I got a press release this morning (that’s not unusual) informing me that the BBC have confirmed that Martin Clunes will take the title role in the revival The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Clunes, star of Men Behaving Badly Doc Martin, will be joined Fay Ripley (Cold Feet), Wendy Craig (Butterflies) and Geoffrey Whitehead (Z Cars). That’s all well and good… but is anyone else a bit puzzled at the notion of Clunes playing a businessman having a nervous breakdown and suffering from impotence?

Clunes will be reunited with the writer behind Men Behaving Badly, Simon Nye, who will pen the new series alongside Perrin creator David Nobbs. The book, and the original TV series, contained a dark and bleak subject matter that I hope Clunes… and Nye… will embrace, rather than fluff up. Unfortunately, I can already see lame jokes about not being able to get it up, complete with studio laughter. Here’s to me being proven wrong. In fact, I could well be wrong as the new six-parter is being made by Objective, the independent producer behind Peep Show.

For those too young… or forgetful… Perrin was played by Leonard Rossiter in the original series, aired between 1976 and 1979. The BBC1 controller, Jay Hunt, said the revived show “feels as fresh and sharp now as it did all those years ago”, adding: “It will be a vital part of our overall comedy offering on the channel.”

Lucy Lumsden, the BBC controller of comedy commissioning, said: “To have combined the writing talents of David Nobbs and Simon Nye in a sitcom fronted by Martin Clunes is a dream come true. Added to which, they have come up with an inspired update, rather than a remake, of one of the greatest classic comedies of all time.”