Hit Drama Last Tango in Halifax Returning Sooner AND Later!

The critically-acclaimed drama that warmed the cockles of millions of hearts on both sides of the pond is returning, so let the Alan and Celia lovefest, a.k.a. Last Tango in Halifax, continue!

In the Series 1 finale, Alan (Derek Jacobi, Vicious, I, Claudius) and Celia (Anne Reid, Upstairs, Downstairs, Ladies of Letters) had had a bit of rough going. The couple who had fancied each other in their youth and reconnected sixty years later were going to get married, but a falling out led to breaking up. Then while she was making things right, he had a heart attack. After he regained consciousness, Alan and Celia reaffirmed their love for and commitment to each other. (Aww.)

When we pick up with Series 2, Alan and Celia decide not to put off til later what they can do sooner, and they plan a secret wedding at the registry office sans any family members. But secrets have a way of becoming known, and it’s not just theirs that come to light.

Meanwhile, Alan’s widowed farm worker/cashier daughter Gillian (Nicola Walker, MI-5, Touching Evil) and Celia’s divorced school headmistress daughter Caroline (Sarah Lancashire, The Paradise, Lark Rise to Candleford) have let bygones be bygones and are getting on quite well. Others of their relationships and entanglements, though, need to get sorted.

Caroline’s ex-husband John (Tony Gardner, Lead Balloon) is still making a mess of things with her, Gillian, and his on-again, off-again lover Judith (Ronni Ancona, Hope Springs), who does a bit of havoc-wreaking of her own whenever she shows up. Kate (Nina Sosanya, Silk) wants to take her relationship with Caroline as colleague and lover in a direction that the latter hadn’t considered. And Gillian has unexpected additions to her household.

On average, more than 7 million viewers in the UK tuned in to watch both the first and second series of Last Tango in Halifax, the latter of which was hailed as “near to perfect TV as you can get” by The Guardian and “a triumph” by Radio Times.

Series 2 debuts in the US on Sunday, 29 June 2014, at 8 PM ET on PBS. (Check your local listings.)

And there’s more Last Tango in Halifax to look forward to! The BBC recently commissioned a third series of the BAFTA Best Drama winner, which goes into production this year for broadcast in the UK later in 2014 and hopefully the US by mid 2015.

Said Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, “(Writer and executive producer) Sally Wainwright’s heartfelt scripts combined with the outstanding and stellar cast involved meant we couldn’t resist a third series of award-winning drama, Last Tango In Halifax for 2014. I can’t wait to see where these wonderful characters and stories will take the audience to next.”

Ditto!

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