The Vicar of Dibley legend makes long awaited return to comedy 17 years after classic BBC sitcom ended
DAWN French is making her highly anticipated return to comedy with a brand new sitcom called Can You Keep a Secret?
The star from The Vicar of Dibley is set to delight fans again over a decade after the BBC sitcom ended.
This time she will be starring alongside Mark Heap, known for his roles in Friday Night Dinner and Green Wing.
Can You Keep a Secret? is a six-part series created and written by Simon Mayhew-Archer, the talent behind hits like This Country and Josh.
In this new comedy, Dawn French plays Debbie Fenton – a widower, lawn bowler, and self-proclaimed protector of her family.
However, Debbie’s well-intentioned efforts often lead to more chaos than calm, especially when her hermit-like husband William (Mark Heap) is mistakenly declared dead.
Instead of clearing up the confusion, the couple see an opportunity to cash in on the life insurance and decide to hide William in the loft for a few months until the payout arrives.
As the couple embarks on their unlikely scheme, their son Harry finds himself in the middle of a criminally funny predicament.
Reunited with a father he thought he had buried, Harry must now juggle his own family responsibilities while dealing with his parents’ increasingly outlandish antics.
What follows is a series of hilarious mishaps as the Fentons attempt to keep their secret under wraps.
The new show is a co-production between Big Talk Studios, Mayhay Studios, and CBS Studios and will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
Dawn shared her anticipation for the new series, joking: “At last…a sitcom where I can keep my top on…mostly.”
Kenton Allen, Executive Producer and CEO of Big Talk Studios, added: “Working with Dawn French has been a career-long ambition, and to have her inimitable comedic brilliance join forces with the extraordinary Mark Heap and the Simons—Simon Mayhew-Archer and Simon Hynd—is every producer’s dream.
“We’re delighted to welcome such talented creative minds into the Big Talk family and can’t wait for viewers to see this highly original family comedy in all its glory.”
The Vicar of Dibley, which Dawn starred in as lead character Geraldine Grainger, stopped airing in 2007.
However, it made a brief comeback during lockdown over the festive period.
BBC bosses aired three 10-minute episodes spread over the Christmas period, alongside a 30-minute compilation show of all three sermons.
Dawn French's career to date
Dawn French’s career took off when she teamed up with Jennifer Saunders in the early 1980s. The duo became famous for their sketch show French and Saunders, which first aired on the BBC in 1987. The show ran for six series until 2007 – and their parodies of pop culture, movies, and TV shows became legendary. Dawn and Jennifer’s work influenced a generation of female comedians.
Dawn’s most iconic role came when she played Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley. The sitcom, which aired from 1994 to 2007, was a massive hit and is still celebrated today. Dawn’s portrayal of the bubbly, chocolate-loving vicar in a small English village won her widespread acclaim and several awards.
In addition to The Vicar of Dibley, Dawn has appeared in various other television shows and specials. She starred in the comedy Murder Most Horrid (1991–1999), where she played a variety of roles across different episodes. Dawn also appeared in the BBC drama Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011), and took on a more dramatic role in The Trouble with Maggie Cole (2020), a comedy-drama series.
Dawn French has also appeared in several films. Some of her notable appearances include The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), where she voiced the Fat Lady portrait, and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016), where she reprised her role alongside Jennifer Saunders.
Dawn has also enjoyed a successful stage career. In 2013, she embarked on a one-woman show, 30 Million Minutes, which was a huge success. The show was autobiographical, and combined humor and heartfelt moments as Dawn reflected on her life and career.