Miranda is returning to screens soon after its star promised Sam Neill it would

Sam Neill might well have a bit more clout than even he thought.

Not even two weeks ago, he appeared on the Graham Norton Show with Miranda Hart, who promised the Kiwi star she would bring back her now-cancelled show Miranda if he asked her to.

She said: "I would bring back Miranda if you wanted to be in it. I'm so excited, I don't know what to do."

To which he responded: "Yeah, c'mon, let's do it ... anything you want."

And now it seems to really be happening.

When asked about rumours of a Miranda movie, star Sarah Hadland - who plays Miranda's best friend Stevie - told the Daily Telegraph: "I can say there will be something", just not when or what.

Of course, it's entirely possible a reunion was on the cards before Hart's meeting with Sam Neill, but the timing is suspicious.

Either way, it's good news for Miranda fans and for Hadland, who still remembers doubting the show - particularly the first time her co-star wanted to push her off a stool.

"I was thinking, 'What? Is this going to be funny?'" she told the Daily Telegraph.

"I thought the audience must be rigged - they were going nuts for it."

And while not all critics embraced the show, Hadland says it's about those fans who continued to go nuts for it over the course of three seasons.

"If 12 million people think it's funny and watch and the critics don't like it, that's OK," she says.

"I was shocked that teenage girls loved it. Stevie and Miranda are not cool. We're 40-year-old women acting like kids. It turned out that they were desperate to see someone on TV that was as awkward as they felt.

"I feel really lucky to have done a job where you come away with a really good friend for the rest of your life."