Anne Reid has hinted the fourth series of Last Tango In Halifax will be the last.

The 80-year-old actress, who plays Celia Dawson opposite Derek Jacobi as Alan Buttershaw in the BBC One drama, claimed the show could be ending in 2016.

She told TV Times: “This will be our fourth run and I think that will be enough. Derek and I said we’d only do two series but people love it.

“We’d have been idiots not to do series three and I’m happy to film another, but I hate it when programmes go on too long and become a pale version of the original.”

The show’s fourth series has yet to be filmed.

She added: “I wish I knew when we were starting but our writer, Sally Wainwright, is working on Happy Valley at the moment. I think we’ll find out after Christmas but it’ll depend on when everyone is available.

Anne Reid
Anne Reid stars in Last Tango In Halifax (Yui Mok/PA)

Anne said she has no idea what the future holds for the characters – but hope it won’t be too sad.

“You’ll have to ask Sally how Last Tango will end, but I don’t want anybody dying,” she said.

“I get scripts all the time where I die in scene two and then everybody else mourns you. You can forget that – I want something life-affirming!”

The cast and crew of Last Tango In Halifax at the 2013 TV Baftas
The cast and crew of Last Tango In Halifax at the 2013 TV Baftas (Jon Furniss/Invision/AP)

Last Tango In Halifax, written by Sally Wainwright, follows widowed septuagenarians Celia and Alan, who reunited and rediscovered love after being apart for 60 years.

The show, which also stars Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker, won a Bafta for best drama series in 2013, while Sally was named best drama writer. Sarah halso scooped a prize for best supporting actress at the 2014 TV Baftas.