Dawn French is starring in a “mischievous” new comedy, Can You Keep a Secret?, with a Friday Night Dinner icon

Dawn French is starring in a “mischievous” new sitcom Can You Keep a Secret? alongside Friday Night Dinner's Mark Heap (who played kooky neighbour, Jim).

In the comedy, Dawn and Mark play a married couple trying to pull off a life insurance scam. Their scheming comes much to the dismay of their son, Harry, who becomes an unwilling confidant and must hide the truth from his police officer wife.

The BBC has described the new show as "the story of an odd little family you haven’t met yet, but that you already know", which places comedy legend Dawn French "in the middle of some mischief we can all relate to." The series has also been written by Simon Mayhew-Archer, who produced the hit BBC comedy This Country, starring Daisy May Cooper and will be directed by Motherland's Simon Hynd.

Now the BBC has confirmed that filming on the show has begun, here's everything we know so far about the exciting release.

What is Can You Keep a Secret? about?

The plot follows 'widow' Debbie - played by Dawn French - who is described in the synopsis as a "granny, lawn bowler, tinpot dictator - who will stop at nothing to make sure her family’s protected." However, the majority of the time, the person her family most need protecting from, is her.

Mark Heap stars as her "hermit-like husband William" who is mistakenly declared dead. The couple make the outlandish decision to go along with the lie, hiding William in the family attic for a few months so they can collect the life insurance pay out and enjoy a comfortable retirement. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, their "easily frazzled son Harry" is already trying to balance busy family life when he is reunited with his dead father and finds himself part of his parents' ploy. As if things weren't complicated enough, his "pathologically pragmatic wife Neha" is a police officer (played by Doctor Who's Mandip Gill), who he's trying to prevent from finding out about his parents' chaotic crime streak.

Who stars in the Can You Keep a Secret?

With filming now officially underway, the four main character stars have been revealed, with further casting details expected in due course. The lead roles of the Fendon family are played by:

• Dawn French as Debbie
• Mark Heap as William
• Craig Roberts as Harry
• Mandip Gill as Neha

Of the new series, Dawn French made the humorous if slightly cryptic comment: "At last...a sitcom where I can keep my top on...mostly."

How can I watch Can You Keep a Secret?

Can You Keep a Secret? will be available to watch on BBC One and to stream on BBC iPlayer. There's no official release date confirmed at this stage for the new series, but with filming underway we expect to see it on screens towards the latter half of this year.