Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Amanda Redman – who portrays Dr Lydia Fonseca in the ITV drama – is “honoured” that the cast and crew have been able to return to Sri Lanka to shoot the Good Karma Hospital series 4, the next instalment of the six-part drama – which is set in southern India – amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “After such a difficult and challenging year for the whole world and film industry it is an honour to return to our beloved Sri Lanka with its wonderful film crews and actors to make this much-loved series four possible.

“We can’t wait to get started. The storylines are bigger and better than ever.”

As well as Amanda, regular stars Amrita Acharia, Neil Morrissey, Darshan Jariwala and Nimmi Harasgama will also return for the fourth season, which will feature guest appearances from the likes of ‘Downton Abbey’ actress Raquel Cassidy, Line of Duty’s Ace Bhatti, ‘Enola Holmes’ star Connor Catchpole, Feel Good’s Chetna Pandya, and ‘Our Girl’ actor Jonas Khan.

What’s more, several stars are joining as new series regulars.

Our Girl’s Harki Bhambra will star as high-flying and charismatic Dr Samir Hasan, a British Asian surgeon.

And ‘Ginny & Georgia’ star Rebecca Ablack has joined the cast as confident and dynamic Dr Nikita ‘Niki’ Sharma, a young, newly qualified doctor whose father is a highly successful surgeon in Kochi and who has insisted all his children spend a year doing something “difficult”.

ITV Drama Commissioner Chloe Tucker said: “We are delighted that ‘The Good Karma Hospital’ is returning to our screens.

“Tiger Aspect have brilliantly taken on the challenge of shooting in Sri Lanka again during these difficult times, and this series introduces us to exciting new characters alongside much-loved cast, and fantastic stories from Dan Sefton and the writing team.”