To the Manor Reborn?

According to reports, the BBC is attempting to bring back To the Manor Born for a new one-off Christmas special.

It is thought that the episode, which will star Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, will be filmed at the original location for the Grantleigh estate; Cricket St Thomas manor house in Chard, Somerset. Staff at the location (which is now a hotel) were not allowed to comment on the rumour today.

A BBC spokeswoman told MediaGuardian: "We are not in a position to confirm details" but did not deny that plans for the episode existed. She said the BBC would make an announcement shortly.

To the Manor Born, which started life as a BBC Radio 2 series, was broadcast on television between 1979 and 1981. The sitcom followed the story of the once wealthy Audrey fforbes-Hamilton who is forced to sell her stately home to supermarket owner Richard DeVere. She tries to teach him 'nobility' whilst coming to terms with her own reduced status as his tenant.

Millions tuned in to watch romance slowly blossom between the unlikely couple. In fact To the Manor Born was the fourth most watched TV series in the 1970s. The final episode, in which Richard and Audrey finally got married, was seen by a massive 24 million viewers making it the second most watched British sitcom episode of all time (beaten only by the 1996 episode of Only Fools and Horses).