It's been quite awhile since John Cleese was in a sitcom.

He popped up in a couple of episodes of the U.S. show Whitneyfive years ago and he's cameoed in the likes of Will and Grace, but the legendary days of Fawlty Towersare now a full 40 years behind us.

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Based on his recent interviews a return didn't seem likely, either.

"There's no way I want to work in TV, especially at the BBC," he told Shortlistin 2015.

"I have a nasty feeling a large proportion of the commissioning editors have no idea what they're doing."

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Well something's obviously changed in the last couple of years, because working in TV at the BBC is exactly what Cleese is about to do.

On Tuesday, the BBC announced that Cleese will be appearing alongside Jason Watkins and Alison Steadman in a new comedy series called Edith.

Here's the full description:

"For Edith (Alison Steadman), life is pretty good. She's been a widow for some years now, but her children live locally and drop by regularly, and she enjoys daily visits from Phil (John Cleese), an old boyfriend who now lives across the road.

Phil dreams of marrying Edith, and the pair of them upping sticks and moving abroad to the sunshine. But after months of turning him down, on the happy day Edith finally says "yes", there's a knock on the door - and there on the step, with a large suitcase, is her 50 year old son Roger (Jason Watkins). He announces that he's left his wife, his kids and his good job at the bank, and come home in an attempt to find his lost happiness again. And in a blink, to Edith's dismay and Phil's fury, all dreams are on hold."

From the sounds of it, Cleese is pretty enthusiastic about the new show.

“These are the most enjoyable scripts I've been sent in the last 100 years," he said in a statement.

"It will also be particularly nice to work with Alison again since we joined forces in Clockwiseall that time ago.”

No release date has been given yet, but filming is scheduled to begin this summer.

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TopicsBBC