Can You Keep a Secret? will commence filming later this year in the West Country

The BBC has ordered a second series of Dawn French sitcom Can You Keep A Secret? after it became one of the corporation’s three biggest comedy launches of the past two years.

Produced by Big Talk Studios, Mayhay Studios and CBS Studios, the BBC1 comedy stars French as a wife who pretends her husband (Mark Heap) has died to claim the insurance money. Things star to unravel when her son (Craig Roberts), who is married to a police officer (Mandip Gill), finds out. All four of the main cast members will return for the second series.

The series aired in a Wednesday 9.30pm slot, with the launch drew 5.3m viewers across 28 days after its 7 Jan debut. The series as a whole averaged 3.3m (62%) across 28 days.

This made Can You Keep a Secret? the third biggest comedy launch on iPlayer since 2024, just behind fellow Big Talk show Ludwig (5.5m) and Merman’s Amandaland (4.3m), according to BBC figures. All three are now confirmed to be returning for a second series.

Created and written by Simon Mayhew-Archer, the sitcom wrapped up its first six-part run on last Wednesday (11 February) and recently premiered in the US on Paramount+.

Filming for series two will take place later this year in the West Country.

Mayhew-Archer and French both have an executive producer credit alongside Big Talk’s Kenton Allen and Toby Welch. The BBC commissioning editors are Gregor Sharp and Roya Eslami.

Mayhew Archer called the cast and crew “dream collaborators” and said: “I love sitcoms and I want more of them on TV, so I am enormously grateful to everyone who has watched this show and taken the Fendons to their hearts. I hope our success will help even more comedy get made across the UK.”

BBC comedy director Jon Petrie said: “Dawn French and the whole creative team have crafted a warm, mischievous comedy that clearly struck a chord with audiences. We’re delighted to bring it back for a second series and can’t wait to see even more secrets unravel.”

Allen said that, in series one, French had produced “one of the great sitcom performances of her career”.

The Big Talk chief executive added: “We’re enormously proud to be making this with Jon Petrie and the BBC, and with our partners at Mayhay Studios and CBS Studios, and excited to continue building a comedy that we believe has all the hallmarks of an enduring modern classic.”

Can You Keep a Secret? is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.