{"id":624301,"date":"2026-10-08T11:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/624301\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:22:14","slug":"amandalands-2026-christmas-special-set-to-take-dramatic-turn-as-filming-gets-under-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/624301\/","title":{"rendered":"Amandaland’s 2026 Christmas special set to take dramatic turn as filming gets under way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amandaland Christmas special potential spoilers follow.<\/p>\n

Filming is underway on the upcoming Amandaland Christmas special \u2013 and it looks like there will be drama aplenty in So-Ha. The hour-long episode<\/a> is set to be a big one following last year’s<\/a> record-breaking special \u2013 plus with no traditional Call the Midwife special this year, it is helping to plug that festive gap.<\/p>\n

A series of new filming pictures have now emerged, with things appearing to take a dramatic turn when Philippa Dunne’s Anne drives Lucy Punch’s Amanda home, before going into labour.<\/p>\n

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Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

We also see friends and neighbours gathering outside amid the baby’s arrival, with the previously-broken Christmas lights springing into life.<\/p>\n

The episode sees Amanda cross paths with an old school friend, leading her to ditch her quiet plans with the family on Christmas Eve and “throw a massive last-minute party to impress her”.<\/p>\n

“This could be Amanda\u2019s way back into the high-flying circle of her ex-classmates so it has to be perfect – but she soon realises that it\u2019s not easy organising a high-end party in 24 hours,” the synopsis adds. “No-one impressive is available at such short notice, so she has to cast her invitation net wider and wider as the hours tick down.”<\/p>\n

As well as the return of regulars such as Joanna Lumley, Samuel Anderson, Rochenda Samuel, Ekow Quartey and Harriet Webb, the special will also star Breeders’ Daisy Haggard as Millie, Amanda’s old friend.<\/p>\n

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“There\u2019s mistletoe, cheese straws and a middle-aged wannabe sexy Santa,” Punch previously said. “We are all delighted to be back again for an Amandaland Xmas Spesh!”<\/p>\n

Writer and director Holly Walsh and writer Laurence Rickard added: “We are utterly thrilled that the BBC have given us the ultimate Christmas present of another special – and an hour long one at that!<\/p>\n

“Cameras are now rolling and we are so sure that you\u2019ll love this gift we\u2019ve got for you, we\u2019re not even enclosing the receipt.”<\/p>\n

Amandaland will return to the BBC at Christmas for a new special, while season 3 will air next year.<\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of Dolly Parton’s life, is here. Buy Dolly in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies<\/a>, TV<\/a> and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME<\/a> and Screen International<\/a>. \u00a0Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings<\/a> to Love Is Blind<\/a>, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amandaland Christmas special potential spoilers follow. Filming is underway on the upcoming Amandaland Christmas special \u2013 and it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[247242,147144,2115,306852,2117,156,207184,2116,111,139,69,306851,251090,437],"class_list":["post-624301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-christmas-tv","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-6494e09a-ec5c-4543-9e75-411d2ce49e7e","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-shorttitle-amandalands-xmas-special-takes-dramatic-turn-in-first-look","tag-sponsored-false","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624301","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=624301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}