Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies was a sharp satire

Taking its cue from the cynical observations of Evelyn Waugh's 1930 novel, the film promises a comic look at the hedonistic lives at the centre of the Mayfair social scene in 1930's London.

A rich, young aristocrat and her boyfriend are at the heart of a group of friends - the "It" girls and boys of 1930s London.

Wild, louche and shocking to the older generation, they seem one by one to self-destruct, to crash and burn in their endless search for newer and faster sensations.

'Celebrity culture'

Their world is that of the wild, party-loving creatures who became known to the press of the time as the Bright Young Things.

Fry was a regular in the Blackadder series

Paul Webster, chief executive of FilmFour, said: "There are huge similarities between the hedonistic celebrity culture of Bright Young Things and now.

"Stephen is the perfect person to intelligently and commercially illustrate the parallels.

"It is a film about yesterday made for today's audience".

Fry said he was "delighted" to be making the film: "With luck, judgement and of course money, we will make something marvelous together."

Fry's film appearances range from Gosford Park to Thunderpants and his TV credits include Blackadder, Jeeves and Wooster and A Bit of Fry and Laurie.