Dust off your TESLAs, we’re going back to So-Ha this Christmas. The Amandaland Christmas special is the jewel in the crown of this year’s BBC festive schedule, heading to the small screen at 9:15pm on Christmas Day (and BBC iPlayer straight after).
Not to brag, but clearly Santa thought I’ve been nice enough this year to let me see the Christmas special in advance (and anybody else who nabbed a public ticket at the BFI). I’m not going to be a Grinch and give away any spoilers, but let’s just say that I can promise what’s coming is a masterpiece that could be hung in the British sitcom festive special Hall of Fame.
For the Motherland fans among us, there’s always a shred of bitterness that we’re getting a spinoff rather than the main series, no matter how devilishly brilliant Amandaland is.
But what if I told you that if you’ve rewatched its three seasons more times than you breathe in a day, you’ll be able to spot a not-so-obvious link between the Amandaland Christmas special and the first Motherland Christmas special? Nerds, assemble!
Amandaland Christmas special subtly nods to the best scene in Motherland’s first festive splash
If I had to choose a top three all-time Motherland episode, the first Christmas special (that aired back in 2022) would be nestled among them. To mark Amanda’s (Lucy Punch) last Christmas in her house, she throws a Christmas Eve party that Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin), Kevin (Paul Ready) and Liz (Diane Morgan) begrudgingly attend.
Along with Meg (Tanya Moodie), the gang gets accused of taking cocaine in Amanda’s daughter’s bedroom, ruins a game of “Evil Santa,” and watches Meg bodyslam the Christmas tree in Amanda’s driveway to the ground.
But the pièce de résistance comes when they discover a sign on a neighborhood wall reading “Santa’s not real.” After leaving Amanda’s party, they return with paint supplies to discover that the party has continued without them – the fake end time was there solely to kick them out. Anne (Phillippa Dunne) sneaks supplies out of the garage, with the quartet returning to paint over the sign and “save goddamn Christmas.”
Here’s where our Amandaland Easter egg kicks in. As they paint, the group sing “O Come Let Us Adore Him,” until a distant, incredibly off-key voice joins them. Who is it? Amanda, who claims she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t roll up her sleeves and help out (when in actual fact, she just wants a picture for her Instagram page).
In this year’s Christmas special, this scene is replicated almost to a tee – except now, it’s not Amanda who is obliviously singing terribly over everyone else. I think it’s a beautiful metaphor for how far Amanda has come, and how at home she now feels in the company of Anne, Mal (Samuel Anderson) and mum Felicity (Joanna Lumley).
In the first episode of Amandaland, Amanda says she wants to find her people, and the Christmas special proves they were right under her nose the entire time. Don’t worry though, she’s still completely insufferable.
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