Lucy Punch to reunite with Dame Joanna Lumley for Motherland spin-off

Actress Lucy Punch will reunite with Dame Joanna Lumley for a spin-off from the hit BBC show Motherland, which will follow her character Amanda post-divorce.

Punch, 46, starred in the Bafta-winning comedy about the highs and lows of modern middle-class parenting which ran for three series, including two Christmas specials.

She will reprise the role for a new six-part series, titled Amandaland, with Dame Joanna returning to play her mother Felicity, the BBC has announced.

The new series will see Amanda having to downsize and move to South Harlesden after her divorce.

With her two children, Manus and Georgie, now at secondary school, she will also have to learn how to raise young adults and navigate teen drinking, fake Instagram accounts and eco-anxiety.

Amanda also has a “slightly unhealthy co-dependent relationship” with her mother, who is constantly around and in denial that she is lonely, the BBC has said.

Philippa Dunne will return as the character Anne, who has been sucked back in to Amanda’s orbit as a minion to help her navigate the social scene at the children’s new school.

Head of comedy at the BBC, Tanya Qureshi, said: “Motherland continues to be one of the most-loved comedies on the BBC, and we’re so pleased we are carrying on with the story, taking the characters in a new direction and to a different postcode.

“Lucy, Joanna and Phillipa are three of the funniest comedy actors around and we’re thrilled to have them on board.”

Motherland was created by Sharon Horgan, Graham Linehan, Helen Serafinowicz and Holly Walsh and also starred Anna Maxwell Martin, Diane Morgan, Paul Ready and Tanya Moodie.

It won a Bafta TV Award for scripted comedy in 2022.

Amandaland will be created by production company Merman with executive producers Horgan, Serafinowicz, Walsh, Barunka O’Shaughnessy and Clelia Mountford.

Horgan, co-Founder of Merman, said: “Motherland took off in a way that none of us were expecting and it’s just so exciting that we get to continue to make this next chapter of parenthood and friendship.

“We have new parents, a new school and new problems to look forward to.”

Mountford, fellow co-founder of Merman, added: “Viewers are in for a treat. It’s been so rewarding seeing how the complexity of Amanda’s character has developed; the relationship with her mother, life as a single parent and her fledgling career.

“It’s a joy to be working with such incredible comedy talent such as Lucy, Joanna and Phillipa once more.”

The full cast and scheduling will be announced later.