{"id":480246,"date":"2026-05-12T03:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T03:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/480246\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T03:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T03:45:17","slug":"amandaland-is-good-but-heres-why-anneland-could-be-even-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/480246\/","title":{"rendered":"Amandaland is good \u2013 but here\u2019s why Anneland could be even better"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Amandaland star Philippa Dunne, who plays the endearing, kind-hearted and relatable mum, Anne, Amanda\u2019s long-suffering, loyal friend and minion, was making jokes last night at the Baftas<\/a> about the show being called \u201cAm-An-daland\u201d. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not really surprising. The Irish actor, who, along with Lucy Punch<\/a> as Amanda, was nominated for the Best Female Comedy Performance Award for her work in the Motherland<\/a> spin-off, took to the stage with her co-star to present another award, when Punch, in typical Amanda fashion<\/a>, wondered why Dunne would be up for an award. <\/p>\n

\u201cI play Amanda and the show is called Amandaland<\/a> and uh, well, there\u2019s no Anne in Amandaland,\u201d said Punch. \u201cWell, there is,\u201d replied Dunne. \u201cAm-An-daland.\u201d Then she continued: \u201cActually, there are two. Am-An-dal-An-d. And there\u2019s only one Amanda, so actually, when you think about it \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u2018Amandaland\u2019\u2018Amandaland\u2019 won Best Comedy at the Baftas \u2013 but our girl Anne could take the lot with her own show (PA)<\/p>\n

While the show won Best Comedy, this lighthearted banter might be more poignant than we think. For many viewers, Dunne is the secret star of Amandaland. Dunne\u2019s character has amassed a cult following as the underestimated sidekick, with some fans demanding an Anneland \u2013 a spin-off of the spin-off.<\/p>\n

The hit comedy returned to the BBC this month for a new six-part series \u2013 and it\u2019s only made it more apparent that Dunne\u2019s character is worthy of her own show. She emerges with a newfound confidence as she deals with an increasingly problematic Amanda and juggles being a mother to a large family, including, most taxing, a teenage son, Darius (Jack Veal), while still keeping her warmth.<\/p>\n

Anne first stole our hearts in season one, when she asked who wrote the 1994 hit by Aaliyah, \u201cAge Ain\u2019t Nothing but a Number\u201d, her mum friend Fi (Rochenda Sandall) answers, \u201cR Kelly\u201d, and a clueless Anne replies, \u201cYour Kelly wrote that song? Fair play to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

With some of the funniest lines in the show, Dunne\u2019s character is someone we all recognise at the school gates. She\u2019s the \u201csilent crusader\u201d, as Dunne has referred to her character, who brings a down-to-earth relatability to Amanda\u2019s SoHa-pretentious parenting scene. The ultimate people pleaser, she\u2019s the one who is always volunteering for activities at her son Darius\u2019s school and is forever loyal to her best mum friend, whose vulnerability Anne can spot behind her superior front.<\/p>\n

\n

I think that\u2019s why people might relate to Anne a bit; they spot a bit of an underdog in her, and they\u2019re rooting for her<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Philippa Dunne<\/p>\n

Dunne spoke about similarities between her and her character, saying that \u201cthere\u2019s definitely part of me that is Anne\u201d in an interview with The Independent<\/a> last year. \u201cAnne is basically me when I was 13, starting school: awkwardness personified. Really wanted to fit in, really wanted people to like me, really shy, really awkward, just trying my best. I don\u2019t try that hard any more. I\u2019ve grown up. But there\u2019s definitely part of me that is Anne.\u201d <\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI think that\u2019s why people might relate to Anne a bit; they spot a bit of an underdog in her, and they\u2019re rooting for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s the face of proper parenting with a no-nonsense approach that is the opposite of Amanda\u2019s self-centredness. In episode two, she\u2019s got Darius on a tight lead after what she calls \u201cAnusgate\u201d when the school alerts her that he\u2019s posted a photo of his \u201cbumhole\u201d on Snapchat, which turns out to be his clenched fist. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have easily have gone viral,\u201d says Anne in a panic, who takes things into her own hands and posts a pot plant with the caption, \u201cPlease repost to show my eejit son how fast things spread online.\u201d<\/p>\n

She offers instant identification to any parent struggling to bring up teens. It\u2019s impossible not to think that her fictional Instagram handle \u201cmotherofteenys\u201d could also do well in real life if some fan kept it going off-air with hilarious Anne-style posts.<\/p>\n

A quick video of how she cares for a peace lily \u2013 which Amanda initially laughs off as embarrassing \u2013 gets over a million views. \u201cHow has that got a million views?\u201d asks Amanda. \u201cIt\u2019s just some little fat hands on a plant.\u201d But, still, it doesn\u2019t take long for Amanda to turn up at Anne\u2019s house with her portable light to jump on Anne\u2019s strong follower base. <\/p>\n

\"PhilippaPhilippa Dunne\u2019s character Anne always has Amanda\u2019s back \u2013 despite her \u2018best friend\u2019 often forgetting she\u2019s there (BBC\/Merman)<\/p>\n

Viewers love Anne for so much more than being the yin to Amanda\u2019s yang. She\u2019s a force in her own right. She sticks to her guns with often heartbreaking results \u2013 such as when her naked breasts are reflected on the shiny pot plant vase in her most recent post and her appearance on Alan Titchmarsh is cancelled.<\/p>\n

Anne may serve as a pivotal, comedic counterpoint to the main character \u2013 but she now holds her own. As Dunne said: \u201cIt [Amandaland] gets key moments of child-rearing quite well \u2013 it\u2019s not a glamourised version, it\u2019s a nice, sloppy, real-life bells and whistles sensory overload.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very imperfect, very messy, very stressful, and I think the show really allows you to laugh at the mess. They\u2019re not perfect mothers. They\u2019re trying their best and life is not straightforward and kids are not straightforward. But you\u2019re allowed to laugh at it together. And we can all watch and relate and that makes it easier, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d <\/p>\n

Yes, it does. And Anneland might be even better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-480246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116559552677797893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}