Dawn French is back on our screens in TV's first unmissable comedy series of 2026. Add comedy legend Mark Heap and the intensely watchable Craig Roberts into the mix, and Can You Keep A Secret? is the show to blow away those January blues.
The six-part series is written by Simon Mayhew-Archer (producer of smash-hit This Country,) and kicks off on January 7 at 9.30pm, on BBC One.
Viewers can look forward to seeing Dawn French as overprotective widow Debbie Fendon, in the aftermath of her husband William's (Mark Heap) unexpected death.
However, Debbie isn’t really a widow and William is still very much alive, he was just mistakenly declared dead.
This presents the couple with an opportunity too good to miss - all William needs to do is hide out in the loft for a while and the life insurance payout will give them both an epic retirement.
Cue the chaos of keeping their big secret, coupled with the hindrance of their easily frazzled son Harry (Craig Roberts) and his ever-pragmatic wife Neha (Mandip Gill), who also happens to be a police officer...
If you're worried about missing out on what will be one of the comedy events of the year, there's no need to be, as we share how to tune into Can You Keep A Secret? from anywhere in the world.
How to watch Can You Keep A Secret? in the UK
If you're in the UK, it's very simple to watch Can You Keep A Secret? as it's free to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Providing you have a TV licence, you can watch the episodes when they begin airing on January 7 at 9.30pm.
You can either watch the episodes weekly when they air, or all at once if you prefer - they'll all be made available to view at once on BBC iPlayer on demand on the day the first episode is shown.
BBC iPlayer is free to use, and all you need is an email address, UK postcode and TV licence to sign up for an iPlayer on demand account.
How to watch Can You Keep A Secret? from anywhere in the world
If you’re going to be away from your usual TV set-up when Can You Keep A Secret? starts airing, but don't want to wait a single moment to see the iconic return of Dawn French to your screen, there's no need to worry.
You can still enjoy all six episodes available, with the use of a Virtual Private Network - a VPN.
A VPN allows you to change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to the show, even if you're not there.
Our sister site, TechRadar, has tested all of the major VPN services and they rate Nord to be the absolute best.
They say, "It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services, and ranks among the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. So for a one-stop-shop, you can’t go wrong with Nord."
If you've never installed a VPN before, don't worry, it's quick and easy. Just follow these three steps:
- Download and install the VPN following NordVPN's easy-to-follow instructions.
- Once you've installed your VPN, open the app and select your server location as anywhere in the UK.
- With your VPN installed and server location set to UK, you can now watch Can You Keep A Secret? on BBC iPlayer.
Speaking about what to expect from the character of Debbie, Dawn French says, "Right from the off I could see that she's one of those people that absolutely believes she's always right. I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my life, been sat firmly in that righteous place the way Debbie is."
She adds, "I may have often imagined that I could be right, but I’ll err on the side of thinking, ‘I'm probably wrong about this’. Debbie just doesn't have that anxiety or filter."
"She’s made a split decision in a mad moment, and once the decision is made, unless she’s prepared to go to prison, she knows she’d better man up and deal with it. I guess once you make a life-changing decision like that, and you jump into the dilemma of it, you've got to gird your loins and get on with it because once you’re in, you’re in."
