Gold has ordered six more episodes of Marley's Ghosts, its sitcom about a woman who discovers she can talk to the dead - which sadly means she must communicate with her dead husband, her dead lover and the deceased local vicar.

The channel broadcast three episodes of the comedy in September and October 2015 as part of a pilot run. In the process, Marley's Ghosts became the second highest rated show on Gold across the whole year with an average audience of 351,000 an episode, 243% up on the average for its schedule slot.

Six new episodes - including a Christmas special - have now been ordered from creator Daniel Peacock and writer James Dean. Sarah Alexander who plays the central character of Marley, John Hannah who plays Marley's husband Adam, Nicholas Burns who portrays her lover Michael, and Jo Joyner who is the Vicar, will all return for the new series.

The second series will see magistrate Marley trying to live her life while unwillingly sharing her house with the three ghosts. Marley is put through the minefield of moody teenagers, jealous neighbours and new romances, while her resident ghosts continue to inflict havoc along the way.

UKTV commissioner Simon Lupton says: "The pilot run of Marley's Ghosts received an overwhelmingly positive response from our viewers. Launching scripted comedies can be a challenge so we are incredibly proud of this series and its performance and couldn't wait to give Danny Peacock the go ahead to take us back into that world. We are happy to announce that the fantastic cast of Sarah Alexander, John Hannah, Nicholas Burns and Jo Joyner are returning to the series and will be bringing Marley, Adam, Michael and the Vicar back to life (so to speak) for us."

Steve North, the General Manager of Gold, adds: "Marley's Ghosts connected brilliantly with the Gold audience and we are delighted to welcome it back for a full series. We are all in high spirits to see the superb cast return to our screens later this year."

Executive Producer Layla Smith comments: "We love Marley's Ghosts - a great concept, terrific writing and a wonderful cast. We were just delighted that Gold viewers liked the show too and now we get to make some more."

Marley's Ghosts is made by John Stanley Productions. CEO Matt Lucas comments: "I'm thrilled that this series is returning. The writing is consistently inventive and original and the cast bring it to life brilliantly."

Series 2 of Marley's Ghosts will be shown on Gold later this year.

Below is a video going behind-the-scenes on the first series, which explains more about the premise: