Gutted. Amandaland

[Shouldbeworkingnotreadingtalk]

Am I the only person to feel totally gutted / disappointed / sad … at Amandaland Christmas special ? … I LOVE all the motherland and ALand episodes and this was just awful. Or is that just me?

@Twonewcats - "Women that age in a relationship"?

I knew that my post was quite garbled! 😁

To see two women that age, dealing with their own relationship, and not depending on marriage, children, or parents as the hook, is, imo, quite rare on the telly.

I mean - it was simply about them - they are not defined by mothering, or dodgy parents, or men.

And I like that they got over their tiff through laughter.

They reminded me of my mum and her sisters - I really enjoyed seeing the richness of a sister relationship explored, especially if you have none!

Still garbled I reckon but I gave it a shot!

😄 I discovered the series after season 7 premiered

Hard agree that the special with Anne marie was much better.

They cant seem to get Cathy's character right - the actor Doon even said that they were getting her wrong!

The whole thing just felt weird

Merry belated christmas 🥰

It was dreadful! So disappointed.

I didn't think it was the best thing ever but we all enjoyed it. I live rurally and know several Aunt Joans, although none of them have quite such a spiffy house.

I agree Amandaland is not as good as Motherland, so maybe I was expecting less from it

I will say that having watched it, i didnt mind it, @Shouldbeworkingnotreadingtalk 😄

Maybe because my expectations were lower than they were for two doors down.

That said, I dont think that Amandaland was good tbh, not a patch on my beloved motherland 😪

I loved it- Jennifer Saunders as the aunt was absolutely brilliant. So many great one liners you could miss if you’re waiting for some reference from the series or just comparing it to Motherland (“little food from M&S” 🤣 and “did we learn nothing from Adolescence”). It was definitely a Christmas special, but I do hope Joan makes an appearance in the new series!

I liked it! Lovely to watch Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley in something I haven't seen before. Xmas specials are meant to something different I always think, in the same way that Xmas is different from the everyday.

I was hoping it was going to be an hour before I started it but it was the right length for the plot content. Anne and the pavlova was hilarious!

And I too would now like to disappear off to a big house to visit Aunt Joan (albeit taking a hot water bottle with me!) and be plied with port and Stilton after taking the dog for a very long walk!

We loved it too. And the Mick Jagger references were the complete point and perfect for JL. Loved ‘I did sleep with Mick a couple of times, just not in the way that could get you pregnant’.

The Mick jagger stuff was hysterical... Amanda wondering if she'd be spending next Christmas in the Turks and Caicos! Dm'ing his daughter...😂

I enjoyed it. Very good. Loved seeing Jennifer Saunders. They just need to move the Amanda and Mal romance along.

We loved it as a stand alone piece!
PERFECT Christmas Day evening telly

Some great lines..
"Did we learn nothing from Adolescence"* whips phones from Manus and Georgie

Weird is a great choice of word.

Cathy is such a one dimensional character and there are only so many times she can be rude, say something inappropriate or get drunk before it becomes stale. I like Doon as an actress but even she seemed bored by it.

Happy belated Christmas to you and may 2026 be laden with celebrity gossip and scandals 🤭.

Amanda sliding into the hallway and clapping like Jagger in Dancing in the Street! Was Brilliant

NRTFT but yesterdays terrestrial telly was shite, it would’ve been bad for a normal Saturday tbh.

It was! I laughed a lot.

I haven't watched Amandaland the series yet but I did watch the Christmas special and I enjoyed it. I thought Jennifer Saunders was especially good.

I think that’s it. If you know Aunt Joans then you will know how brilliantly observed the character is.

You see Julia was the most boring drab character for me in Motherland. It is certainly subjective.

I quite liked it kind of what I expected - mildly amusing.

Completely agree with this. It's the only thing we've watched over Christmas that I would watch again.

I never thought that Amandaland was as funny as Motherland, I forgot about Two Doors Down but will find it on i player, loved that under rated series.

I just watched in catch up and enjoyed it. Ann collapsing into the pavlova was funny.

Oh obviously- everyone will have their own favourite character, or not even like either programme TBH.

I loved it, really laughed all the way through- partly though this was because JS’s character reminded me of lots of women I know (and I can see myself like that in 30 years 😭 even down to the weird and ancient sloe gin).