The A Word gets a second series

"I am delighted that the show has resonated with a wide audience and am thrilled to have the opportunity to take the family and Joe further along their journey," said Bowker, the man behind BBC dramas Marvellous and Capital. "Also delighted to be rifling through my musical history and calling it work.

"If the first series was about diagnosis and denial then the second series is about the journey that is undertaken when you 'go public' about the fact that your child is different. This series is both about being the family with a child that is different in a small community as well as being a part of the wider 'autism community' and all that this entails."

Airing on BBC1 earlier this year, the drama won critical acclaim and regularly pulled in more than four million viewers in overnight figures.

Also earning a recommission is BBC2 drama Peaky Blinders which will air for another two series, the BBC has announced. All episodes will continue to be written by creator Steven Knight who said: "I am genuinely thrilled at the response to the third series of the show. The prospect of writing series four and five is truly exciting. This is a real passion project for me and I look forward to telling more stories of the Shelby family."

Cillian Murphy added: "Tommy Shelby is one of the most intense, challenging characters I've had the opportunity to play. I'm particularly grateful that Steven's original, dynamic writing and the long form series allow me to explore Tommy in depth. I very much look forward to Tommy's evolution over the next two chapters."

Filming on series 4 will begin in 2017.