Radio 4 has announced that Al Murray will star in its new adaptation of Vanity Fair.

The comedian will play his real-life great-great-great grandfather, William Makepeace Thackeray, in the show. The novelist and author is the narrator of Vanity Fair.

Al Murray comments: "Thackeray's masterpiece Vanity Fair skewers class, celebrity, society and of course snobbery, so perfectly that he could have written it yesterday. With an all-seeing and not entirely reliable narrator, it feels as fresh and contemporary as anything styling itself as post-modern. The novel without a hero rides again!"

Radio 4 Commissioning Editor for Drama and Fiction, Alison Hindell, says: "With Radio 4 a natural home to both audio drama and comedy, it is exciting to embrace the talents of Al Murray for this adaptation of Vanity Fair. We're sure that Thackeray would appreciate his great-great-great grandson's creative contribution to this production."

This forthcoming version has been dramatised by Jim Poyser, the comedy writer and TV producer whose credits for Radio 4 include Everyone Quite Likes Justin and The Architects. Radio 4 adds: "Al also contributes new material to this reworking of the Victorian satire, with a comic surrealism that shines on radio."

The three hour-long episodes of Vanity Fair are due to be broadcast on Radio 4 on Sundays from the 26th May. Further casting information will be announced soon.