Actor, Rowan Atkinson, has signed up to play Fagin in the new West End production of Oliver.

The show will also star the winners of the current BBC talent show, I’d Do Anything. One lady will be picked to play Nancy, and three boys will share the role of Oliver.

Mr Bean actor, Atkinson, 53, said the role was a long-held ambition.

“In the 1980s I enjoyed doing a lot of West End theatre and since then have been distracted very much by Mr Bean and film-making,” he said.

“I had been thinking for some time about returning to the stage and the idea of the role of Fagin, which has long intrigued me.

“Some time ago I even played the role in a school production [so it] seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.”