Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan to play Jeeves and Wooster

Mangan, seen most recently in BBC comedy-dramas Episodes and Dirk Gently, will star as hapless man-about-town Bertie Wooster, while Spooks and Ripper Street star Macfadyen will play his brilliantly brainy valet Jeeves, who is constantly getting his employer out of scrapes.

The double act were most memorably portrayed by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in the ITV show Jeeves and Wooster, which ran for four series between 1990 and 1993, but has never been taken to the stage.

Mangan said: "I am ridiculously excited at the prospect of playing the mentally negligible Bertie Wooster on stage and can hardly wait to stagger into the glorious sunshine of Wodehouse's world. And with Jeeves, in the shape of Matthew Macfadyen by my side, what could possibly go wrong?"

Macfadyen called the play "an absolute hoot – a wonderfully crafted and joyful bit of perfect nonsense".

Entitled Perfect Nonsense, it is based on Wodehouse’s 1938 novel The Code of the Woosters, which sees Bertie forced into stealing an item from his uncle’s prized silver collection while the threat of marriage hangs over his head.

Macfadyen and Mangan will debut in the play on 30 October at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End, followed by runs at the Richmond Theatre and Brighton Theatre Royal.

The play is written by brothers Robert and David Goodale and directed by Sean Foley, the man beind the recent stage version of The Ladykillers. Tickets are on sale now.