Debbie Fendon is a force to be reckoned with. A speed-walking, recently widowed stalwart of the local community, mother of one (the easily overwhelmed Harry), she is played by Dawn French with a mixture of the vicar of Dibley’s indefatigable energy, edged with a hint of the shimmering wildness that accompanied her best work in the days of French and Saunders. Debbie is the driving force in Simon Mayhew-Archer’s debut sitcom Can You Keep a Secret? – and that secret is that Debbie’s husband, William, was mistakenly declared dead after taking too much of his Parkinson’s medication, by a germ-phobic doctor who didn’t want to get too near the body. Debbie persuaded William to stay “dead” for the life insurance payout, which she now has in cash, in a large holdall under the stairs.
What kind of a husband could be persuaded to do such a thing, you wonder? But then William turns out to be played by Mark Heap, and anything becomes possible. William was always hermit-like and now it is simply enforced. “The wonderful thing about you,” Debbie says, “is that you might as well have been dead for the last 68 years.” When he does start longing for the occasional trip to the shops, she is baffled. “What are you going to start missing next? Laser Quest?”
