New BBC sitcom starring Dawn French begins filming in the West Country

A new BBC sitcom starring Dawn French titled Can You Keep A Secret? has begun filming in the West Country.

A first-look image shows comedian and actress French, 67, with her co-stars Mark Heap, known for playing Jim Bell on sitcom Friday Night Dinner, Submarine actor Craig Roberts and Doctor Who’s Mandip Gill.

Written by Simon Mayhew-Archer, the producer of hit BBC comedy series This Country, the six-part series follows Debbie Fendon, played by French, whose husband William (Heap) is mistakenly declared dead.

Sensing a golden opportunity, Debbie pretends to be a widow, with the retired couple agreeing to hide away until the life insurance pays out.

Their son Harry (Roberts) acquires a potentially life-changing insurance payout from his “death” but tries to keep his parents’ fraudulent ways from his wife Neha (Gill), who is a local police officer.

French, 67, is best known for her comedy partnership with Jennifer Saunders and for playing Geraldine in The Vicar Of Dibley – who becomes a cleric following changes in the Church of England to allow the ordination of women into the priesthood.

She became a household name with the first series of French And Saunders in 1987 and has since starred in TV series including Let Them Eat Cake, Psychoville and The Wrong Mans, as well as blockbuster film Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Can You Keep A Secret? is a Big Talk Studios, Mayhay Studios and CBS Studios co-production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Broadcast details are yet to be announced.