FIRST LOOK: SANDYLANDS RETURNS TO GOLD THIS OCTOBER

The new series, produced by King Bert Productions, sees the return of Sanjeev Bhaskar (Unforgotten, Porters) as the one-and-only Les Vegas, and Natalie Dew (Roadkill) as Emily Verma. This series also welcomes Tracy-Ann Oberman (Friday Night Dinner, Toast of London) as Donna Vegas, Emily's estranged mother and diva extraordinaire.

Other returning cast include David Walliams (After Ever After, The Midnight Gang) and Sophie Thompson (Feel Good, Coronation Street) as oddball next door neighbours Derek and Jeannie Swallows, plus Simon Bird (Friday Night Dinner, Inbetweeners) as police officer Nathan Wild and Craig Parkinson (Line of Duty, The English Game) as local nightclub owner Terry Chino. Harriet Webb (I May Destroy You, The Split) also steps back into the role of Emily's BFF, Tina Taylor.

Writers Martin Collins and Alex Finch said: "We are so excited to be back in Sandylands and working with the brilliant team at UKTV. We can't wait for everyone to see what we've got in store for our incredible cast and are absolutely delighted to be welcoming some amazing new faces on a return trip to the beautiful British seaside."

Series one of Sandylands closed on Les (Bhaskar) once again taking to the high seas in a pedalo, this time accompanied by his long-suffering daughter Emily (Dew), who he was hoping would be doing most of the pedalling in a bid to escape the clutches of the vindictive and mysterious One Eyed Man (played by Hugh Bonneville). After what feels like an eternity at sea, series two sees our heroic but also law-breaking duo marooned on a beach that could be literally anywhere but turns out to actually still be in Sandylands.

Pete Thornton said: "Sandylands is a special place for me, and I'm really pleased to finally be returning to it after the long winter months of lockdown. Series one introduced us to a clutch of highly original characters played by an extraordinarily talented cast, and I know the Gold audience will be looking forward to their further adventures, as imagined by two of our most original comic minds, Alex Finch and Martin Collins."