Pandemonium on BBC: Are Katherine Parkinson and Amanda Abbington related?
TV

Katherine Parkinson talks Pandemonium and past work with Amanda Abbington

The resemblance is uncanny

Pandemonium on BBC One has been described as a ‘one-off video diary comedy’.

It stars familiar faces Alison Steadman, Jim Howick and Katherine Parkinson as family members who take a lockdown trip to Margate.

The IT Crowd star Katherine, 42, has carved out a career in several comedy hits.

But one question still keeps being asked: Is she related to Sherlock star Amanda Abbington?

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Katherine Parkinson is in Pandemonium (Credit: BBC)

Is Pandemonium star Katherine Parkinson related to Amanda Abbington?

The short answer is no, although the two actresses bear an uncanny resemblance.

Katherine – born in west London – is married to actor Harry Peacock.

Together they have two daughters, Dora and Gwendolyn.

Read more: Martin Freeman admits to smacking his children

Amanda, meanwhile, also has two children from her marriage to Martin Freeman, which ended in 2016.

Neither of them have sisters.

Maltesers advert / commercial - Trousers

Where have Katherine and Amanda worked together before?

The reason why so many people think that Katherine and Amanda are related is because of their appearances in the Maltesers adverts from the mid-2000s.

They formed a hilarious on-screen double act, which saw two women eating the round, chocolate-covered honeycombed treats and complaining they weren’t naughty enough.

Each advert then saw either Katherine or Amanda doing something naughty to make up for it.

Last year, Katherine told Metro that the advert now annoys her.

Why did Pauline leave Doc Martin?
The two appeared in the Maltesers ad (Credit: YouTube)

“I’m always a little bit annoyed by the Maltesers advert I did with Amanda Abbington,” she said. “It’s so [bleep] ubiquitous, even though it was one day of my life a long time ago. They keep bloody showing it.

I’m fed up with every bit of my expression in it and I’m amazed and appalled people still recognise me for it.

“I’m fed up with every bit of my expression in it and I’m amazed and appalled people still recognise me for it.

“Not to bite the hand that feeds me but I didn’t think it would be the thing people stop me in the street about and my ego can’t take it.”

Why did Pauline leave Doc Martin?
Katherine also appeared in Sherlock (Credit: BBC/YouTube)

Where else have Katherine and Amanda appeared together on-screen?

Amanda became a household name thanks to her role as Mary Watson in the BBC adaptation of Sherlock.

She starred in the detective series alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman for most of its four-series run.

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However, in the episode The Reichenbach Fall, Katherine appeared in a guest role.

She played investigative journalist Kitty Riley, but Amanda was not in that episode.

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor