The Office star Martin Freeman is returning to BBC2 in a new sitcom.

When Martin Freeman quit ITV1's Hardware, he said it was because he wanted more serious roles.

And now he's returning to TV - in a new sitcom.

The Office star is coming back to BBC2 for the comedy The Robinsons.

He will play Ed, a divorced man living in a housing association flat in Bermondsey, south London, much to the embarrassment of his well-to-do family.

As he struggles to find a new girlfriend and escape from his boring job, he ends up imagining the exploits of previous generations of Robinsons in brief fantasy sequences.

Hugh Bonneville plays Ed's older brother George, Sean Bean's ex-wife Abigail Cruttenden plays his younger sister Vicky and Anna Massey is his mother, Pam.

The six-part half-hour sitcom is due to go into production in November for broadcast some time next year, a BBC publicist confirmed.