Dawn French plays mother in family ‘like the Beckhams’ in trailer for BBC show
By Hannah Roberts, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
Comedian Dawn French can be seen playing a mother in trouble in a first trailer for a new BBC sitcom about a family who commit insurance fraud.
In the teaser, the actress, who plays Debbie Fendon, tells her son Harry, played by Craig Roberts: “We’re just a bit complicated, like the Beckhams.”
Set in the West Country, Can You Keep A Secret? also stars Mark Heap – known for playing Jim Bell in sitcom Friday Night Dinner – whose character William is mistakenly declared dead.
Sensing a golden opportunity, Debbie pretends to be a widow, with the retired couple agreeing to hide away until the life insurance pays out.
Their son acquires a potentially life-changing insurance payout from the “death” but tries to keep his parents’ fraudulent ways from his wife Neha, played by Doctor Who’s Mandip Gill, who is a local police officer.
In the trailer, Debbie is seen asking her son if he can “keep a secret” before unveiling that his father is still alive.
French said: “It’s an interesting hybrid, and I think that’s one of the things that attracted me to it because it is a sitcom, without a doubt, but it’s also a thriller, and I think it’s quite hard to pull both those things off.
“It’s funny but it’s also about the dynamics of this oddball family that have almost accidentally pulled off a massive crime.”
French, 68, is best known for her comedy partnership with Jennifer Saunders and also played Geraldine in BBC comedy series The Vicar Of Dibley, which ran between 1994 and 2000, with French returning to the role for Christmas and lockdown specials.
French became a household name with the first series of French And Saunders in 1987 and has since starred in TV series including Let Them Eat Cake, Psychoville and The Wrong Mans, as well as blockbuster film Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban.
Can You Keep A Secret? is a Big Talk Studios, Mayhay Studios and CBS Studios co-production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Broadcast details are yet to be announced.
