The creator of offbeat Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner has said that the forthcoming sixth season will be the most bonkers yet, having promised us it is 'more extreme' and 'more intense'.
Channel 4 confirmed earlier this week that the new series will kick off at 10pm on Friday 27 March, meaning it's only a matter of weeks before we can return to the weird and wonderful antics of the Goodman family - and, of course, their eccentric neighbour Jim.
And Robert Popper, the genius who has written every single episode of the long-running comedy series, reckons we're in for an even whackier ride - which says a lot, considering we've already had everything from Martin stashing junk food in the toilet cistern and Grandma Nelly rocking a bikini through to Adam's phone being buried in a dog's makeshift grave.
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Speaking at the junket for the new season, Popper told LADbible: "I think this series is a little bit more extreme.
"It's more intense, this series... A bit more exhausting to watch, which is what I wanted to do."
Tamsin Grieg, who plays mum Jackie, also said her character goes through some fairly drastic changes, revealing how she was worried to open her script and find the show's matriarch had taken a bit of a violent turn.
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"I was concerned that Jackie had turned a corner into violence," she said, saying Jackie turns to smacking, kicking and punching in the new series - at one point even hitting Martin with a stick.
"I did send a couple of little messages through to our Bobble [Robert Popper] just to say 'What's that about?' - but, you know, he'll always say 'It's because it's funny'.
"... Not that we agree with smacking."
When quizzed about why the creator and cast think the show has become such an enduring cult classic, they all seemed to place credit on each other.
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"I think they're all brilliant actors," Popper told us, gesturing to Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal beside him.
"And it's about family, people seem to like watching things about family I guess."
Grieg immediately deflected the praise, saying: "We also do need to say as well that the writing is really, really brilliant.
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"Robert Popper is very unusual; he's written 36 scripts on his own - or 37 because there was a Christmas special or Hannukah special - you know it's very, very unusual to get this far in.
"They can't believe that it's one person sitting down at a computer going 'Ooh what's funny?'"
It probably also helps that the cast and crew are just about as close as a real-life family, even holding behind-the-scenes table tennis tournaments each time filming rolls round. This year's wasn't quite as good as previous competitions, apparently, but Popper told us Tom Rosenthal's dad did get in on the action this time.
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As for the future of the show, it sounds as though Popper isn't ruling out any further series.
Asked how long he sees the programme continuing for, Popper - seemingly only semi-joking - said: "Endless series! Who knows, yeah. Forever!"
Friday Night Dinner series six will air each Friday on Channel 4 at 10pm from 27 March.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 4
Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Comedy, UK Entertainment