THE GREAT BRITISH BUMP OFF Mel and Sue reunite... but their latest project sees them playing best friends... and assassins

V viewers of a certain age have known for a while that Mel and Sue are the comedy duo we need right now.

So with a nation in dire need of a laugh, let’s pin our hopes on their idiotic assassin characters.

Sue Perkins plays Fran, while Mel Giedroyc is Jamie. Two best friends with all the usual problems in life – but they just happen to kill people for a living. The problem is, they’re not particularly good at it.

Working out of their scruffy van, they answer to the mysterious Mr K, who directs them on who to snuff out.

But their murderous intentions are usually derailed or delayed by incompetence, bickering, dilemmas and just plain stupidity.

And as the body count stacks up, their friendship is put through the wringer.

There’s a double bill tonight. Episode one begins with Fran and Jamie dangling their latest victim over the edge of a balcony. But he’s getting rather heavy.

Then there’s personal trauma for Fran who would really like to celebrate her birthday but doesn’t seem to have any friends.

It’s a slightly shaky start, but the second episode sees the comedy get a bit more into its groove.

Fran is having love life trouble and Jamie hates her sex life with swimwear model boyfriend Colin. “It’s like having sex with a piece of Shredded Wheat.”

Watch out for guest stars Jason Watkins and Sian Clifford as victims, and Asim Chaudhry and Sophia di Martino as fellow killers.

Expect disguises, banter and a lot of grisly deaths.