Gillian (left) and Caroline in the new season of Last Tango In Halifax
The original main characters return (from left to right): Caroline, Celia, Alan and Gillian
PHOTOS BBC/LOOKOUT POINT/MATT SQUIRE
BAFTA award-winning Last Tango In Halifax is back, and oh, has it been a long time coming. Indeed, there was much speculation about whether it would return at all. So how does writer Sally Wainwright feel to finally be tango-ing again? “It feels really good,” the 57-year-old tells me when we talk on the phone the day after a screening of the first episode. “There’s been a fantastic response from the audience. It’s all been very positive and good fun.” The original premise for the show, two widowed pensioners who rekindle an old romance after reconnecting on social media, is based on Sally’s mother, who herself married again at 75. Five seasons in, how closely – if at all – does it resemble real life? “What happened was that my mum got married to Alec Walker. They were both 75. But they were only married for four years before he died, so it’s really taken on a life of its own now, and moved away [from the real story].