Review of the new episode, guest starring Jennifer Saunders

Reuniting Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders may have been a casting coup – but the real delight in their Absolutely Fabulous reunion is the characters they play.

Viewers already know Lumley as Felicity, the judgmental, frosty mother of Lucy Punch’s social-climbing Amanda. Now enter Saunders as her sister  Joan, the absolute opposite in personality – a wealthy but shabby, tweedy countrywoman, the gregarious host insisting on ‘drinky-poos’ and rambunctious family fun, genuinely suggesting a game of hide-and-seek. ‘It's Christmas it's supposed to be too much!’ is her ethos.

All we need to know about pretension-free Aunt Joan is shown in her first scene. Her miscreant dog laps up some of the festive dip, so Joan just scoops around it with a cracker to clean it up. Then eats it.

The contrast with taciturn Felicity, who just wants no part of her sister’s bonhomie, is delicious – surely worthy of another spin-off to the spin-off should the Motherland universe need further expansion. Certainly, let’s hope this isn’t the last we see of this glorious pairing.

Over both shows, Amanda has been firmly established as vacuous, snobby and shallow – but having Felicity as her mum explains everything, allowing for a slither of sympathy from the audience, which Punch’s layered performance can build on. Her aim of recreating a perfect Christmas moment from the past also hints at an unhappiness with her present that she will never confront. 

As the Meghan Markle of Harlesden, Amanda strives for everything to be Instagram-perfect. She visibly shudders at the thought that some people might have tinsel in their house at Christmas, and asks for retakes of spontaneous moments on the big day so she can curate the perfect memories. 

The main storyline in this special is driven by the discovery of some old photos from the 1970s which suggests a delicious family secret. As a plot point, it’s not especially compelling - but that’s not really of consequence. This is a comedy of manners and all you really need is great characters  – which writers Holly Walsh and Laurence Rikard, of Ghosts, have nailed.

Christmas is also a perfect time to play out such a comedy, with everyone having their incompatible expectations and traditions. Plus having an extended family (this time also containing Philippa Dunne’s human doormat Anne, and Samuel Anderson’s nice-guy Mal)  thrown together in stifling proximity for a few days is just the pressure cooker drama and sitcom require.

At the start of only its second series, Amandaland might not hold the same place in the nation’s affections as Gavin and Stacey or Only Fools And Horses… yet. But as a witty sitcom full of identifiable characters and strained dynamics, it feels at home in the prime Christmas Day slot.

• Amandaland is on BBC One at 9.15pm tonight 

Review date: 25 Dec 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett