Year of the Rabbit to return for 2nd series

\'Year of the Rabbit\' will return for a second series.

The Channel 4 comedy series will see Matt Berry reprise his role as as the booze-hound detective Rabbit, alongside his hapless partner Strauss and police officer Mabel - played by Freddie Fox and Susan Wokoma respectively - as they fight crime in Victorian London.

Matt, 45 - who also writes the show with Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil - said: "I\'m looking forward to Inspector Rabbit returning back to our screens to fight crime in the past.

"This time he\'ll deal with all sorts of unearthly forces, including the Royal Family! Victorian London is presently very much where it\'s at."

Series one - which came to a close in July - left viewers at a cliffhanger when Keeley Hawes\' scheming character Lydia fooled the detectives with Strauss falling head over heels for her, and Mabel mistakenly teaming up with her.

What\'s more, the gang had caught the attention of the Queen, who has a special secret mission in mind for them.

Fiona McDermott, head of comedy at Channel 4, added: "\'Year of the Rabbit\' is one of the most glorious, gutsy and audacious comedies on TV, made by a fantastic cast and crew who relish every detail.

"We\'re thrilled to welcome it back. Here\'s to more absurd capers in the dark underbelly of Victorian London."

The writers have previously reflected on the success of the first series after gaining positive reviews from fans and critics.

Kevin Cecil admitted it was "quite difficult" to craft a show that worked both as a comedy sitcom and an action-packed Victorian crime thriller.

He said: "It\'s quite hard to write a comedy, and it\'s quite hard to write a compelling police drama - when you do both, it\'s a nightmare!"

Andy added: "In the old days, you never had to do this in sitcoms. When we were writing \'Black Books\' in the early 2000s, what you\'d do back then - which was the norm for sitcoms at that point - was you\'d do your six episodes, each of them was completely standalone, and then you\'d choose the [transmission] order once they were filmed.

"Now, people want more than that."