Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley, Gavin & Stacey, Blackadder: the British TV Christmas special is an institution. These one-off episodes historically work best when slice-of-life comedy meets relatable family drama. Beloved characters coalesce outside of their typical series storylines to plan the perfect holiday, overeat, have far too much drink and usually have a happy-sad bittersweet day that reminds us of our own. Tonight, the latest series to join in with this tradition is BBC One’s Motherland spin-off Amandaland.
The show’s Christmas special was a fairly last-minute addition to the BBC’s slate, filmed in autumn this year, with key actors only learning about it shortly before that. “Christmas specials are obviously epic, so it’s a real honour to do one,” says actor Philippa Dunne, who stars as Anne, the fuddy-duddy mum who plays second fiddle to Lucy Punch’s lead, the hoity-toity Amanda.
