ITV drama Maternal has unboxed its first trailer ahead of Christmas.
Featuring Parminder Nagra (ER) in the role of paediatric registrar Dr Maryam Afridi, Lisa McGrillis (Somewhere Boy) as Acute Medicine registrar Dr Helen Cavendish and Lara Pulver (The Split) as surgeon Catherine MacDiarmid, this six-parter comes from first-time screenwriter Jacqui Honess-Martin.
The action follows these three upon their return to a post-pandemic NHS frontline after maternity leave, where they'll be forced to balance motherhood with the staggering demands of their jobs.
Related: ITV confirms future of DI Ray with Parminder Nagra
As you can see from the footage on show, the raw subject matter is explored through great warmth and wit.
According to character descriptions, Maryam is "full of doubt that she can cope with the emotional demands of treating children now that she has her own", while Helen wrestles with a "self-prescribed role that sees her mothering everyone in her life".
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Catherine, meanwhile, is a single mum "determined to be one of the boys in the macho world of surgery".
Related: ER stars explain why they wouldn't do a revival series
Speaking about her latest TV role, Nagra joked that she's "clearly" now a "professional doctor" after portraying ER's Neela Rasgotra for six years too.
"I did feel like that medicine was a little bit still in there, even down to technically how to camouflage things for the camera," she said.
"Like when you're intubating [inserting a breathing tube down the throat of] a patient, you hold your hand in a certain way to mask the fact you're not really doing it.
"The funniest part was that some of the terminology that I got used to saying on ER, I was told: 'That's not how you say it here.' It's pronounced differently in Britain."
Maternal starts on ITV next month.
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Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
