Beloved BBC drama doubt as lead star says 'we wouldn't do another series'

21 March 2023 , 12:38

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Beloved BBC drama doubt as lead star says 'we wouldn't do another series'

BBC One's The Last Tango in Halifax will not be returning any time soon, according to leading star Anne Reid who feared the show won't be remade.

The hit drama ran between 2012 and 2016 although it returned for a fifth series in 2020 but no more episodes will be filmed.

Anne, 87, who played Celia Dawson on the programme recently appeared on Good Morning Britain where she shared the devastating news.

She went on to tease that a special one-off episode during the festive period, although she didn't confirm whether it would be this year.

The actress was quizzed by Ed Balls on the future of the programme as she revealed: "We wouldn't do another series, I don't think, we might do a Christmas special"

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Anne Reid appears to have confirmed the future of the Last Tango in Halifax (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

She later went on to add: "It would be lovely, I know Derek [Jacobi] is up for it and I talk to Sarah [Lancashire], I don't know about Nicola [Walker], she said 'I think a Christmas special would be nice.'"

However, the last episode of season five left things open to a possible return in the future.

Season five of the fan-favourite show which also starred Josh Bolt aired in 2020 following a minor delay after writer Sally Wainright struggled to find the time to write the final season.

Wainright had been busy writing Happy Valley with Sarah Lancashire taking the starring role in the BBC BBC drama alongside Siobhan Finneran and James Norton.

The actress starred alongside Sarah Lancashire on the show (BBC/Lookout Point)

The show follows former childhood sweethearts Celia and Alan Buttershaw [Jacobi] who were both widowed when they reunited in their 70s.

Both of their grandsons help the couple to reunite thanks to social media before they eventually go on to marry one another after discovering that Celia was in a relationship but was "unfulfilled" and had grown to hate the man she had married.

Elsewhere, the show also focuses on Caroline [Lancashire] and Gillian [Walker], the daughters of Celia and Alan from previous relationships, who are polar opposites of one another.

Anne confirmed that Sarah and Derek were happy to go ahead but she was not sure wether Nicola would agree (BBC)

Widowed Gillian works part-time in a supermarket while also running a farm in West Yorkshire, despite having been educated at Oxford.

Meanwhile, Caroline is the head of a private school but believes that Celia's relationship will help her to "finally admit to being who she really is" after falling for a female colleague.

Writer Sally has previously opened up about the programme, explaining that the show is loosely based on the experience of her mum's relationship with a former school pal later on in life.

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Sally's mum Dorothy met her partner Alec on Friends Reunited, six decades after they last saw one another.

The BBC has been approached for comment.

Daniel Bird