Hugh Laurie has fired back at reports he's to blame for the end of hit medical drama House - because he's tired of playing limping grouch Dr Gregory House on the show.

The actor released a statement last week confirming reports the current season of House will be the last - but he insists it has nothing to do with the fact he's had enough of his TV character.

In a statement he sent to TV Guide magazine, Laurie writes: "For anyone who's interested, I'd like to correct some naughty misrepresentations of the circumstances surrounding the end of the TV show House.

"Some newspapers, obviously dissatisfied by the sincere statement of fact and feeling that we released last week, have said that 'the truth' - modern journalistic slang for 'not even remotely the truth but it sounds creepy so I'll go with it' - behind the decision was that I was sick of going to work. The 'evidence' (another technical term) for this was a remark I made five years ago about another subject, bent into an entirely different shape.

"Let me state, publicly and unequivocally, that I love my job, and work much harder at it than most journalists work at theirs. As described in the press release, we wanted to preserve some of the character's mystique. We never wanted to out-stay our welcome. Very possibly, we could have continued with a re-worked formula - House gets a job in a shoe shop and high jinks ensue - but none of us wanted that. We wanted to keep the band together and go out with as much dignity as we could muster.

"That wish has not been fulfilled by this undignified and petty rebuttal, I know, but it had to be said nonetheless. The record should be put straight, even if it's a record nobody wants to hear."

And he concludes his missive by stating: "In the words of House himself: everybody lies."