First adaptation of PG Wodehouse's comedy double act as a play is based largely on 1938 book The Code of the Woosters

There are the books of course, TV series in the sixties and nineties, radio adaptations and a musical take from Andrew Lloyd Webber but, dash it, never a stage play featuring one of the greatest comedy double acts ever conceived.

On Monday a corrective to that will be announced. PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster are finally coming to the West End in a new play starring Stephen Mangan as the endearingly idiotic Bertie and Matthew Macfadyen as his brilliant, unflappable butler.

Mangan, recently seen in the BBC2 sitcom Episodes, said he was "ridiculously excited" at the prospect, although he admitted he had not read any of the Wodehouse books before being offered the role.

"I always meant to," he told the Guardian. "Everyone tells you how funny they are, but for some reason I never got round to him. They gave me the script, I started reading some books and I've been ploughing through them since then. It's like crack cocaine.

"I'm quite pleased with myself for holding out for so long because it means I've got them all in my head. I don't think anyone else can quite coin a sentence with such invention and wit. Wit almost doesn't seem a big enough word for it. The sheer brilliance of the writing almost takes your breath away."

The play, called Perfect Nonsense, by the brothers Robert and David Goodale, is largely based on Wodehouse's 1938 book The Code of the Woosters, described by some critics as his best work.

Robert Goodale, an actor, said he became a fan of Wodehouse when he shared a house with his late twin brother when they were in their early twenties. "He used to go round the house constantly quoting Wodehouse to me and I thought 'God, this man is brilliant'."

The most well-known Jeeves and Wooster adaptions – and probably the best – are the four series made by ITV in the early 1990s starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, now endlessly seen on ITV3. But did they get the best out of Wodehouse?

"I loved Fry and Laurie. I thought they were absolutely phenomenal, but I was disappointed with the adaptation because I just thought there was far more comic potential to be mined out of these books," Goodale said.

It is the first time the Wodehouse estate has given permission for a stage play, and only did so after Goodale and another actor performed a reading. "We managed to win them round and now they're completely on our side. They feel we are doing the work justice."

Mangan conceded there was pressure to get it right. "It is always daunting when you take on these cherished, iconic characters and there'll be swaths of people for whom Jeeves and Wooster are their favourite books. But you know, bring it on."

Goodale argues Jeeves and Wooster are perfect for the stage. "The way the dialogue is written is almost as if it is to be spoken on stage. People have messed around with Wodehouse, but they've never really got to the crux of what it is about it that really makes it work."

The play will be directed by Sean Foley, once part of a double act himself in the shape of The Right Size with Hamish McColl, who together created shows including the Olivier-winning Morecambe and Wise show, The Play What I Wrote. Last year Foley was nominated for an Olivier for The Ladykillers.

Foley said he wanted to do the play as soon as he read the script. "I think anyone who is interested in or loves comedy would be a fan. It is such hilarious and brilliantly written comedy. Just in terms of being a comic stylist, writing wise, I don't think there's really anyone better than Wodehouse. The rhythm of his sentences, the way he lines up a joke you don't see coming, the way he puts words together is funny in itself. It is wonderful material to be dealing with."

The play will open at the Duke of York's Theatre on 30 October after short runs at Richmond Theatre and the Brighton Theatre Royal.