Right, we could never quite understand the appeal of Everybody Loves Raymond, but the show was a smash hit in the States, so obviously somebody errr, loved him. Now word is filtering through that the BBC are planning a remake of the CBS series, and have lined up Lee Mack as their leading man.

Yes, Lee and Catherine Tate have both signed up to star in a BBC pilot loosely titled The Smiths, which will be based around the US original. BBC News says the show will be set in Cheshire, and follow a successful sports writer (Mack) who lives with his missus (Tate), just across the road from his rather controlling parents and older brother.

Lee's written the whole thing himself don'cha know, and it's understood that she show will be produced by the same company that gave us Sharon Horgan's BBC comedy, Pulling (which subsequently went on to be picked up by the networks in the US of A).

The pilot is due to be filmed in front of a live audience on May 28th, so we'll attempt to reserve judgement until we've seen the show for ourselves. But come on, surely we don't need to be remaking and rebooting everything these days? We can't help but wonder if there's an original tale left to tell...