The comedian Bob Monkhouse has come back from the grave to raise public awareness about the cancer that killed him. A new television and cinema advertisement to front a campaign to fight prostate cancer uses a body double, a voice-over artist and computer technology to show Monkhouse walking through a graveyard explaining how he died while dropping his characteristic one-liners.

Monkhouse died in 2003, aged 75, after a two-year battle with the disease.

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the UK, accounting for almost one in four cases. Each year, nearly 32,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 10,000 die from it. It kills nearly as many men as breast cancer kills women, yet receives only a fraction of the research money.

The new video was put together for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation to lead the charity's Give a Few Bob Campaign.

In it, the comedian is pictured strolling among gravestones wearing his trademark out-of-date suit as he urges greater attention for the issues and asks viewers to donate to the campaign.

The montage image tells viewers: "Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your TV again, here I am. Gosh, four years already, doesn't time fly." Then he repeats one of his favourite jokes: "I wanted to die like my father, quietly in my sleep, not screaming and terrified like his passengers. The man's accident prone. I can still hear the screams."

The point of the advert soon becomes clear: "What killed me kills one man per hour in Britain - that's even more than my wife's cooking.

"Let's face it, as a comedian I died many deaths. Prostate cancer I don't recommend. I'd have paid good money to stay out of here. What's it worth to you?"

The charity worked on the video in conjunction with Monkhouse's wife of 30 years, Jackie. She told the Sun that her husband would have approved of the advert: "Bob would love this ad. It's funny but has a serious message about the threat of prostate cancer. They've done a fabulous job bringing my Bob back."

She said she still found it painful to watch videos of her husband. "The finished ad is also difficult to watch because it's realistic."

Monkhouse was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001, but kept quiet about it and continued working. He died in his sleep at home in December 2003.

The advert is one of several campaigns to promote awareness of men's cancers after a report last month found that cancer prevention policies were failing men.