The show\u2019s Christmas special was a fairly last-minute addition to the BBC\u2019s slate, filmed in autumn this year, with key actors only learning about it shortly before that. \u201cChristmas specials are obviously epic, so it\u2019s a real honour to do one,\u201d says actor Philippa Dunne, who stars as Anne, the fuddy-duddy mum who plays second fiddle to Lucy Punch<\/a>\u2019s lead, the hoity-toity Amanda. <\/p>\n When we meet Amanda in the special, she\u2019s off with her extended family, including her mother (Joanna Lumley), to the house of her aunt Joan (played by Jennifer Saunders) for Christmas Day. Unfortunately, Anne\u2019s travel plans are scuppered and she has to tag along to Joan\u2019s celebrations, which play out in typical Amandaland style: a lot of champagne, mild sexual intrigue and mothers grasping for control. <\/p>\n Read our full interview with Dunne, in which she opens up about the trials of motherhood at Christmastime, and working with the Ab Fab<\/a> duo, below\u2026<\/p>\n Were you surprised when you saw what Anne would be getting up to in this Christmas special? <\/p>\n For Anne to not get to spend Christmas with her family, it would have to take a disaster and it does, it takes a disaster. So poor Anne has to spend it differently, getting roped into Amanda\u2019s Christmas.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Dunne says \u2018Anne is basically me when I was 13, starting school: awkwardness personified\u2019 (Justin Griffiths-Williams\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n This is the first time iconic duo Joanna Lumley<\/a> and Jennifer Saunders<\/a> have worked together in many years. As a comedic actor, how did you react when you heard you\u2019d be working with them?<\/p>\n To say I was excited is a huge understatement. From reading the script, I thought, \u2018Right, they\u2019re going to get somebody good to play Joan, obviously.\u2019 And then when I heard that Jennifer Saunders was going to do it, I actually screamed. So I was so, so thrilled. I just thought that\u2019s such a genius idea. Being in that same room was amazing. It was just like, is any of this happening? Is this real? Yes, it is real. You know you\u2019re in very safe hands: if you don’t get your stuff right, you know that they\u2019re going to just sweep forward.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Saunders and Lumley reunite in the \u2018Amandaland\u2019 Christmas special (BBC)<\/p>\n Were you a fan of Absolutely Fabulous back in the day? <\/p>\n Yes \u2013 where I grew up in Ireland, I didn\u2019t have all the channels, so I couldn\u2019t watch it religiously, but whenever it was on, I was watching. I remember when it started; it was so wacky. Those two characters have always stood out to me as epic. I love how daft and silly they are. The fact that they\u2019re together again for this wasn’t lost on any of us, really. <\/p>\n Do you see any of yourself in Anne? <\/p>\n Anne is basically me when I was 13, starting school: awkwardness personified. Really wanted to fit in, really wanted people to like me, really shy, really awkward, just trying my best. I don\u2019t try that hard any more. I\u2019ve grown up. But there\u2019s definitely part of me that is Anne. That kind of lost younger girl trying to figure stuff out. That\u2019s who I always think of when I think of Anne. <\/p>\n Everyone seems to know mums like her who are codependent and needy with their kids.<\/p>\n Yeah, we all just show off, we\u2019re all vulnerable, we all need things, but we just show it in different ways. We\u2019re just doing the same thing, but in our own fashion, however it manifests. I think that\u2019s why people might relate to Anne a bit; they spot a bit of an underdog in her, and they\u2019re rooting for her.<\/p>\n What was your favourite element of filming this special? <\/p>\n The house was done up so beautifully; it was so Christmassy, so sentimental, so cosy. It really made you think of your Christmases as a child or a teenager. It was total escapism. We were just in a Christmas bubble. And the episode itself has all that stuff that Christmas involves, which is a lot of fuss, a lot of glitter, but also family tensions. But then a lot of laughter, playing games, and fun. <\/p>\n Anne really enjoys some champagne in this episode, doesn\u2019t she!<\/p>\n A whole new world opened up to her. Joan is the ultimate hostess, so has all the best bits. She gives Anne a nice glug of French champagne and Anne is having the best day ever. Anne loves bubbly, fizzy, sparkly cold drinks \u2013 so she\u2019s made. <\/p>\n She has the last-minute opportunity to get home in time for Christmas with her family, but she declines it. What is her thinking there?<\/p>\n I think Anne is having the Christmas that she didn\u2019t know she needed, but it turns out to be one of her favourite days ever. And she might have a little bit of guilt around that going, \u2018Oh my God, why am I enjoying being away from my family?\u2019 But it\u2019s a gift. She gets to observe a different family and maybe thinks my family are great in comparison to all this, but she gets the day off. She doesn\u2019t have to cook. She doesn’t have to clean up. She doesn\u2019t have to look after any kids. She\u2019s having a mighty time. Joan is treating her like a queen. So it\u2019s not hard for her to go, \u2018Ah, well, I guess I\u2019ll just have to stay here then.\u2019<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Anne (Dunne) and Amanda (Punch) in \u2018Amandaland\u2019 (BBC)<\/p>\n As a mum yourself, what do you think is special about the whole Motherland-Amandaland franchise? <\/p>\n It gets key moments of child-rearing quite well \u2013 it’s not a glamourised version, it\u2019s a nice, sloppy, real-life bells and whistles sensory overload. It\u2019s very imperfect, very messy, very stressful and I think the show really allows you to laugh at the mess. They\u2019re not perfect mothers. They\u2019re trying their best and life is not straightforward and kids are not straightforward. But you\u2019re allowed to laugh at it together. And we can all watch and relate and that makes it easier, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n It makes total sense that the BBC would want to do a Christmas special in particular, then, given how Christmas can be overhyped stress for many mums.<\/p>\n Well, that\u2019s the pressure we put on ourselves every year. Every year we go, this year it\u2019s going to be amazing. But guess what? Every year it\u2019s the same family stuff. It\u2019s the same pressure. It\u2019s the same stress. It\u2019s the same cost. And we don\u2019t seem to learn. We go in every year with this hope going, \u2018This year is going to be amazing!\u2019 And end up scrapping with our siblings and falling out. Christmas doesn’t always bring out the best in people. I think the Christmas special does tap into that really nicely. <\/p>\n \u2018Amandaland\u2019 airs on Christmas Day at 9.15pm on BBC One<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-201385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dunne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/shutterstock_editorial_15350961j.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Saunders](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/544907.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Anne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/506580.jpg\")
<\/p>\n