Mount Pleasant, Sky1's comedy drama about a group of friends and family in England's north-west, has been recommissioned for a Christmas special and second series.

Created and written by Sarah Hooper, previously a writer on Channel 4's Shameless, the comedy drama focusses on husband and wife Lisa and Dan, and an assortment of colleagues, friends and family, with distinctly middle-class lifestyles proving that it's not all "grim up north".

Head of Comedy at Sky, Lucy Lumsden, has been very enthusiastic about the show, and described it as having "really connected" with the Sky1 audience.

Starring Sally Lindsay and Daniel Ryan, with an ensemble cast including comedy legend Bobby Ball, Paula Wilcox, Pauline Collins and Angela Griffin, the eight part first series concluded last night with audience figures hovering just under the 500,000 mark over the course of the run.

Executive producer Sophie Clarke-Jervoise of the show's production company, Tiger Aspect, said that "Series two will move to even bigger, bolder stories to keep the audience hooked throughout."

Sky1 also recently recommissioned supermarket sitcom Trollied for two further series and Christmas special, totalling 37 episodes. In a continued push into the comedy field, their next sitcom, Spy, launches tomorrow night.