Amandaland: The Christmas Special
Amanda and family head to Aunt Joan’s country house, but plans change when Mal and Anne tag along, and she struggles to recreate the magical Christmases she spent there as a child.
Amandaland: Christmas Special is a festive, half-hour episode of the hit Motherland spin-off sitcom, which aired in a prime-time slot on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in December 2025. Produced by Sharon Horgan’s Merman and written by the award-winning comedy minds of Holly Walsh and Laurence Rickard (Ghosts), the special brings the series' signature cringe-comedy and sharp social commentary to the chaotic reality of a family Christmas.
The festive special stars Lucy Punch as the vacuous, image-conscious Amanda, who drags her eye-rolling teenage kids, her loyal friend Anne (Philippa Dunne), and her passive-aggressive neighbor Mal (Samuel Anderson) to the country house of Aunt Joan. Amanda is determined to curate an Instagram-perfect holiday and recreate a nostalgic childhood photograph. However, her plans hilariously unravel when her icy, judgmental mother Felicity (Joanna Lumley) clashes with her eccentric, tumbledown sister Joan—played in a sublime guest-starring turn by comedy royalty Jennifer Saunders. Between a ruined festive dip, a missing trout pâté, and a deeply hidden family secret discovered by Mal, the pressure-cooker holiday tests the limits of family dynamics.
Directed by David Sant (Yonderland), the highly anticipated special reunited Absolutely Fabulous icons Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, drawing an impressive audience of over 7.5 million UK viewers.
