Thought The Cast Of Amandaland Looked Familiar? Here’s Where You’ve Seen The Stars Before

It’s now been over two years since our last visit to Motherland, but fans have finally been treated to the much-hyped spin-off Amandaland.

Based, as the name suggests, on Lucy Punch’s break-out character, the “alpha mum” of the schoolgates, the spin-off focusses on Amanda at a new stage of her life with her kids now all at secondary school, and also introduces us to members of her family.

And we’re pleased to report that it’s so far been really, really well-received.

If you’ve already been enjoying the new BBC comedy, but found yourself wondering exactly where you recognise certain members of the cast from, allow us to jog your memory…

Let’s start with the obvious – Lucy Punch obviously originated the role of Amanda in Motherland, before stepping into the spotlight with this spin-off series.

Before being cast in the BBC comedy, Lucy already had quite a varied career in film, acting alongside Anne Hathaway in the fairytale reimagining Ella Enchanted and, interestingly enough, performing another slanted take on a wicked stepsister a decade later in the musical Into The Woods.

Her other film credits include the British police parody Hot Fuzz, the Cameron Diaz comedy Bad Teacher, Caitlin Moran’s How To Build A Girl (playing Sylvia Plath) and, more recently, Silent Night.

Lucy’s TV work includes the Channel 4 adaptation of Cinderella (believe it or not playing another wicked stepsister), the TV series Fairy Tales (we can’t quite fathom it but she played another take on the wicked stepsister in that, too) the US sitcom Ben And Kate (playing the best friend of Dakota Johnson’s character, no Cinderella connection there, sadly) and Netflix’s No Good Deed and A Series Of Unfortunate Events, the latter which saw her playing Esmé Squalor.

Dame Joanna Lumley made a cameo as Amanda’s mum Felicity in Motherland, and is reprising the role for this new series.

To most of us, the decorated actor will always be synonymous with her Absolutely Fabulous character Patsy Stone, a role she played for 10 years on TV and again on the big screen in 2016.

Her other credits include shows like Jam & Jerusalem, Sensitive Skin, The New Avengers and Finding Alice, as well as several films like Tim Burton’s James And The Giant Peach and The Corpse Bride, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Last year, she also appeared in the Netflix mystery Fool Me Once, and is also known for fronting several travel documentaries over the decades.

Although only a few of the original Motherland cast have made the jump to Amandaland, Phillipa Dunne is one of them, reprising the role of Anne.

Derry Girls fans might also recognise Philippa for her stint playing Geraldine (the mother of Nicola Coughlan’s character), and she also played Ria in the medical dramedy This Is Going To Hurt, appearing opposite Ben Whishaw and One Day’s Ambika Mod.

More recently, you may have also seen Philippa in The Woman In The Wall, Bodies and the Inside No. 9 episode Boo To A Goose, which aired last year.

Speaking of Derry Girls, Siobhán McSweeney is best known to most comedy fans for her Bafta-winning portrayal of the nun Sister Michael in the Channel 4 comedy.

Prior to that Siobhán appeared in Disney’s Alice Through The Looking Glass and the gritty police drama The Fall as Mary McCurdy.

She has also fronted The Great Pottery Throw Down since 2021, and is currently gearing up to launch the Irish version of The Traitors later this year.

Those of us who were hooked on Line Of Duty might remember Rochenda Sandall for her portrayal of Lisa McQueen, a member of the organised crime group, in season five.

In addition to Line Of Duty, Rochenda has appeared in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, the Black Mirror special Bandersnatch, the Apple TV+ thriller Hijack and the 13th season of Doctor Who, sharing the screen with Jodie Whittaker as the villainous Azure.

Samuel Anderson originated the role of Crowther in The History Boys which, yes, led to him being cast as Fingers in the award-winning comedy Gavin & Stacey (including the 2024 Christmas special).

Before Gavin & Stacey, Samuel had recurring roles in Emmerdale, DCI Banks and Totally Frank, and has since appeared in the comedies Witless and Trollied.

More recently, he’s also starred in the British shows Red Rose and Mammals.

Ekow joins the cast of Amandaland off the back of appearances in several other British comedies.

In the last few years, he’s played characters in Trying, Breeding and Smothered, and previously played Pedro in the Tudor historical drama Becoming Elizabeth.

Prior to that, you might have seen him as James in This Way Up or as the title role in a 2020 production of Macbeth.

In addition to his work as a comedian, writer and filmmaker, Peter Serafinowicz is an established voice actor, lending his vocals to the character Darth Maul in the Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace, Big Daddy in the Sing movies and Iofur Raknison in His Dark Materials.

As for his on-screen acting work, you might recognise Peter from his performance as Garthan Saal in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, Pete in Shaun Of The Dead or Edgar Covington in the US sitcom Parks And Recreation.

Miley began her on-screen acting career when she was just seven years old in the ITV period drama Grantchester, before being cast in Not Going Out and The Royals.

She also played David Tennant and Jessica Hynes’ non-verbal daughter Rosie in the BBC series There She Goes.

CBBC viewers might have seen Alexander Shaw as Agent Ozzie in the educational children’s comedy Odd Squad.

His film work also includes Ridley Scott’s Napoleon and Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man.

Teenager Jack Veal may only have a few credits to his name, but they’re still pretty impressive.

After making his big-screen debut in My Name Is Lenny and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, he was cast as Kid Loki in the Marvel series about the iconic villain.

You may have also seen him in The End Of The Fucking World, Call The Midwife and Come Away.

Towards the end of last year, Jack shared a series of TikTok posts disclosing that he was homeless after a turbulent home life and struggles with his mental health. He later shared that he had found a home through social services.