Citizen Smith set for a comeback?

Robert Lindsay in talks to revive Wolfie

Citizen Smith could be heading back to TV – all thanks to Jeremy Corbyn.

Robert Lindsay, who starred as would-be revolutionary Wolfie Smith in the 1970s sitcom says he’s been approached to bring back the hapless Marxist.

And the plan, inspired by the rise of Corbyn, would be to give the former leader of the Tooting Popular Front a whiff of real power.

In an interview with The Independent, Lindsay said: ‘I’ve been chased by a production company which is very much trying to get Wolfie to run for the Labour Party and bring him back into power. I think that’s a fantastic idea.’

And he said he had unfinished business with the show, which ran for four series from 1977 to 1980 – saying he quit because he wanted to be a serious actor and ‘the word “sitcom” becomes such a dirty word’.

The series was the first created by John Sullivan, before he went on to create Only Fools And Horses. Although the writer died in 2011, Lindsay said the unnamed production company had others lined up to revive the show.

The actor, a socialist from a former mining community in Derbyshire, added: ‘I don’t think Corbyn is a Laughing Stock at all. I think he’s an extremely wonderful politician and I think he’s going to run the Labour Party and take the Labour Party back to what it should be.’

The BBC has had recent successes in reviving old shows including Reggie Perrin and Open All Hours, while the Gold Channel has brought back Yes Prime Minister and Red Dwarf.

Lindsay was speaking to promote his surreal new comedy Bull, in which he plays an antiques dealer, which will air on Gold.