Judi Dench is to star in a new five-part BBC period drama called 'Cranford Chronicles'.
The series, based on three novels by author Elizabeth Gaskell, focuses on the people of Cranford in 1842 as they face modernity and is described as "uniquely rich and comic".
Dench will play Miss Matty Jenkyns, a woman who was forced to give up the man she loved and live in the shadow of her older sister.
Commenting on the series, Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, said: "'Cranford Chronicles' is a beautifully big and ambitious period drama - just the way we like them."
She continued: "The logistics of mounting such a production have inevitably taken a while to pull together, but the best things are well worth waiting for, and we are all very excited at the prospect of such a piece, and of welcoming Judi Dench back to the BBC."
The series is set to begin shooting in April.
Dench's new film, 'Notes on a Scandal', opens in Irish cinemas on Friday 2 February.
