Elaine Burke

The Last Word on Today FM.

Motherland, yes.

And Amanda was probably one of the best characters in it, but she was a side character.

She wasn't really part of the main storylines a lot of the time.

And she's worked so well as a spin-off.

I think she's reaching Alan Partridge levels of a caricature now.

And in the first episode of the new season, she does a careers week talk with...

graphics and a Britney mic and it was very Alan Partridge-esque and I was like, I can see how they can make this such a huge thing for this character now.

And Philippa Dunn actually alongside her I think is a real credit to the success of the show.

She's also from the Motherland original cast and she's the long-suffering best friend who is gradually coming out of her shadow and calling out Amanda on things and it's actually...

It's really a funny dynamic that they managed to drag out for so long.

Again, like Alan Partridge and the long-suffering Lynn.

We see that dynamic there as well.

So maybe I'm just drawn to those kind of tropes.

But then they've added people to this show, like Siobhan McSweeney is a foil to Amanda.

She's kind of a more grounded character, but she's...

Is she in season two?

A very absent character in season two.

So she appears in episode one by calling her partner on a video call.

So she clearly wasn't available to film with everybody else.