The highly-anticipated Amandaland Christmas Special will air on Christmas Day at 9.15pm on BBC One, with the episode also available to stream on BBC iPlayer from the same time. The festive special sees Amanda and her family head to Aunt Joan’s country house, but plans change when Mal and Anne tag along, leading to a struggle to recreate the magical Christmases of her childhood.
The BBC synopsis teases: "Anne’s in despair at being separated from her family, and Felicity is increasingly irritated by her sister’s constant high spirits. Meanwhile Mal sees a hidden photo that seems to reveal a deep family secret."
Lead actress Lucy Punch has teased that the episode "begins and ends with a pavlova and has loads of laughs in between". She shared that her favourite moments from filming were with guest star Jennifer Saunders, saying: "Every single scene with Jennifer was magnificent, a hilarious delight. And Jennifer with Joanna was even better."
Joanna Lumley revealed her favourite moment was heartwarming, involving the dog Cally. "Joan’s dog Cally stole all our hearts away. She had been thrown out of a car in a plastic bag when she was four weeks old, she has become the most enchanting and wise little creature," Lumley said. "The whole crew and cast fell for her, doing the scene in the barn with Jennifer playing my estranged sister with Cally’s head on my lap was gorgeous beyond words."
Jennifer Saunders explained why she wanted to be part of the Christmas special: "I remember watching Amandaland when it first came on TV and absolutely loved it. I knew I would love it because even the trailer made me laugh. It’s a really funny show with jokes and falling over and great, great characters. I think Amanda and Anne are a perfect comic double act. Who wouldn’t want to be part of such a funny show?"
