In a land of her own
Amanda may not know it, but despite being a flawed failure, she’s never been more popular
BBC/Merman
- Huw Fullerton
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Over three series of Motherland, Lucy Punch’s Amanda was the “has-it-all” rich parent others were jealous of. But when she returned in spin-off Amandaland last year, divorced, financially struggling and forced to move from Chiswick to south Harlesden (rechristened “SoHa”), Amanda seemed on her uppers. It’s ironic that in the real world, Amanda’s ruin has brought her more success than ever, with huge ratings (it was BBC One’s number-one comedy in 2025) and critical acclaim. Clearly, we’re all living in Amandaland now.
“She has many flaws, Amanda, but I think she’s sort of relatable because we all do,” Punch tells RT. “Everyone can relate to being a bit selfish or a bit vain. It just happens that all of her flaws are on show at the same time, all the time.”
Anne and Amanda (Philippa Dunne and Lucy Punch). BBC/Merman
That’s never clearer than in the first episode of the second series, which sees Amanda turn a school careers day into her version of a TED talk, in order to compete with a new rival – Abs (played by Harriet Webb). But all the studio lights in the world can’t make Amanda’s failed “influencer”
career seem impressive.
“She’s desperate for everyone to think she’s doing really well,” series co-creator Holly Walsh says. “She’s clearly not, but she’s getting on with it. She has made really good friends, and she’s making herself a permanent fixture in SoHa, which is probably the theme of series two.
“She is a gift to write for because she is so up herself that it’s really fun to take her down a few pegs. But also there is something very vulnerable about her – she has a lot of issues with her mother and her divorce.”
“She was sort of the villain of Motherland and a bit despicable,” adds Punch. “But I decided that having fallen from grace and lost her status, she’d grown up a bit and no longer believed that she’s better than everyone. She still wants everyone else to think that – but she doesn’t think it.”
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The new series of Amandaland starts on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One
Authors
Huw FullertonCommissioning editor
Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.
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