Amanda is heading back to BBC iPlayer and BBC One this Christmas, and apparently a quiet evening with the family simply won’t do. The BBC has commissioned a new, hour-long ‘Amandaland‘ festive special, with Lucy Punch, Joanna Lumley and Philippa Dunne returning, alongside guest star Daisy Haggard.
Following two hugely successful series and last year’s record-breaking Christmas episode, the ‘Motherland’ spin-off is preparing another festive outing for the residents of So-Ha. This time, Amanda has an old school friend to impress, a party to organise, and precisely the sort of unrealistic expectations that should make everyone around her consider switching off their phones.
Amanda’s Christmas Guest List Gets Complicated
Lucy Punch (‘Motherland’) returns as Amanda, the self-appointed queen of So-Ha, whose plans for a quiet family Christmas Eve take a sharp turn after a chance encounter with an old school friend.
That friend is Millie, played by Daisy Haggard (‘Breeders’, ‘Back to Life’), and Amanda sees their reunion as a potential route back into the high-flying social circle of her former classmates. Naturally, she decides the best way to demonstrate how wonderfully everything is going is to throw a massive, last-minute party.
There is one small problem: organising a high-end Christmas gathering in 24 hours is considerably harder than deciding you deserve one. With nobody sufficiently impressive available at such short notice, Amanda finds herself casting her invitation net wider and wider as the clock ticks down.
For someone so invested in appearances, an increasingly improvised guest list sounds like a particularly festive form of torture. It also gives the special a lovely setup: Amanda attempting to curate the perfect evening while having to rely on the people she might otherwise have preferred to keep off the seating plan.
Joanna Lumley (‘Absolutely Fabulous’) and Philippa Dunne (‘Motherland’) are also back, with the Christmas special arriving ahead of the comedy’s eagerly anticipated third series.
Lucy Punch says: “There’s mistletoe, cheese straws and a middle-aged wannabe sexy Santa. We are all delighted to be back again for an Amandaland Xmas Spesh!”
A Bigger Christmas Helping
The new episode doubles the usual half-hour helping of Amanda, giving her a full hour in which to turn a straightforward Christmas Eve into an exercise in social climbing.
Writer and director Holly Walsh and writer Laurence Rickard say: “We are utterly thrilled that the BBC have given us the ultimate Christmas present of another special – and an hour long one at that! Cameras are now rolling and we are so sure that you’ll love this gift we’ve got for you, we’re not even enclosing the receipt.”
The commission follows an impressive festive performance last year. The 2025 ‘Amandaland’ Christmas special became the UK’s most-watched comedy episode of the year, attracting 7.4 million viewers over 28 days. It was also the top broadcaster comedy episode among 16 to 34-year-olds, drawing an audience of 1.2 million in that age group.
The success has continued beyond Christmas. Series two averaged 4.5 million viewers across 28 days, while the first series won Best Scripted Comedy at the 2026 BAFTA Television Awards. Philippa Dunne also picked up the Comedy Performance – Female award at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards for her work in series one.
Seb Barwell, BBC Commissioning Editor, adds: “Last year’s special proved to be the Christmas tradition we didn’t know we needed, so we’re delighted to have Amanda and friends back for another one. This brilliant team have gifted us a bumper hour-long episode, stuffed with all the humour and heart you could wish for.”
The special is a Merman production, written by Holly Walsh and Laurence Rickard, directed by Walsh, and produced by Arnold Widdowson. The series was created by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz and Barunka O’Shaughnessy.
The hour-long ”Amandaland‘ Christmas special will premiere over Christmas 2026 on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. An exact UK premiere date has not yet been announced.
If I want to keep track of this or any other shows, I can add them via our Never Miss system, and I’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.
Login to Geektown