FIRST LOOK Can You Keep a Secret?

A brand new comedy starring Dawn French and Mark Heap!

BBC One has today released a number of first look images from their upcoming six-part sitcom Can You Keep A Secret? which stars Dawn French, Mark Heap, Craig Roberts and Mandip Gill.

Written by Simon Mayhew-Archer, the new comedy stars Dawn French as widow Debbie Fendon. She’s a granny, lawn bowler and 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, played by 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, played by 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, played by Mandip Gill, is a local police officer and, if she finds out about her in-laws’ fraudulent ways, the Fendons might have an issue.

Clearly, Harry, reunited with a dad he’s just buried and the reality that his parents have turned into a pensioner version of Bonnie and Clyde, suddenly has a lot more to juggle. Sandwiched between two generations of toddlers, he finds himself navigating a very common stage of life, only this time, it’s criminal.

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 comedy icon Dawn French in the middle of some mischief we can all relate to. Can Debbie Fendon and her family keep their secret? Or will one of them spill the beans?

Written and created by Simon Mayhew-Archer, Can You Keep a Secret? is made by Big Talk Studios, Mayhay Studios and CBS Studios, directed by Simon Hynd, produced by Lauriel Martin and Joe Scantlebury and executive produced by Kenton Allen, Simon Mayhew-Archer, Dawn French and Toby Welch.

Can You Keep a Secret? launches early 2026 on BBC One