--- name: "Barunka O'Shaughnessy" canonical: "https://film.one/person/barunka-oshaughnessy" fi1m_id: "barunka-oshaughnessy" imdb_id: "nm1068055" tmdb_id: 1220299 wikidata_id: "Q4865920" roles: ["Writer"] born: "16 August 1973" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 78 average_as: "writer" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-10-07T18:09:34.782445+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Barunka O'Shaughnessy ## Identity Barunka O'Shaughnessy - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/barunka-oshaughnessy - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** barunka-oshaughnessy - **IMDb ID:** nm1068055 - **TMDB ID:** 1220299 - **Wikidata ID:** Q4865920 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barunka_O%27Shaughnessy, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4865920, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1068055/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1220299 Writer. Born 16 August 1973 in Kingston upon Thames. ## Details - **Work:** Writer - **Born:** 16 August 1973, Kingston upon Thames - **Active:** 2002–present - **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 2 acting, 2 writing, 1 crew - **Frequently works with:** [Daniel Lawrence Taylor](https://film.one/person/daniel-lawrence-taylor.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as writer, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 78 (2), 2010s 75 (1), 2020s 80 (2) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barunka_O%27Shaughnessy, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4865920, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1068055/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1220299 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Amandaland*](https://film.one/tv/amandaland.md) (80) - **Disney+:** [*Hunderby*](https://film.one/tv/hunderby.md) (75) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Barunka O'Shaughnessy > Barunka O'Shaughnessy is a sharp collaborative comedy writer, particularly good on social competition and unkind language. We recommend *Amandaland* warmly, while *Hunderby* sometimes lets cruelty get ahead of the joke. In *Amandaland* (2025), Lucy Punch makes a snob's determination to remain impressive funny enough to sustain our interest. Amanda is a useful character for Barunka O'Shaughnessy: someone whose concern with appearances gives a comedy plenty to work with. We laughed hardest at Joanna Lumley's cruelty, which supplies the programme's most cutting jokes. O'Shaughnessy co-created the series with Holly Walsh and Helen Serafinowicz, and it gives us good reason to follow her writing. Her move from sketch performance into screenwriting in the mid-2000s helps explain her attention to dialogue that gives actors something to play. Her collaboration with Julia Davis included script editing as well as co-writing on *Hunderby* (2012), a period comedy whose carefully chosen, unkind language provides its strongest laughs. The phrasing matters: making a remark more unpleasant does not automatically make it funnier. Enough of the writing gets that distinction right for us to recommend it to anyone with a taste for discomfort. Some gags ask for more tolerance than they earn. Joining *Motherland* for its second series in 2019 put her among writers dealing with competitive middle-class parenthood. The later move to *Amandaland* meant helping to build a whole programme around Amanda, while retaining the earlier comedy's interest in social aspiration. Co-creating and writing the thriller *The Teacher* (2022) took her beyond comedy, but our recommendation rests on the comic writing. Our preference is for *Amandaland*, where Punch's snobbery gives the comedy a clear centre. The wider ensemble takes more effort to feel like a group, and that matters in a series built around social life. It is a limitation worth stating without allowing it to obscure how funny the central character remains. Start there, and choose *Hunderby* when carefully phrased nastiness sounds like a pleasant evening. ## Biography Barunka O'Shaughnessy is a British actress, writer and producer. Born in August 1973 in Kingston upon Thames, she studied Theology and Classics at the University of Cambridge, where she began performing comedy. After early work in television production and forming the theatre company Population: 3 with Lucy Montgomery and James Bachman, she appeared in sketch shows and series including *The Mighty Boosh* (2004) and *Extras* (2005). As a writer she has contributed to *Hunderby* (2012–2015), *Up the Women* (2015) and *Motherland* (2016–2022), and created and wrote episodes of the *Motherland* spin-off *Amandaland* (2025). She has also worked as an executive producer on several of her writing projects. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) ### Performed in (2) - *Saxondale* (2006), Fi1m 75, as Gallery Couple — [page](https://film.one/tv/saxondale.md) - *The Mighty Boosh* (2004), Fi1m 80, as Checkout Girl — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mighty-boosh.md) ### Wrote (2) — the average rests on these - *Amandaland* (2025), Fi1m 80, Creator, Writer, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/amandaland.md) - *Hunderby* (2012), Fi1m 75, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/hunderby.md) ### Crew (1) - *Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl* (2024), Fi1m 81, Additional Writing — [page](https://film.one/film/wallace-and-gromit-vengeance-most-fowl.md) ## Complete filmography (28) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *My Oxford Year* (2025), as Professor Styan - *Amandaland* (2025), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/amandaland.md) - *Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl* (2024), as Additional Writing — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/wallace-and-gromit-vengeance-most-fowl.md) - *The Cuckoo* (2024), series, Creator - *Motherland: Last Christmas* (2022), Writer - *Deadline* (2022), series, Writer - *The Teacher* (2022), series, Writer, Creator - *Star Wars: Visions* (2021), series, Writer - *Breeders* (2020), series, Writer - *Timewasters* (2017), series, Writer - *An Evening with Noel Fielding* (2015), Stage Director - *Aaaaaaaah!* (2015), as Party Guest · Script Editor - *The Baron* (2013), as Lenka - *Up the Women* (2013), series, Writer - *The Last Summer on Earth* (2013), as Vonda - *Hunderby* (2012), series, Writer — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/hunderby.md) - *Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy* (2012), series, as Cucumber of Cool - *Brethren* (2010), as Waitress - *Beehive* (2008), series, Actor - *Respectable* (2006), series, as Yelena - *Bo! in the USA* (2006), series, Actor - *Saxondale* (2006), series, as Gallery Couple — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/saxondale.md) - *Extras* (2005), series, as Woman extra — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/extras.md) - *A Bear's Tail* (2005), series, Actor - *A Bear's Christmas Tail* (2004), as Sacha Van Boederhaag - *Stupid!* (2004), series, as Queen Sensible - *The Mighty Boosh* (2004), series, as Checkout Girl, Disguised Hitcher — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mighty-boosh.md) - *Bo' Selecta!* (2002), series, as Sacha Merrion --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/barunka-oshaughnessy