The transformation was comprehensive and took several days.
Rooms were redecorated and new furniture was brought in. The kitchen was decluttered and turned into a minimalist’s dream, all clean, open shelving. The garden was upgraded, and the front door painted an on-trend teal.
Oh, and my 24-year-old son’s bedroom – blue and plastered with posters and photos of friends – was turned into a teenage girl’s hangout: pink, glittery and littered with shoes and make-up.
No, this top-to-toe alteration of my terraced house in Islington, north London, wasn’t some high-end, glossy magazine-style makeover, but the work of some very clever set dressers.
Our family home was now fit for arch snob, alpha mum and wannabe Instagram influencer Amanda Hughes – and her mother, played by Joanna Lumley – originally from hit BBC series Motherland.
It started with a leaflet, posted through the door. A production company was looking for somewhere to film a new series and thought our house might be suitable. Would we be interested?
My curiosity was piqued. I phoned the number at the bottom of the leaflet and found myself speaking to Martin Walker, the charming and persuasive location manager.
I can’t remember when the magic words ‘Joanna Lumley’ were mentioned, but soon enough director Simon Bird, of Inbetweeners and Friday Night Dinner fame, was being shown around our home, art director in tow. Suddenly it had all become very glamorous indeed.
Days later Martin rang to say our home of 15 years had passed the test. That was last August. By then we knew not only that Dame Joanna would be gracing our living room, but that the series in question was called Amandaland.
‘It’s a sequel to Motherland,’ said Martin, excitedly. He was met with blank stares.
Somehow, my entire family had missed Motherland, which was set in Chiswick, but filmed across west London and in Muswell Hill, north London.
Written by Holly Walsh and Helen Serafinowicz among others, it aimed its sharp satire at the playground mum cliques of the capital’s leafy suburbs and featured a set of women you loved and loathed in equal measure.
But now, Queen Bee Amanda, played by Lucy Punch, is divorced and her children – Manus and Georgie – are at secondary school. This change of circumstances means she’s forced to move from swanky Chiswick to rather more down-at-heel South Harlesden, or ‘SoHa’ as she calls it – and our road would stand in for it.
Even if her new neighbourhood was much grittier (or grottier) than she was used to, set designers made sure the interiors were true Amanda. Our home was soon pristine and sparkling, albeit in shades of girly pink and taupe I would not have chosen.
Seeing Amanda in her SoHa home, it all looks entirely natural.
The reality was rather different. First, a team of 20 experts swarmed around our family home, peering into every nook and cranny, taking numerous photos and making copious notes.
We were told we would need to vacate our house throughout the filming process, from when the design crew started to make our home Amanda-ready to when the cleaners came in afterwards.
Production firms offer to find hotels or Airbnb lodgings if your home is taken over, but we have a sensitive and spoilt 14-year-old cat to consider. How would he respond to upping sticks, even for a couple of weeks?
The question was almost a deal-breaker, until we discovered that a neighbour was going away and happy to lend out her home. We said yes to Martin and waited to see what would happen next.
As the date approached, tempers became fraught. Moving for a couple of weeks sounded simple – in theory. Less so in practice, as my partner, my son and I took suitcases, boxes, computers and cat paraphernalia from one side of the street to the other.
As we moved out, Amandaland’s design team moved in. In Chiswick, Amanda ran a shop – sorry, store – called ‘Hygge Tygge’ selling scented candles and other bits of overpriced homeware.
Our home became a pastiche of the interior influencer’s style. A huge vase containing a naked branch. White ornaments. Fashion prints and ‘tasteful’ black and white portraits of Amanda. Nothing like our place, with its overspilling kitchen shelves, wooden table and walls close-packed with photos.
By the time filming began, everyone on our street had been informed – they had to be. Parking bays were suspended and, from day one, our part of the street was filled with TV kit, prop lorries, crew members – and of course the van owned by Amanda’s downstairs neighbour, garden landscaper Mal. Our place is a single home but the crew cunningly made it look like two flats, one in the basement and a ‘maisonette’ for Amanda.
It was quite a scene, even before the ‘talent’ arrived, as Joanna Lumley and Lucy Punch were called. There were even security guards manning the property 24/7 to protect camera equipment.
We had a fantastic view from across the street and could not resist checking out the action. The weather was frequently frightful and Joanna and Lucy were forced to shiver on the pavement, huddling under umbrellas.
Sympathising, we even offered to light a fire in the basement to keep them warm – but it seemed as if there was too much kit down there to make that a practical suggestion. Joanna and Lucy just had to grin and bear it.
Some neighbours were frustrated by lorryloads of strangers taking up the street. Over time, however, even the hardest hearts were soothed by Joanna, who made a point of chatting to locals.
We were just about adjusting to life in our temporary home when there was an unexpected glitch. Industry buffs know filming rarely runs smoothly, but when we were told filming would have to be suspended for a week, it caused some consternation.
We’d heard horror stories about film crews leaving homes destroyed, but Martin had assured us everything would be fine. ‘This is the BBC, you know,’ he would say. And he was right.
Everything was just as we remembered it. They did ask if we wanted to keep Amanda’s Elephants’ Breath paint in the hallway or the pink-daubed bedroom upstairs. We declined.
Watching Amandaland on TV has been huge fun. The rooms are utterly changed but we can still spot the occasional object that hasn’t been moved, repainted or covered. It was also fun to meet Joanna Lumley and Lucy Punch, who made a point of thanking us – not like Amanda at all!
