Will Ferrell made a lot of Anchorman fans happy when he announced the smash hit comedy would finally be getting a long-awaited sequel.

The star made the announcement by appearing in character as news reader Ron Burgundy during Conan O'Brien's chat show on TBS, playing his famous jazz flute on stage.

After telling host O'Brien that he looked "like someone put a bright red fright wig on a skeleton and chucked it out of a helicopter", he said he had an announcement to make.

He said: "I want to announce this to everyone here in the Americas, our friends in Spain, Turkey and the UK - including England - that as of 09:00 Mountain Time Paramount Pictures and myself, Ronald Joseph Aaron Burgundy, have come to terms on a sequel to Anchorman."

Fans had been calling for a sequel to the 2004 cult hit, with critics left scratching their heads as to why it took so long to be green-lit. Although no casting has been confirmed, it is hoped that Ferrell will be joined by his news team co-stars Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner.