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 4:

With Lars and Brigitta taking full care of Elis for the weekend, Catherine needs a distraction… which comes in the form of ‘Ladies Night’ – an event organised by Maryam’s friends from mosque, with a buffet, a DJ and a dancefloor. Maryam isn’t exactly buzzing to spend an evening with a load of women who treat her like a doctor, and a mum who shows her off, but as Ladies Night gets going she begins to feel some of her anxiety taking a back seat.

Helen meanwhile is running the Acute Medical Unit for the night, which equates to being run ragged for 12 hours. As case after case comes in, one of which is ex-Matron Amanda with her severely ill wife, there can be no disputing Amanda’s assertion that Helen’s job is one of the hardest in the hospital. But as the night wears on, and Helen makes a troubling discovery about Guy, her job also becomes one of the loneliest… not least when Helen knows she is needed elsewhere.

As the early hours set in, Ladies Night takes an unexpected turn for Catherine and Maryam, leading Catherine to face one of the biggest challenges of her surgical life. The events of the night also lead Maryam to face the truth of how she’s feeling… and to start being honest with those she loves.

And as dawn breaks, knowing she’s no longer able to rely to Guy, Helen finds herself turning to someone else for help and support…

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