Last Tango In Halifax

Last Tango in Halifax returns with nearly 6m on BBC One

Last Tango in Halifax returned for a new series with just under 6 million on Tuesday, according to overnight data.

Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid return in Sally Wainwright's simply excellent family saga. Celia is overjoyed when Alan regains consciousness after the heart attack. And for a brief moment it's all happy families as both clans unite over the good news. But soon, Gillian purges her guilt over her night with John and the foundations quake anew. Every moment feels like truth thanks to a script so tightly woven you could strain tea through it. Such acting, such writing; it's as near to perfect television as you can get.

Last Tango in Halifax returns for more generation games

One of the things that makes Last Tango so life-like is how wonderfully petty and two-faced it allows its characters to be, and the scenes between Caroline and Gillian are deftly handled by Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker.

Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid resume their touching romance as mature lovebirds Alan and Celia for a second season of laughter and tears. Having narrowly cheated death last time out, Alan has a renewed zest for life and, apart from a spot of rock climbing, what he really, really, wants to do is be married to Celia - and the sooner the better. As for daughters Gillian and Caroline, the near-fatal crisis appears to have brought the families closer together. But the honeymoon period hits turbulence when Caroline's wastrel ex John enters the scene and complex emotions bubble to the surface. Nicola Walker, Sarah Lancashire and Tony Gardner co-star.

At the end of the first series of Sally Wainwright's winning, warm-hearted drama, dear Alan was hovering between life and death after a heart attack. Obviously he survives, or there wouldn't be much point in returning to Yorkshire for a second helping.

It's great to see everyone again in a drama where pensioners are loved, cherished and never dismissed as inconvenient, and this time the masterly Wainwright has broadened the drama to dig deeper into other characters, notably Caroline (Sarah Lancashire, who's excellent) the newly-confident and newly out lesbian. While Alan and Celia (Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid) mend the relationship that almost fractured for ever, there's a shift in the tectonic plates in the romantic lives of their families. Just look at poor Gillian (Nicola Walker), who is made to pay for her terrible mistake in sleeping with John (Tony Gardner), Caroline's pathologically hopeless estranged husband. No one does bleating wretchedness like Gardner - no one.

Last year's first series of Last Tango was both a surprise hit and proof that the BBC wasn't entirely comprised of sneering ageists. The familial drama - centred around a pair of septuagenarian lovebirds - has reportedly even been snapped up by Diane Keaton with a view to an American remake.

We've got two pieces of advice for Diane, should she be reading. Firstly, don't try and cast Woody Allen to play opposite you, cute though it may sound on paper. Secondly, if you reach a second series, don't start it on quite such a sombre note as this new run begins on. Whereas the first series began with the joys of new-found love (and the lols of seeing oldies on Facebook), we reconvene tonight after Alan's (Derek Jacobi) heart attack.

If that wasn't enough of a bummer, the delicate romantic entanglements of the pair's respective offspring make for a slightly confusing 15 minutes. Yet, despite the absence of any initial sugar-coating, Last Tango thankfully remains as charming and well played as ever.

Last Tango in Halifax, BBC1, episode 1, series 2 review

Last Tango in Halifax with Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid is a welcome and unmissable returnee to our wintry TV schedules.

Interview: Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid

Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid are perfectly in step, whether smashing stereotypes or snuggling up with Daniel Craig.

Review: Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid shine

As it was one of my favourite programmes of last year, I was incredibly glad to have Last Tango in Halifax back on our TV screens. The joy of the show is watching a romance that you believe in.

You don't need to be a spring chicken to flirt or fall in love - as last year's surprise hit Last Tango In Halifax certainly proved.

Seven million viewers were hooked as love-struck wrinklies Alan and Celia, both in their seventies, rediscovered their love for each other, 60 years after first meeting.

Sweet and often hilarious, the series bagged a Bafta and returns for a second run.

"At my age, to get a part like Celia is manna from heaven," admits Anne Reid, 78. "There aren't enough roles for older actresses. I feel very lucky indeed."

The first episode picks up from where we left off with Alan (Derek Jacobi) regaining consciousness from his heart scare, much to Celia's relief.

Reflecting that life's too short, they decide to get married - in a fortnight!

Elsewhere, Sarah Lancashire and Tony Gardner return as Celia's daughter Caroline and her hubby John.

He gets drunk and ends up in bed with Judith (Ronni Ancona).

"I've been in this business a long time," says excited former Corrie actress Anne, "but I've never known anything like this."