Amandaland, the spin-off from the hit sitcom Motherland, sees alpha mum Amanda battling to secure her status at the school gates as she moves to a new area.
But as the comedy begins on BBC One on Wednesday, February 5, Amanda (Lucy Punch) is joined by her haughty, hard-to-please mother Felicity, played once more by Absolutely Fabulous and Fool Me Once star Dame Joanna Lumley, who complicates her daughter’s life even more with her constant demands and complaints.
Here, Joanna Lumley reveals what to expect from Amandaland…
Amandaland shines a spotlight on the relationship between Amanda and Felicity. What is their dynamic like now, especially since Amanda has downsized and moved to a new area after her divorce?
“Things were alright because Amanda was married to someone who had a bit of money and lived in the right sort of place. But now [Felicity feels] everything is sad and small and shrunken and Amanda is not really making any progress! Amanda’s children, however, are slightly better, because they're growing up, so Felicity can teach them useful things like mixing cocktails! But I just think Felicity is so selfish and so self-regarding. I adore her!”
You seem to be playing quite a few mean characters lately in this and the likes of Fool Me Once. Is that fun?!
“It is written into my contract now, I must be mean. I'm always cast as horrid, savage, old grannies and mothers and wizened cruel aunts. I don’t know what it is, because I'm a sunny character! But it might be to do with the accent. A lot of people find how I speak pretty off-putting!”
What has it been like to reunite with Lucy again?
“Well, years and years ago, when Anne Hathaway was doing Ella Enchanted, I was the wicked stepmother, and Lucy was one of the ugly sisters, or whatever they would be called. And it was lovely to play Lucy's mother then. And then we did Motherland and I was in for a couple of afternoons, that's all it was. So Amandaland was magic to be part of and to be in every episode.”
What do you love about Amandaland?
“I think it's nice that it's not sentimental. Although I have to say, I find Anne [Amanda’s devoted friend played by Philippa Dunne] fabulously touching. You kind of go, ‘I wish I knew somebody as sweet as that, prepared to make the best out of everything.’”
Have you enjoyed working with Alexander Shaw and Miley Locke, who play Felicity’s grandchildren Manus and Georgie too?
“The whole cast is out of this world. But it was a particular thrill to work with these two young ones, who are really remarkable. As actors, we all think we can get away with it if we say roughly the right lines, but not them, they just look at you with beady eyes, and correct you! They are word perfect and on the dot all the time. And they're so cool and so smooth, and they took direction so easily, and they were so smart and funny. It was wonderful.”
You’ve obviously been in a fair few iconic sitcoms. What makes a successful comedy?
“You can't tell anything until it hits the audience. It's the same with plays when you rehearse them. That's why there’s the dread of the first night. You don't know how it's going to go. You've rehearsed it, you've got it right, and you've done it to the best of your abilities. But you don't know how it's going to work until it works.
"On the pilot episode of Ab Fab, we didn't know if it would even be commissioned. How could you tell? You couldn't tell until the audience laughed. That's what we've got to wait for with this. No pressure!”
Amandaland airs from Wednesday 5 February at 9pm on BBC One and the whole season will be on BBC iPlayer from the same date.
