Frasier reboot: Laura Linney shares update on possible return

Virgin Radio

14 Jun 2023, 07:23

With acclaimed sitcom Frasier coming back after nearly two decades, Laura Linney has spoken about whether her character will be back.

The Ozark star featured towards the end of the original run of shows, when she portrayed matchmaker Charlotte. The titular character fell in love with Charlotte in the final season in 2004, before she moved to Chicago. The finale (spoiler alert) ended with the radio psychiatrist relocating from Seattle to be with her.

With the rebooted show set to land on Paramount+ later this year, fans are wondering whether Linney’s Charlotte will play a part in the new episodes, or whether she will go the way of other familiar faces, who will not be appearing. 

Niles and Daphne, played by David Hyde Pierce and Jane Reeves, won’t be making a comeback, and John Mahoney, who played Frasier’s dad Martin, passed away in 2018 aged 77. However, Peri Gilpin, who played producer Roz Doyle, and Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith Sternin) are due to make an appearance. 

When Love Actually star Linney was asked by Metro whether Charlotte will be back on our screens, she replied: “Not that I know of!”

Speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of her new movie the Miracle Club, she added: “I love that whole group of people,” but that she has “no idea what their plans are," and that “they’re keeping it close to the vest.”

The show will feature a host of new characters, as it focuses on Frasier’s life in a new city. One such newbie will be played by an Only Fools and Horses legend, Nicholas Lyndhurst, who was Rodney Trotter in the hit BBC series. The British star previously worked with lead actor Kelsey Grammer in Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum in 2019.

The Cheers spin-off is one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, having won a whopping 37 Emmy Awards over 11 seasons and 264 episodes between 1993 and 2004.