Harry Hill comedy Professor Branestawm will return this Christmas

Branestawm mark 2 is expected to follow in the footsteps of last year’s show which saw Fast Show star Charlie Higson distill Norman Hunter's classic children's books into a 60-minute drama.

Hill will once again play the eccentric Prof with returns also expected for Vicki Pepperdine as the highly-strung housekeeper Mrs Flittersnoop and Simon Day who made a memorable Colonel Dedshott of the Catapult Cavaliers.

The Christmas special brought to life the almost-blind Professor's madcap scientific experiments in a plot fashioned by Higson around Hunter's many short stories about his exploits.

The script revolved around Mrs Flittersnoop's young science-obsessed niece Connie (Madeline Holliday) who comes to the rescue when local councillor Harold Haggerstone (David Mitchell) and a businessman played by Ben Miller conspire to wreck the Professor’s village with a “giant munitions factory right in the middle of the town”. It is not known if Mitchell and Miller will be making returns.

Higson revealed that he developed the character of Connie partly to provide a more engaging foil to the Professor but also to encourage children – especially young girls – into science.

Hill disclosed last year that he had something in common with his character when he was a schoolboy inventor, often trying without success to make gunpowder with his friends.