Maureen Lipman is to direct a stage version of her late husband’s television play about London taxi drivers.

The Knowledge, by Jack Rosenthal, focused on the efforts of a disparate group of people to pass the famous – or infamous – black cab exam, which involves learning the streets of London off by heart. The original 1979 TV show starred Nigel Hawthorne as the tough examiner. Ms Lipman also played a role, as the wife of one of the applicants.

The new production will be staged at the Charing Cross Theatre, for a 10-week run.

The 71-year old Jewish actress said: “It is 13 years since I lost my husband, the unassuming genius Jack Rosenthal.

“The Knowledge is perhaps Jack’s best realised play - a hymn to the London that he came to love.

“It shows the years of pain, strain and sacrifice that London cabbies have to endure to acquire the Knowledge, pass the world’s toughest and most terrifying taxi examinations and earn the right to wear the Green Badge.

“This is my 50th year in the acting business and, having acted in the original film, I was thrilled to be asked to make The Knowledge the next show I direct.”