Amandaland star Philippa Dunne, who plays the endearing, kind-hearted and relatable mum, Anne, Amanda’s long-suffering, loyal friend and minion, was making jokes last night at the Baftas about the show being called “Am-An-daland”.
It’s not really surprising. The Irish actor, who, along with Lucy Punch as Amanda, was nominated for the Best Actress in Comedy Award for her performance in the Motherland spin-off, took to the stage with her co-star to present another award, when Punch, in typical Amanda fashion, wondered why Dunne would be up for an award.
“I play Amanda and the show is called Amandaland and uh, well, there’s no Anne in Amandaland,” said Punch. “Well, there is,” replied Dunne. “Am-An-daland.” Then she continued: “Actually, there are two. Am-An-dal-An-d. And there’s only one Amanda, so actually, when you think about it …”
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’s character has amassed a cult following as the underestimated sidekick, with some fans demanding an Anneland – a spin-off of the spin-off.
The hit comedy returned to the BBC this month for a new six-part series – and it’s only made it more apparent that Dunne’s 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.
Anne first stole our hearts in season one, when she asked who wrote the 1994 hit by Aaliyah, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number”, her mum friend Fi (Rochenda Sandall) answers, “R Kelly”, and a clueless Anne replies, “Your Kelly wrote that song? Fair play to her.”
With some of the funniest lines in the show, Dunne’s character is someone we all recognise at the school gates. She’s the “silent crusader”, as Dunne has referred to her character, who brings a down-to-earth relatability to Amanda’s SoHa-pretentious parenting scene. The ultimate people pleaser, she’s the one who is always volunteering for activities at her son Darius’s school and is forever loyal to her best mum friend, whose vulnerability Anne can spot behind her superior front.
Dunne spoke about similarities between her and her character, saying that “there’s definitely part of me that is Anne” in an interview with The Independent last year. “Anne 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’t try that hard any more. I’ve grown up. But there’s definitely part of me that is Anne.”
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She added: “I think that’s why people might relate to Anne a bit; they spot a bit of an underdog in her, and they’re rooting for her.”
She’s the face of proper parenting with a no-nonsense approach that is the opposite of Amanda’s self-centredness. In episode two, she’s got Darius on a tight lead after what she calls “Anusgate” when the school alerts her that he’s posted a photo of his “bumhole” on Snapchat, which turns out to be his clenched fist.
“It could have easily have gone viral,” says Anne in a panic, who takes things into her own hands and posts a pot plant with the caption “Please repost to show my eejit son how fast things spread online.”
She offers instant identification to any parent struggling to bring up teens. It’s impossible not to think that her fictional Instagram handle “motherofteenys” could also do well in real life if some fan kept it going off-air with hilarious Anne-style posts.
A quick video of how she cares for a peace lily – which Amanda initially laughs off as embarrassing – gets over a million views. “How has that got a million views?” asks Amanda. “It’s just some little fat hands on a plant. But, still, it doesn’t take long for Amanda to turn up at Anne’s house with her portable light to jump on Anne’s strong follower base.
Viewers love Anne for so much more than being the yin to Amanda’s yang. She’s a force in her own right. She sticks to her guns with often heartbreaking results – 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.
Anne may serve as a pivotal, comedic counterpoint to the main character – but she now holds her own. As Dunne said. “It [Amandaland] gets key moments of child-rearing quite well – it’s not a glamourised version, it’s a nice, sloppy, real-life bells and whistles sensory overload.
“It’s very imperfect, very messy, very stressful, and I think the show really allows you to laugh at the mess. They’re not perfect mothers. They’re trying their best and life is not straightforward and kids are not straightforward. But you’re allowed to laugh at it together. And we can all watch and relate and that makes it easier, doesn’t it?”
Yes, it does. And Anneland might be even better.
