Meet The Richardsons set to return for Series 3
- Lucy Beaumont is currently writing a third series of hit mockumentary Meet The Richardsons
- The comic is contemplating moving her fictionalised family away from Hebden Bridge
- Meet The Richardsons' second series is due to start on Dave on Thursday, with Johnny Vegas returning
Work has begun on a third series of Meet The Richardsons, before the second has even aired, Lucy Beaumont has revealed.
Returning to Dave on Thursday, the semi-improvised mockumentary - in which Beaumont and her husband, fellow comic Jon Richardson, portray a heightened version of their marriage, raising their daughter Elsie - will conclude with the couple contemplating leaving Hebden Bridge and moving to London.
"There is a third series that I'm writing at the moment, so you do find out whether we leave or not" Beaumont told Zoe Ball on her Radio 2 breakfast show.
When Ball asked if the Richardsons were going to move in real life, Beaumont, who co-writes the series with Car Share creator Tim Reid, was more coy. But she complained that: "Yeah, in real life, it's just not a direct train to London".
"Lucy's not as much of a fan of rain and breweries as I am, so it's always been a tension about living in Hebden Bridge" Richardson said.
Despite this cliffhanger ending for the eight new episodes, which followed the two-part Meet The Richardsons At Christmas, a spokesperson for Dave told British Comedy Guide that the third series of the hit comedy, which is made by Second Act Productions, has not yet officially been greenlit.
Meet The Richardsons' first episode, which aired in February last year, was Dave's second most-watched show through lockdown. Attracting 1.13million viewers in total, it was beaten only by the Red Dwarf feature-length episode The Promised Land.
"It's less focused on the marriage and more Lucy's attempts to break it down by continuing her professional allegiance to Rob Beckett to annoy me" Richardson said of the new storylines, adding that his wife also takes the opportunity to flirt with Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud.
Elsewhere, fictional Richardson gets to make his dream project, a documentary about Yorkshire singer songwriter Jake Thackray, which he films with Sally Phillips. And Beaumont begins shooting a BBC One sitcom pilot, directed by Johnny Vegas.
"The series echoes our real life. So Lucy's very much in the ascendant and I am on the way down, physically and professionally" Richardson said.
The guest stars have "been really good sports" Beaumont added. "I think people have really enjoyed it haven't they? Because it's sort of like playing.
"When we did the Christmas special, Jason Donovan loved it, because you can turn up, you don't have to learn any lines."
"It's just bullying me isn't it basically?" Richardson retorted. "Day one, Sally Phillips, it's not in the script, licked a tissue and wiped a smear off my cheek in a motherly manner, to intimidate me. And it worked! Exceptional. Sally Phillips, what a legend."
Professional actors are not the only ones enjoying guesting on the show. The couple's real-life neighbours, Damion and Emma Priestley, have negotiated an increased fee for appearing in the latest series, Richardson told Scott Mills and Chris Stark on their BBC Radio 5 Live show on Saturday.
Richardson has also rubbished reports that he is to take over hosting A Question Of Sport from Sue Barker, calling them an "entire fabrication".
"One of the joys of being slightly involved in telly is some days it's bit quiet and you wake up to a load of texts from your mates saying 'why are you trying to oust Sue Barker?'" he told Ball. "I've got absolutely no intention of ousting Sue Barker. Sue Barker's wonderful. I think she should carry on what she's doing personally."
Meanwhile, Beaumont's "mumoir", Drinking Custard: The Diary of a Confused Mum, is published on the 30th of September and features "interruptions" from her husband.
She is also developing an adult animation. Appearing on Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's Parenting Hell podcast last year, she said: "I am writing a cartoon but it's definitely not for kids. It's about a family of Welsh hamsters that think they're the Kardashians. Called The Hamdashians."