The cast and creatives of Can You Keep a Secret? speak before the new show arrives next week
Written by Simon Mayhew-Archer, the producer of hit BBC Comedy This Country, and filmed and 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 Dawn French in the middle of some mischief we can all relate to.
What is Can You Keep a Secret? about
Dawn French plays widow Debbie Fendon — granny, lawn bowler, tinpot dictator — 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 widow 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 (Craig Roberts) 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’. What’s especially tricky for Harry is that his pathologically pragmatic wife Neha (Mandip Gill) is a local police officer and, if she finds out about her in-laws’ fraudulent ways, the Fendons might have an issue.
The interviews
Dawn French has plenty to say about casting and her character, and is quite clear “She’s not a bad person; she’s a bossy person, and she’s determined that this will work, and so she has to lead the cavalry and she minimises a crime.”
The four key cast members have plenty to say about working with each other and it builds an interesting picture ahead of the show’s arrival. You can read for yourself here. The show arrives on BBC One on January 7th. The iPlayer page also has a trailer.