Dawn French and Mark Heap (Friday Night Dinner, Green Wing) star in the show written and created by Simon Mayhew-Archer (This Country, Josh) and directed by Simon Hynd (Ghosts, Motherland).
The six-parter is co-produced by Big Talk Studios, Mayhay Studios and CBS Studios.
In Can You Keep a Secret? Dawn French plays widower Debbie Fenton – 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 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.
The series was commissioned for the BBC by Jon Petrie, Director of BBC Comedy. The Executive Producers are Kenton Allen and Simon Mayhew-Archer; the Producers are Lauriel Martin and Joe Scantlebury, and the Director is Simon Hynd. The series is written and created by Simon Mayhew-Archer. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Tanya Qureshi. Can You Keep a Secret? is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. Big Talk Studios is part of ITV Studios.
Staff Reporter
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