Joanna Lumley has announced the return of the beloved BBC comedy Amandaland - and filming kicked off this week. 

The actress, who plays protagonist Amanda Hughes' (Lucy Punch) mum Felicity in the hit show, has confirmed that the beloved programme will be back for a Christmas special this year. 

Amandaland hit our screens on BBC One in February this year and it was confirmed the following month that it would be back for a second.

It follows the life of a recently divorced mum called Amanda who is trying to juggle looking after her children, a new relationship and friendships with the parents at her kid's school.

Speaking on the Chris Evans breakfast show, Joanna said: 'I'm just about to start another series of Amandaland which was the spin-off from Motherland, which was a gorgeous, wild success.

'Clever, clever Lucy Punch. We're just about to start seven more episodes and one is a Christmas special for this year.'

Amandaland is written by Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz, Barunka O'Shaughnessy and Laurence Rickard.

The show is directed by Simon Bird and Alyssa McClelland. 

It stars Lucy Punch as Amanda Hughes, Joanna Lumley as Felicity Sanderson, Phillippa Dunne as Anne Flynn, Samuel Anderson as Mal,  Siobhán McSweeney as Della Fry, Rochenda Sandall as Fi and Ekow Quartey as JJ. 

The comedy is a spin-off of popular sitcom Motherland, which ran 19 episodes across three seasons between 2016 and 2022.

Motherland was created and written by Sharon Horgan, Graham Linehan, Helen Serafinowicz and Holly Walsh. 

It followed the lives of a group of parents whose children all attended the same school.

Anna Maxwell Martin played protagonist Julia Johnstone, Diane Morgan played Liz, Paul Ready played Kevin Brady and Tanya Moodie played Meg.

Lucy and Philippa's alter-egos also starred in Motherland.  

Since the first series aired back in January, Amandaland has averaged 6.4million views and has become the BBC's second biggest comedy launch.

Despite being a success, it has faced mixed reviews from fans with some feeling it lacked the same charm as the original and questioned why the BBC didn't just continue the beloved series instead.

However Daily Mail's Christopher Stevens rated it five stars and praised the show for its compelling acting and quirky storylines.

The BBC has now confirmed that Amandaland will run for a second series after being overwhelmed by the response from fans.

Co-writer and creator Holly Walsh said: 'We've been bowled over by the response to Amandaland and can't wait to get co-labbing on the next series'.

Sharon Horgan, co-founder of Merman, praised the 'incredible cast and writers'.

'With any new show you put out there, your main hope is to make something you love and are proud of,' she said.

'The extra bonus is that it's a critical hit. But to have a loyal audience of this size is just beyond your hopes and expectations.

'The incredible cast and writers, director and production team worked so hard on this show and it's so wonderful to see that hard work pay off.

'Special thanks to Lucy for being the most extraordinary front woman and to the BBC for having such faith in the idea of Amandaland from the off.'

Amandaland is available to stream now on BBC iPlauer.