Motherland’s Anna Maxwell Martin rules out making cameo in Lucy Punch’s Amandaland and reveals her daughters refused to watch her show because they think it’s ’embarrassing’

Anna Maxwell Martin has left Motherland fans disappointed after she ruled out making a future cameo in spin-off Amandaland.

The actress, 49, said her role as harried mum Julia in the BBC sitcom – which aired between 2016 to 2022 – was the one she was most recognised for and shared her pride for the show.

However, she revealed that her daughters were less than impressed by the beloved sitcom, branding it too ’embarrassing’ to watch.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Anna insisted that Motherland came to a ‘natural end’ after three series and she hadn’t been disappointed to say goodbye.

‘We weren’t sad because we felt we’d done really good work and were proud’, the Until I Kill You star explained.

But despite heaping praise on spin-off Amandaland, which sees stars Lucy Punch, Joanna Lumley and Phillippa Dunne reprising their roles as Amanda, Felicity and Anne, she won’t be making an appearance.

‘I’m so pleased Amandaland has been a success,’ she said, before responding to whether she’d like a cameo: ‘No, it’s their show.’

Meanwhile, Anna said that she and her two girls Maggie, 16, and Nancy, 14, often enjoyed watching comedies together – but Motherland is definitely not on the list.

‘We have our comfort comedies that we have watched over and over again. For the girls it’s Derry Girls, Gavin and Stacey, the American Office,’ she said. 

But she explained that Maggie and Nancy – who the star shares with her late ex-husband Roger Michell – find Motherland mortifying to watch.

However, Anna insisted that was precisely her intention, saying: ‘Julia is a full-cringe character and I’d do anything to make her even more spine-churningly cringe.

‘The stress of parenting is huge. You could write a drama about that or you could write a comedy and they’d probably be exactly the same.’

In December, Anna shared her pride for what her co-stars have gone onto achieve in their careers, singling out the success of Amandaland.

‘I’m so proud of what everyone’s doing now. Diane [Morgan] has her own show, and Paul [Ready] is in it with her. Amandaland is fantastic,’ she praised in an interview with The Guardian.

Poking fun at her lack on involvement in either show, she then quipped: ‘I do sometimes wonder, though: why is everyone else working together?’

‘I even asked Lucy recently, “Can I come along to the Amandaland set, just for the day?” But she said no.’

The Line of Duty also revealed that she almost lost out on her career-defining part as Julia, thanks to her own ‘horrible’ attitude.

She recalled: ‘When I auditioned for Motherland I was livid. I was horrible. I had reached a bit of a nadir with my career and I was in the early years of motherhood, and exhausted. What I really wanted was to be at home with my kids.

‘As a result I was surly in the room. To my shock, I got a phone call the next day from my agent saying: “They really like you. They want to see you again.” I said: “No. Not going in again. Why do I have to go in again?”‘ 

‘They said: “Graham Linehan [who helped develop the pilot] is a bit scared of you.” Thankfully, it turns out that’s what they wanted from my character Julia.’

Elsewhere in her interview with The Times, Anna opened up on navigating work and motherhood while grieving for the loss of her ex-husband and the father of her kids.

Filmmaker Roger died suddenly of a heart attack in 2021 at the age of 65 – a year after he and Anna announced their separation.

Reflecting on his death five years on, the Code 404 star explained that she put all her energy into working and being there for the girls.

‘Grief is grief, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘I’ve just got to navigate it, parenting, earning a living, doing life, helping the girls thrive as best I can. That’s the focus.’ 

She and Roger, whose film and TV credits included Notting Hill, Enduring Love and BBC show The Buddha Of Suburbia, tied the knot in 2010, going on to separate after a decade of marriage, a year before his sudden death.

Despite their split, the former couple remained close, with Anna saying in 2022: ‘We didn’t have grudges. I don’t operate like that, Roger didn’t really operate like that… When Roger died, I lost one of my best friends. I see it as that.’

In the summer of 2024, she starred in political play, The Constituent, at the Old Vic opposite James Corden, and recalled feeling adrift without having Roger there to talk to about it.

‘I’d always had Roger there, so that was quite a lot,’ the Emmy winner said, but when asked if she imagined what he would tell her, she denied: ‘No, because what’s the point? I don’t talk to anyone in my head, I’ve never understood that.  

‘Some people talk to the dog, don’t they? Why would I talk to my dog? He’s clearly not going to talk back.’

Anna previously shared how she feared going broke after Roger’s death, while worrying about the implications it would have on the mental wellbeing of their kids.

Speaking about his death on BBC Women’s Hour in October 2024, she explained that her first instinct was to protect Maggie and Nancy, but that she was also struggling with facing a potentially uncertain financial future as a lone parent. 

‘My husband died three years ago and things were really difficult on every aspect of our lives,’ she recalled.

‘One of those was that there’s a lot of stuff that comes with grief, and one of them is financial terror. And then there are real practicalities around your children and their mental health, and supporting them, which is your priority.’

She added: ‘Looking back, I was probably in a state of shock, and fear, and a heightened state, for a long time actually, until very recently.’ 

But Anna said that losing her own father, Ivan Martin, when she was just 24 meant she was better prepared to cope with Roger’s death, and also helped her guide her two girls through the same bereavement.

‘I’ve tried this road before, of grief, and sudden traumatic death,’ she said. ‘I’ve done it before, and so in a way I could pick myself up and do it again.

‘It was horrible to have to see my children walk that road, but I’m pretty gritty, I’m pretty strong, and I think I’m quite deft, I hope, at navigating life. And I thought, “I’ve just got to keep the motor chugging on.”‘ 

She added: ‘When it happened to me [for the first time] and I was 24, I was very lonely. I was very isolated because no-one had been through what I’d been through. I didn’t know those people. 

‘And then when it happened with Rog, I saw it more as, “We’ve all got to keep it together for the kids.”

‘I also think there’s something about being a woman in your 40s, and by then, if you’re lucky enough, you will have succeeded in having the best friends and best people around you.

‘You’ll have stopped making mistakes in that area of your life. And I really did, I had exceptional friends, an exceptional support network.’

However, she previously revealed that her grief was compounded by the lack of empathy from others, recalling how acquaintances crossed the road to evade the family and deliberately avoided mentioning Roger’s death.

Anna said she felt ‘sorry’ for those people who couldn’t acknowledge pain or death, and declared they had ‘cocked up’ by not showing any sensitivity.

‘We make these broad, sweeping statements about “We’re much better now” but I haven’t found that,’ she told The Sunday Times in 2024. ‘Schools certainly aren’t any better.

‘And then there are those who talk to me as if nothing’s happened. We’ve experienced a whole load of that. 

‘The girls – thank God – are very deft at processing it, so they will bring their daddy into conversation, but even members of Roger’s generation, people my age, can’t have [his death] mentioned.’

Anna continued: ‘People are very bad at acknowledging pain or death or difficulty. I find it really odd. Is it a cultural thing? I’m really glad I’m not one of those people because when it happens I think — I feel sorry for you. 

‘You’ve cocked up. I know you’re scared but it’s about showing care, saying to someone, “How are you? Was that difficult? How are you feeling?”‘

She also stressed the value of talking about a lost loved one after they’ve gone, calling it ‘so important. I know – but I still want to hear – that Roger was important to people and an incredibly talented person.’

While she added how vital it had been for her daughters to be able to still watch the huge amount of archive footage of their dad. 

‘It’s really important,’ she insisted. ‘With my dad I forgot very quickly what he sounded like, then after 20 years I found a recording and heard his voice again. It was a shock and really hard. 

‘My girls miss [their father] all the time but they won’t have that “Oh my God!” moment — they can see him whenever they want. I go on the internet and listen to Roger often.’