The show did quite rightly win the BAFTA for Best Comedy thank goodness. At least the 8,300 members responsible for picking the winners didn’t completely lose it this year. I breathed a sigh of relief when the winner was announced after screaming loudly at the TV, NOOOOOOOOOOO when the best comedy performance award went to probably a very well deserving Katherine Parkinson.
Lucy Punch, Philippa Dunne and Joanna Lumley as Mum Felicity are comedy Gold, absolutely dazzling In Amanda Land, why for many it was such a shocker whilst both were nominated for best actress neither picked up the gong. They were pipped to the post by Katherine Parkinson for her role as Rachel in Here we Go. Can’t comment as I haven’t seen it.
I didn’t watch Motherland the prequel to Amanda Land with the team of writers that includes Holly Walsh, Laurence Rickard, Helen Serafinowicz, and Barunka O'Shaughnessy.
The second series of Amanda Land just binged was written in the most part by Holly Walsh and Laurence Richard and it’s even funnier, nuanced than before. Definitely a must watch. If like me when someone mentions BBC comedy you think “not funny” think again. It’s like Mum and Daughter Amanda Punch and Felicity Lumley have settled in and are producing some of the very best comedy the BBC have produced well frankly for me since Gavin and Stacey James Corden and Ruth Jones 20 years ago, blimey has it been that long.
Amanda Land now sitting in the BBC legacy of shows that includes Fawlty Towers (1975-1979)
The Young Ones (1982-1984) and The legendary Blackadder (1983-1989)
When I think it’s over 20 years since I can name a show that made me howl like Amanda Land and citing shows that were on our screens over 50 years ago in comparison is an indication of how funny this TV series actually is. My Dad absolutely loved sitcoms, a comedy writer himself was a wealth of knowledge and got me hooked on the classics so I have had a TV comedy education that is possibly second to none.
The reason this show is standout, well, the writers have managed to shine a “Bridemaids” style Kirsten Fieg light, a combination of facial expression, funny looks and exceptional timing and given the extremely talented Lucy Punch such intelligent material and character building gags, exposing not Amanda, she’s extremely loveable, but the absolute stupidity in today’s world of influencing, aspiration, aging, singledom, divorce, and family life in all it’s colourful forms, coupled with parenting teenagers, a struggle for most in the smart phone selfie age.
Few will dispute the indeliable mark Absolutely Fabulous left on us in the UK, (1992-2012) and Patsy and Edina have managed to be reincarnated to some extent as Felicity, Amanda’s Mum and Aunt Joan, Felicity’s fabulously, shabby and eccentric sister introduced in the Amandaland Christmas Special 2025. I just hope we are back at Joan’s this Christmas for a repeat of last year.
Amanda Land wouldn’t be the same without the supporting cast, Philippa Dunne as Amanda’s friend and high school teacher Anne, lesbian couple Fi Rochenda Sandall and chef Della, Siobhan McSweeny, downstairs neighbour Mal, Samuel Anderson and Ekow Quarty as accountant JJ, Mal’s football coaching friend and new husband to his ex wife who makes an appearance in season two as charity food bank worker Abs played beautifully by Harriet Webb; some truly hilarious interactions between Amanda and Abs towards the end of season two.
With so much on digital TV you have to pay for and not just through subscriptions but pay per view as well it is so refreshing to see a comedy this exceptional appear on our screen courtesy of the BBC. I have no doubt it will be exported on Comedy Central in the US if it hasn’t happened already so for fans of classics like Friends, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Will and Grace, Cheers, and the so very memorable Dream On, here’s one from the Brits, laugh out loud funny for you to get your teeth into.
We say a glimpse of Amanda as Lucy Punch nailed in just a few minutes, a scene as far back as 2004. She created a memorable moment in Life and Death of Peter Sellers, a BBC film where her character in her portrayal of a flight attendant opposite Geoffrey Rush was so distinct and hilarious she might be reincarnated 2 decades later in Amanda.
Right now the funniest show on TV by a clear mile.