French has signed up to lead the cast of a new BBC sitcom…
Dawn French and Mark Heap star in Can You Keep a Secret? a new sitcom, written and created by Simon Mayhew-Archer.
Co-produced by Big Talk Studios, Mayhay Studios and CBS Studios, the new six-part series will air on BBC One. The show is about the tough decisions in life. And death.
Dawn plays widow Debbie Fenton who will stop at nothing to make sure her family’s protected. Unfortunately, most of the time the person they really need protecting from is her. When her hermit-like husband William (Mark Heap) unexpectedly dies, she makes an outlandish decision that will put the family under more pressure than ever before.
Because Debbie isn’t actually a widower and William didn’t really die – he was just mistakenly declared dead and the two retirees found themselves staring down the barrel of an opportunity too good to pass up. Just a few months hiding out in the loft waiting for the life insurance to pay out and then they can live out their golden years in peace.
This all proves a bit much for their easily frazzled son Harry who – despite his emotional shortcomings – has managed to acquire a family of his own and a potentially life changing insurance payout from his father’s ‘death’. Reunited with a dad he’s just buried and the reality that his parents have turned into a pensioner version of Bonnie and Clyde, Harry suddenly has a lot more to juggle.
Sandwiched between two generations of toddlers, Harry finds himself navigating a very common stage of life – only this time, it’s criminal.
Set in the West Country, Can You Keep a Secret? is the story of an odd little family you haven’t met yet, but that you already know – a sitcom that places comedy icon Dawn French in the middle of some mischief we can all relate to. Can Debbie Fenton and her family keep their secret? Or will one of them spill the beans?
Dawn French:
“At last…a sitcom where I can keep my top on…mostly.”
