BAFTA-winning The Honourable Woman star Stephen Rea is joining fellow Irish actor Ned Dennehy (Peaky Blinders) in the cast of the 20-part BBC One drama series Dickensian, which brings together many of the characters from Charles Dickens' classic novels.
Rea will play Inspector Bucket from Bleak House and said of his new role: "Dickensian is the most beautiful re-working of the world of Dickens that you could ever imagine.
"The characters take on a fresh life, and any actor would be mad not to accept the challenge these great scripts offer."
With filming beginning this week, Pauline Collins (Upstairs Downstairs), Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly) and Peter Firth (Spooks) have also joined Tuppence Middleton (The Imitation Game) and Omid Djalili (The Omid Djalili Show) in the cast.
The BBC says: "Set within the fictional realms of Charles Dickens' critically acclaimed novels, Dickensian brings together some of literature's most iconic characters, including Scrooge, Fagin and Miss Havisham, as their lives intertwine in 19th century London.
"The Old Curiosity Shop sits next door to The Three Cripples Pub, while Fagin's Den is hidden down a murky alley off a bustling Victorian street.
"With a wealth of back stories sourced from the novels, Dickensian delivers fast-paced storylines with surprising twists and turns."
