About 
Apple TV previewed the upcoming A24 comedy-drama Margo's Got Money Troubles, starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nick Offerman.
Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: Can You Keep a Secret?, Dawn French
Can You Keep a Secret? BBC Previews Dawn French, Mandip Gill Comedy
The BBC previewed Can You Keep a Secret?, the new sitcom starring Dawn French and Mandip Gill, tackling love, death, and... insurance scams?
Article Summary
- BBC reveals new sitcom Can You Keep a Secret? starring Dawn French, Mark Heap, and Mandip Gill set for 2026.
- Dawn French plays Debbie, a widow who isn't really a widow, in a tale of comedic life and insurance fraud.
- The oddball Fendon family scrambles to keep their secret after dad is falsely declared dead to claim a payout.
- Created by Simon Mayhew-Archer, this sitcom explores family chaos, love, and hilarious criminal schemes.
The BBC has released first-look pictures for Can You Keep a Secret?, the new six-part sitcom starring Dawn French, Mark Heap, Craig Roberts, and Mandip Gill, and written by comedy veteran Simon Mayhew-Archer, the producer of hit BBC Comedy This Country.
French (French & Saunders, The Vicar of Dibley) 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 (Heap, one of comedy's greatest secret weapons and veteran of Friday Night Dinner, Green Wing) unexpectedly dies, she makes an outlandish decision that will put the family under more pressure than ever before.
There's only one catch – 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 (Roberts – Submarine, The Fundamentals of Caring), 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 (Gill – Doctor Who, This Time Next Year), 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 in six episodes 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 French in the middle of some mischief we can all relate to. After The Bishop of Dibley, this is the role Dawn French was born to play, a woman pretending her husband is dead!
Can Debbie Fendon and her family keep their secret? Or will one of them spill the beans? Can you? Keep a secret? Yes, you. All you have to do is pretend someone is dead. Come on, everyone is going to do that at least once in their lives. This is more than a sitcom – this is a documentary and a how-to manual, even if it's a how-to-not-do-it manual. It tackles an important question of our time: can you pretend your husband is dead?
Can You Keep a Secret? premieres on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in early 2026.
Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!
Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!
