Who's in the cast of Friday Night Dinner, as the hit sitcom returns to Channel 4 for series 6

Among the doom and gloom of the wider world, there is one reason to be cheerful today: Friday Night Dinner is back!

The Channel 4 sitcom returns for its sixth - and likely final - series, a hugely welcome return for the Goodmans and their weekly family meal.

The show - written by Robert Popper - tells the story of two grown-up children who return to the family nest for dinner once a week for the Jewish sabbath.

It's been two years since we last checked in with the Goodmans, but what's harder to believe is that the show has been running for nearly 10 years; the first series broadcast back in 2011.

Here's everything you need to know about it:

Who's on the cast?

The original cast members will be back on screen as the Goodman family for the new series.

Tamsin Greig (Green Wing, Black Books) will be back as mum Jackie, and Paul Ritter (Cold Feet) returns as dad Martin alongside Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners) in the role of Adam.

Tom Rosenthal (Plebs) will be back as Jonny and Mark Heap (Green Wing) returns as oddball neighbour Jim.

Fans will be pleased to hear that 'Horrible Grandma' will be back as actress Rosalind Knight (The Crown, About a Boy) returns to the role.

Former EastEnders actress Tracy Ann Oberman will also be back on screen as Aunty Val.

What will happen in the sixth series?

The new series will be more intense than past series ; creator and writer Robert Popper told a press event: "I think this series is a little bit more extreme," LadBible reported.

Sharing details of the storylines, Popper said in a Channel 4 statement: "I’m really looking forward to exploring new avenues with series six.

"Inspector de Vries (Paul Ritter) will still be working on the Rynsburger case, but this time he's joined by new partner-in-crime, Mees Janssen (Tom Rosenthal), fresh out of Rotterdam Police Academy.

Eva de Bruin (Tamsin Greig) is now trying to regain control of her pharmaceutical company, after an aggressive takeover-bid by the always-cunning Sem Teuling (Simon Bird).

But can ‘Vos’ (Mark Heap) and his faithful dog, ‘de Welson’ save the day?”

Storylines in the latest instalment of the reliably funny sitcom will see Martin buy a rundown old caravan and start living in it, Jackie panic as both her sons get girlfriends, and Aunty Val take up sexting.

All the while Jonny and Adam continue to find new ways to wind each other up.

As the sixth series kicks off, Bird suggested that there won't be a seventh.

“We think this is probably the end of the show,” he told NME.

“Every series it feels more like ‘OK, we’re ready to say goodbye to these characters – we’re really proud of it but we’re ready and happy to move on.’ But who knows.”

When can I watch it?

Series 6 of Friday Night Dinner begins tonight (27 March) on Channel 4 at 10pm.

The episodes will be available on Channel 4's streaming service All 4 after each episode is broadcast.

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