Of course, there have been varied depictions of mothers on screen for decades. Some, such as Roseanne or Nora Ephronâs film Heartburn, were even written by mothers themselves. There were the long-suffering, or straight-faced mothers such as Barbara Royle in The Royle Family or Pam Shipman in Gavin & Stacey; eye-rolling mothers such as Karen in Cold Feet or Sue in Outnumbered; the lovelorn single mums of Birds of a Feather; the formidable matriarch Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders; or the animated cottage loaf that was Ma Larkin in The Darling Buds of May. But lately more complex portrayals of motherhood have emerged, serving as sweetcorn-like nuggets of honesty in the nappy contents of popular culture.