The Darling Buds Of May is set to return to ITV after 30 years

IT was once a TV institution and “perfick” Sunday night family viewing. Now classic drama The Darling Buds Of May is set for a comeback.

ITV is rebooting the Nineties show, which starred David Jason and launched the career of Catherine Zeta Jones , to fill the hour-long gap left by The Durrells ending.

The cockle-warming tale of the eccentric Larkin family, who lived in rural Kent in the ­Fifties, first aired in 1991 and ran for three successful series.

A TV insider said: “A revamped version of The ­Darling Buds Of May is just the kind of show ITV needs to keep its reputation for making family-friendly dramas.

“It brought people together around the TV almost three decades ago, and they’re hoping it will provide the same shared experience once again.”

Sir David, best known as Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses, played central character Pop Larkin, who was always thinking up money-making schemes and introduced Britain to his one-word catchphrase “Perfick”.

Catherine played his eldest daughter Mariette before going off to Hollywood to become a movie star and marry fellow screen actor Michael Douglas.

The show also starred Pam Ferris as Ma Larkin and Philip Franks as Charley Charlton, who became Mariette’s husband. The new version is expected to be written by Simon Nye, who also wrote The Durrells, starring Keeley Hawes.

It is not known if David and Catherine will appear, but ­discussions with high-profile actors are still in progress, according to news which broke yesterday.

I hope ITV knows what it is doing, because trying to recreate the magic of a cherished classic is always risky.

No news for Sir Trevor

IT seems every channel is doing its own ancestry show these days, and there’s no shortage of celebs keen to trace their family trees.

But one famous face you will not see on a series like BBC1’s Who Do You Think You Are? is news legend Sir Trevor McDonald – despite the fact he knows very little about his relations.

Sir Trevor, whose mother was Afro-Caribbean and father Indian, said: “It was only much, much later in my life I met my grandmother for the first time and learned she was more Indian than African. I wish I had asked more questions of my grandmother. I don’t know if McDonald was a slave name – the plantation owner might have been a Scot.

My grandmother would have known these things. But I’ll never do Who Do You Think You Are? It’s my idea of hell.”

That’s a shame, I reckon it would make incredible viewing.

Kyle show gap filled at last

AFTER months of speculation, ITV has confirmed how it will fill the slot that became vacant when The Jeremy Kyle Show was axed in May.

From January 6, Good Morning Britain will run from 6am to 9am – a 30- minute increase – and Lorraine Kelly’s show will air for an hour from 9am, instead of the usual 55 minutes from 8.30am.

This Morning will also be stretched another half an hour, starting at 10am and running until 12.30pm, when Loose Women will begin as usual.

Jeremy Kyle’s show was cancelled after one of its guests, 63-year-old Steve Dymond, was found dead after failing a love-cheat lie detector test on the programme.

ITV boss Kevin Lygo said: “Our new schedule presents the opportunity to engage with our audience throughout the first part of each day, with some of the most well-known shows on television, in a way that no other channel does.”

I’m sure Lorraine will be grateful to get an extra wee lie-in, too.

Alison’s liaisons

THIS Morning’s showbiz reporter Alison Hammond is to appear on the next series of Celebs Go Dating.

The former Big Brother contestant is the latest household name to be lined up for E4’s hit show.

Her capture follows news that Mel B is on the brink of joining.

Earlier this week, Alison – who has enjoyed off-the-wall chats with a string of superstars on This Morning – was given the thumbs-up for her own hour-long daytime talk show. There’s no stopping her right now.

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