Best television mothers and daughters

‘Steel Magnolias’ 1989: Cue the waterworks. Steel Magnolias, starring Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and other A-List actors follows the small town story of some Louisiana ladies. As this gossipy group moves through weddings, births and funerals this female feel-good film shows us that the bond between girlfriends, mothers, and daughters is unwavering. Clairee Belcher: “Well, you know what they say: if you don’t have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!”

‘Little Women’ 1994: Have the tissues handy for the tale of the four March sisters and their mother, Marmee (Susan Sarandon), all find a way to rule the house and cope while their father is away fighting in the Civil War. But when Marmee leaves to care for him, the girls must bond and grow together and become the little women their parents raised them to be while they deal with some of life’s toughest tragedies. Jo: “Now we are all family, as we always should have been.”

‘Mamma Mia!’ 2008: Loosely based Mamma Mia! – the theatrical ABBA extravaganza the movie sees Meryl Streep play a bohemian mother with a young daughter, played by Amanda Seyfried, who wants to marry but does not know which of three men is her real father. The funny musical comedy will have flower-power babies grinning with nostalgia. Donna: “Somebody up there has got it in for me. I bet it’s my mother.”

‘Baby Boom’ 1987: When career driven yuppie J.C. (Diane Keaton) inherits a toddler, she must quickly learn about work-life balance and what life is really all about. J.C. Wiatt: “I can’t have a baby because I have a 12:30 lunch meeting.”

Bridget Jones’s Diary 2001: Miserably romantic and self-loathing Bridget Jones is eternally single and looking for love so, who better to introduce her to the reindeer jumper wearing love of her life but her doe-eyed mother? Bridget: “Bridget Jones, wanton sex goddess, with a very bad man between her thighs… Mum… Hi.”

‘Freaky Friday’ 2003: Tess and her daughter Anna switch bodies in this fun and sometimes hilariously awkward comedy about how one very tested mother-daughter relationship has to endure a wild ride to get to their happily ever after. Tess (in Anna’s body): “I don’t believe in physical contact with the opposite sex. At all. Ever. Nothing.”

‘Stepmom’ 1998: Stepmother’s finally got a break with possibly the biggest tear-jerker of all time. Stepmom, starring Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts, is not your typical happy story but its definitely one film that can’t be missed. Jackie Harrison: “Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”

‘The Joy Luck Club’ 1993: This story, based on the novel of the same name, explores the struggles of a group of women trying to make a life for themselves as the wade through the demands of traditional Chinese and American culture.

‘Anywhere But Here’ 1999: Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman star as a mother-daughter pair who are more different than alike. Sarandon plays a fame-starved mother whose hunger for the big lights of Hollywood threaten to derail her daughter’s life forever. Annie: “That summer I turned seventeen… and started planning my escape.”

‘Postcards From the Edge’ 1990: A story of a mother and daughter trying to mitigate their way through the perils of fame. Meryl Streep plays Carrie Fisher’s alter ego, while Shirley MacLaine takes on the role of the famous mother. Doris: “I was such an awful mother… what if you had a mother like Joan Crawford or Lana Turner?” Suzanne: “These are the options? You, Joan or Lana?”

‘Stella’ 1990: Stella, played by Bette Midler is a feisty waitress at a bar who becomes a single mother after falling pregnant following a tryst with a doctor. But as the story goes, her little girl’s father eventually enters the scene wanting a relationship with his daughter and it’s then when Stella must make some tough decisions for the good of her family.

‘Terms of Endearment’ 1983: The sob-fest between Aurora and Emma redefine that love/hate mother/daughter madness. Starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson, this tear-jerking search for lasting love is a favourite among mums and daughters. Aurora Greenway: “Why should I be happy about being a GRANDMOTHER?” Flap Horton: “Does this mean you won’t be knitting the baby any booties?”

‘The Kids Are All Right’ 2010: As an ode to the modern family Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play a lesbian couple whose world is turned inside out when their two kids go out and find their sperm-donor dad, played by Mark Ruffalo. Jules: “Sometimes you hurt the ones you love the most. I don’t know why.”

‘The Help’ 2011: Going back to the Civil Rights era, this is the moving tale of one young Southern woman trying to navigate her way through life with her progressive ideals in a backward Mississippi town all the while trying to forgive her mother for a heartbreaking mistake. Charlotte Phelan: “Love and hate are two horns on the same goat, Eugenia. And you need a goat.”