Ralf Little's The Cafe also recommissioned

Sky has ordered a second series of Ruth Jones's comedy Stella.

Another ten episodes have been commissioned, to air on Sky1 early next year,.

Jones said: ‘I'm over the moon that Sky want more Stella. I'm looking forward to getting back to Pontyberry, even though the place doesn't exist.’

The first series began last month with 720,000 viewers – twice Sky’s usual audience for the slot.

Sky's head of comedy, Lucy Lumsden, said: 'All hail Ruth Jones. Stella was our first and biggest original comedy commission and we are thrilled that our customers love it as much as we do. Bring on the second series.'

The broadcaster has also ordered a second series of The Café, which hasn’t made quite the same impact as Stella, but shows Sky’s commitment to giving sitcoms enough episodes to establish themselves. Second series for Spy, Trollied, Mount Pleasant and This Is Jinsy are all in the pipeline.

Another eight episodes of The Café have been commissioned for broadcast next year, and they will again be directed by Craig Cash and star Ralf Little, both from the Royle Family. Little co-wrote the show with co-star Michelle Terry.

The news comes the day after Comedy Central confirmed it has ordered a second series of its first home-grown sitcom Threesome.

Published: 9 Feb 2012