Sheen 'honoured' to be played by Bates

The troubled actor was fired from the sitcom last year partway through its eighth series after a fall out with its co-creator Chuck Lorre over his hedonistic lifestyle, and bosses plan to bring back the spirit of his character Charlie Harper in the new series who will be portrayed by Kathy.

According to TMZ.com, Charlie has told friends he thinks Kathy is an incredibly funny, talented actress and he can't wait to tune in to watch the episode on April 30 in which Charlie's brother Alan Harper (Jon Cryer) sees the ghost after landing in hospital with a minor heart-attack.

Sceptical

Perhaps Charlie is fine with his show moving on without him because he is focused on his new TV programme Anger Management which will debut on June 28. 

Loosely based on the 2003 film featuring Jack Nicholson it will be Charlie's first TV series since he was axed from Two and a Half Men and FX President John Landgraf recently admitted he was "sceptical" about the project when he first heard about it and knew the the reformed hellraiser was involved. 

He said: "I walked into the pitch as sceptical as you might imagine I would be. It was just a really excellent pitch. I saw a really good pitch for a comedy series. I believe in redemption. I'm all for giving him the opportunity for turning things around."