Scott and Bailey's Suranne Jones is to star in a new BBC One drama series called The Ark, set in a field hospital during the First World War.
The series, written by former EastEnders writer Sarah Phelps, also stars Oona Chaplin, Hermione Norris and Kerry Fox.
Former Coronation Street star Jones, who will play a nurse in The Ark, said: "This is my first period drama and I am so excited at the prospect of filming a First World War series set on a frontline hospital.
"It's an important period in history not just because of the war but because it was a transitional period for women, liberated in some respect but still shackled by the conventions and hierarchies of the past."
Jones added: "Sarah Phelps really gets to the beating heart of a story and gives very strong images and weight to her characters. For my role as Joan she has created a nurse with a very independent and modern outlook who is much more interested in her patients than protocol.
"I am really looking forward to getting started and it will be great to work once again with director David Evans [who directed Jones in TV drama Unforgiven]."
Filming on The Ark begins later this month.
