Cockney hardnut Ray Winstone is taking
on a role of a very different class:
the Nil By Mouth star is to play Henry VIII in a romping new
Tudor drama
for ITV1. He will be joined by Helena Bonham Carter who makes
a return to
the British small screen after nearly ten years to co-star as
the 16th-century
king's second wife, Anne Boleyn, as well as Kathy Burke (as the
notoriously
ugly Anne of Cleves) and possibly Anna Friel (as saucy bint Kathryn
Howard).
Also poised to sign up for parts are Amanda Holden, Sarah Lancashire,
Joely Richardson and Helen Baxendale, according to Londoner's
Diary. ITV1
has reportedly spent a year putting together the script and starry
cast for
the lavish £6 million production, which will begin shooting
in March.