacts her hard, and this combined with lack of sleep, the stress of juggling medicine and motherhood, and news of a potential addition to her family sees Maryam begin to question where her priorities and interests lie.

Miss Catherine MacDiarmid is a woman striving for success in the macho world of surgery. And her career wasn’t doing badly until a fling with a married colleague – Dr Lars Nördstrom – resulted in the birth of her daughter Elis and a period of maternity leave which has seriously set her back. Yet, Catherine is determined to prove that neither motherhood nor competition with her colleague and ex Jack will prevent her from advancing her career… even if it means resorting to drastic measures.

Dr Helen Cavendish is mum to three children with husband Guy who is a Consultant and also her boss in the same Acute Medical Unit. Their disintegrating work-life balance has put a strain on their marriage, exacerbated by Guy’s recent affair with a 24-year-old colleague. A mother to all, Helen has always put herself second to the needs of her family and friends. Over the series, she’ll come to face-to-face with the sacrifices she’s made, as well as those made by all who worked in the NHS through the pandemic.
MATERNAL is a love letter to women on the NHS frontline who are holding it together.

Episode 1:

It’s August 2022 and Maryam, Catherine and Helen – three friends and colleagues at City General Hospital – are returning to work after maternity leave.

Maryam, a Paediatrician, is nervous. She’s been away for two years and she isn’t prepared for being thrust into frontline duties on Day One. But such is the under-staffed NHS, and once Maryam gets into the swing of things she begins to feel the buzz of the vocation she loves. Over the course of the week, however, things change, as Maryam faces the demands of being on-call alongside supervising new F1 Simon Segman, all while trying to treat a young boy in her care.

After nine months maternity leave, surgeon Catherine is desperate to get stuck back in. She also wants to bag a Consultant job, which is the only way she can manage her life as a single mum to daughter Elis. But making Consultant won’t be easy, not least because she’ll be in direct competition with her ex, Jack. And things are set to get even more complicated as Lars – a fellow surgeon who Catherine had a fling with – arrives in town from Sweden, and Catherine decides to break the news to him that he is Elis’ dad.

Mum-of-three Helen’s life is chaotic, and now she’s back at work on the same ward as husband Guy… as his junior. Add to this the fact that Guy had an affair with a young female colleague and it’s not surprising that Helen’s personal problems often play out at work. Helen is a skilled doctor who intuitively diagnoses an elderly patient and takes Tessa, an F1, under her wing. But will she be able to get past Guy’s betrayal enough to keep doing her job and holding everything, and everyone, together?

Cast:

Maryam Afridi    PARMINDER NAGRA
Catherine MacDiarmid    LARA PULVER
Helen Cavendish    LISA MCGRILLIS
Jack Oliviera    RAZA JAFFREY
Guy Cavendish    OLIVER CHRIS
Raz Farooqi    ABHIN GALEYA
Susan Fisher    JULIE GRAHAM
Lars Nordström    ALEXANDER KARIM
Maggie Cavendish    AURORA JONES
Steve    MAT FRASER
Anne MacDiarmid    HAYDN GWYNNE
Becky Hillford    MATILDA ZIEGLER
Sania Masoom    SHAHEEN KHAN
Kim Allerton    SABINA ARTHUR
Simon Segman    DEAN RIDGE
Edward    D’VANTE HART
Mrs. Williams    CHERYL MACKIE
Mr. Williams    DARREN HART
Mrs. Osei    CLEO SYLVESTRE
Tessa Joseph    JENNIFER MACBETH
Louise Pennycook    ELIZABETH DULAU
Mrs. Smith    STEPHANIE JACOB
Matt Malyon    JOE THOMAS
Prof. Thomas    GUY RUFUS WILLIAMS
Will    BILL SKINNER
Freddie    ELAN BUTLER