The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird on the planned reboot: "It's really weird... it’ll just be a different show with the same title"

Simon Bird, who played Will McKenzie in the hugely popular E4 comedy, told us he thought the concept was "really weird".

"More weird than the fact it will be with a new cast – which would just be necessary seeing as we’re all about 54 years old – it’s the fact that it’d be without the writers," he told RadioTimes.com. "In that case it’s just not going to be The Inbetweeners. It’ll just be a different show with the same title."

Simon Bird with Joe Thomas, Blake Harrison and James Buckley in The Inbetweeners

It's been reported that production company Banijay UK wants to bring the comedy to a new generation, with Chief Operating Officer Peter Langenberg saying he is keen to "revitalise" the show, which was originally written and created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris.

Meanwhile Bird is currently making his stage debut in West End play The Philanthropist alongside Charlotte Ritchie, Tom Rosenthal, Matt Berry and Lily Cole. As the lead, he's in nearly every scene.

"What I keep coming back to is that I’m really confident that the play is good," he said of his nerves surrounding such a big role in the Simon Callow production.

"So that’s what’s getting me through it at the moment. I think I’m nervous about knowing my lines – I’m nervous about the first night. But I think after that I’m pretty confident it’s going to be good, which is quite rare for me because I’m usually paralysed by crippling anxieties about everything I do.

"But I really love this play and I just want as many people as possible to see it."

Simon Bird stars in The Philanthropist at The Trafalgar Studios from 3rd April to 22nd July. Click here to buy tickets from the Radio Times Box Office