Two further series of Catastrophe, the sitcom by and starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, have been commissioned by Channel 4.

The third six-part series will go into production in November and will air in 2017; the fourth series will follow after that (timings tbc).

The popular critically-aclaimed show about the trials and tribulations of a transatlantic couple thrown together by an unexpected conception has been a huge success since its introduction in January 2015. It has picked up a raft of awards, been sold to other markets, and has seen its audience grow; figures for the recent second series were 20% higher than the first, averaging 1.4million viewers per episode (UK).

Phil Clarke, head of comedy at Channel 4 said of the news: “I am thrilled to commission a third and fourth series of the multi award-winning Catastrophe. It’s a welcome return for the brave, razor edged, excruciatingly honest and painfully funny portrayal of a modern, long term relationship.”

Sharon and Rob have released the following statement about the commission: “We are thrilled to be making a third series of Catastrophe. Rob and Sharon are a blast to spend time with. And we’re not talking about ourselves in the third person, we’re talking about the characters. We’re eager to breathe life back into Rob and Sharon. Okay, now we are talking about us. In the first series Rob and Sharon went through a lot (us) and even more in the second series (back to the characters). We’re looking forward to putting Rob and Sharon (both us and the characters) through further pain for your enjoyment (now we’re talking about you).”

For anyone who’s not yet been Catastrophe’d and is wondering what it’s all about, here are a couple of handy trailers from Amazon (while we figure out how a Channel 4 series is also an “amazon original”):