Netflix faces backlash after misleading fans of ‘top tier’ BBC sitcom

Fans of the BBC sitcom Motherland have been left rather unimpressed after realising that they had been slightly ‘misled’ when it came to watching the show on the streaming platform.

Starring Anne Maxwell-Martin, Lucy Punch, Dianne Morgan and Joanne Lumley, the ”alpha mum’ stacked show has proven itself a certified hit, even spawning a popular spin-off series based on Lucy’s hoity-toity character Amanda, aptly named Amandaland.

The fourth and final season landed on Netflix last week – or so fans had thought when the platform introduced a large banner highlighting a new season had been added.

Unfortunately for viewers, what had actually been added was the 30-minute Christmas 2022 episode. This special wrapped up the entire series, and unfortunately, a six-episode fourth season doesn’t actually exist.

‘Netflix saying they were adding a new season of Motherland and it’s literally just the 2022 Christmas special …’ said ll3nn0n on X.

‘Why was i misled by netflix into thinking there was gonna be a fourth season of Motherland,’ asked lilyevansluvbot.

‘There is no Season 4 of Motherland. @netflixlied 😔💔,’ said theghostoflvna.

‘Season 4?!! Netflix appears to have crashed… maybe with the sheer numbers of people clicking to see if this is real, or if they’ve just got the Christmas special in the last series #motherland,’ complained peakay81.

Fans also took to TikTok to complain, with Abcdmls commenting: ‘I was sooooooooo excited. I even set a reminder in my phone. found it weird there was no advertising, so googled it and said it was the Xmas special. I was fummmingggg.’

Netflix is still using the new season banner with ‘Watch Season 4 Now’ featuring on the page for the series.

The rib-tickling series from Bafta-winning comedian Sharon Horgan follows the highs of lows of middle-class motherhood (and parenthood as a whole) with a cast of kooky characters.

Imbued with a quintessential awkward British humour, fans have grown fond of this chaotic group of chaotic parents over the years – with the hijinks utterly bingeable. It’s the perfect comforting watch.

‘Funny, relatable and well written. Close to the bone for a lot of parents I’m sure,’ Rotten Tomatoes user Brendan M wrote.

‘It’s insanely good,’ Reddit user ok-calligrapher964 agreed.

‘Absolutely top tier. One of the most recent additions, for me, to the great British comedy pantheon,’ Cactusclothesline echoed.

‘I actually love this show. Especially Amanda. She’s so on the nose,’ emojicatcher997 said.

‘National Treasure Joanna Lumley is fantastic in her brief appearances. She’s horrible in the most perfect way,’ one anonymous user shared.

‘I love this show, it’s one of my all-time faves and a real comfort show now,’ another posted.

The show came to an end in 2022, with Amandaland filling the void in everyone’s hearts, also garnering plenty of acclaim, a festive special and a second season.

Discussing bringing an honest representation of parenting to the screen, Horgan told Radio Times in 2017: ‘…it’s hard to show women looking like they’re doing a bad job of being a mother.

‘And that’s why I’m amazed that the BBC let us do whatever we wanted; there’s no sugar-coating it. There’s no, “Right, in this episode can you make sure you give your daughter her five-a-day?”

‘It’s just showing the sort of… hell of it. We actually did a really early version of it in the US for ABC but it didn’t work because we were monitored so heavily and weren’t able to show the dirty side of parenting.’

Motherland is now streaming on Netflix.

Metro has reached out to Netflix for comment.

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