Motherland

BBC reveals further casting for Motherland spin-off Amandaland

Lucy Punch, Joanna Lumley and Philippa Dunne sit on a sofa, smiling to the camera. Lumley and Punch wear light-toned, expensive-looking clothing, whereas Dunne wears a denim jacket and dark multicoloured dress

Joining Lucy Punch (How to Build a Girl), who stars as the eponymous Amanda, will be Samuel Anderson (Gavin & Stacey) as Mal and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) as Della. Peter Serafinowicz (The Gentlemen) will appear as Johannes, Ekow Quartey (Becoming Elizabeth) as JJ and Rochenda Sandall (Line of Duty) as Fi.

Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) will also appear as Amanda’s overbearing mother Felicity, and Philippa Dunne (Derry Girls) as Anne, as previously announced.

Filming begins as David Mitchell turns reluctant sleuth in comedy-drama Ludwig

David Mitchell, in character as John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor, stands on a bridge in Cambridge, behind which is the famous Bridge of Sighs

Each hour-long episode follows Mitchell’s character, John Taylor, as he assumes the identity of his missing twin brother James in an effort to track him down. A shut-in with no spouse or kids, John has his work cut out for him pretending to be James, the busy Detective Chief Inspector heading up Cambridge’s inner-city major crimes unit.

Thankfully, John has his experience designing puzzles under the pseudonym ‘Ludwig’. Will his brother’s disappearance prove a mystery too cryptic?

Tanya Moodie: Counting her blessings

Even in this strange world of lockdown, it’s all relative. While many of us can amble to our backyard or at least to the hall cupboard, Tanya Moodie is stuck on a chair when I speak to her via FaceTime at her sunny south London home.

“I’m on lockdown 2.0,” she explains, flipping her screen to show off her leg, in plaster up to the knee. What happened? She grimaces. “It was April Fool’s Day, I got over-excited trying to punk my daughter, and ended up falling down the stairs.”