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 2:

Things are looking up for Catherine as Lars flies in from Sweden to be a father to Elis. Until, that is, she discovers he’s brought his hot, judgy wife Brigitta. At work, Catherine is struggling to get surgical hours as staffing problems mean operations are cancelled. Catherine is tasked with letting the patients down, and it isn’t long before she realises communication isn’t her strong point. Also avoiding talking is Maryam, who hasn’t told Raz what happened with Edward Williams. When Maryam finds out there’s going to be an investigation into the case, Catherine and Helen try to reassure her she’ll be okay. But Maryam fears her old doubts and anxieties are returning… and how she feels as a doctor and a mother becomes even more problematic as she is confronted by news of a potential addition to her family.

Helen feels the tensions in her marriage worsen when her estranged sister Debbie arrives on the ward, much to the annoyance of Guy, who sees Debbie as little more than an addict and a drunk. Debbie has come to collect her son Callum, an epileptic who has suffered an injury, and when questions arise about Callum’s medication – and Debbie’s addiction – Helen has to make some tough decisions about where her loyalties lie. Also faced with a huge decision is Catherine. After an emotionally challenging day at work, Catherine knows she needs help parenting baby Elis if she’s going to stand any chance of getting the Consultant job. But can she really agree to what Lars and Brigitta are asking?

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