'The Larkins' cast confirm there will be a Christmas special

The Larkins might not have aired its first episode yet, but the cast has revealed it has already been given a Christmas special.

A reboot of The Darling Buds of May which was based on H.E. Bates' novels, the series stars Bradley Walsh and Joanna Scanlan as Pop and Ma Larkin and will be hitting ITV's festive schedules this Christmas.

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But Scanlan teased that the special episode might not follow the predictable, cosy family Christmas storyline that viewers might be expecting.

She said: "I think you think you know what you're going to get, and I don't think you're going to get what you think you're going to get out of this Christmas special.

"I will not say a word specifically but there are lots of twists and turns in it."

The Getting On star added: "But the one thing I think it really does is it genuinely does remind you what Christmas is about, what it really is about, as well as of course I hope giving you a lot of laughs and pleasure along the way.

"But it's got a twist, to say the least of it."

Walsh added that while he hoped the ITV drama would get a second series, he thought he might have to lay off the lavish spreads created by Ma Larkin and admitted he had "put on 8lb" whilst filming the first series.

He said of a second series: "Well, to be fair, it would be great, but I can't keep going out and buying new clothes that are bigger. We've got to calm down on the eating side.

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"We've got to now go and live somewhere by the sea and have a mediterranean diet."

Original 90s adaptation The Darling Buds of May starred David Jason and Pam Ferris as the Larkin parents, and made a star of Catherine Zeta-Jones as their daughter - a role now played by Bridgerton's Sabrina Bartlett.

The Larkins begins on Sunday, 10 October at 8pm on ITV.

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