Jamie Dornan for Death And Nightingales

Jamie Dornan is to star in \'Death And Nightingales\'.

The 36-year-old actor is set to reunite with \'The Fall\'s Allan Cubitt for the new BBC programme, which is based on Eugene McCabe\'s novel of the same name.

Jamie said: "I\'m thrilled to be reunited with Allan and his brilliant scripts to play such an intriguing character like Liam Ward and to return to Northern Ireland and BBC Two."

Matthew Rhys is also set to star as well as actress Ann Skelly.

He said: "Ive been a huge fan of Allan Cubitt\'s work for many years so I\'m thrilled to have been given the chance to work on Death And Nightingales alongside Jamie and Ann and return to the BBC."

Whilst Ann added: "Playing such a strong character as Beth Winters is truly an actor\'s dream, and a fantastically intense challenge to be given the opportunity to play. And to get to work with such brilliant actors like Matthew and Jamie, and a director like Allan Cubitt, is just surreal to me. I can\'t wait to start!"

\'Death And Nightingales\', based in the Fermanagh countryside in 1885, will be a three part series that follows the story of Beth Winters (Skelly) as she runs away from her everyday life with Liam Ward (Dornan) on her 25th birthday. Desperate to get away from her tough life with Protestant landowner stepfather Billy (Rhys), Beth\'s need to escape leads to devastating consequences.

Producer Jonathan Cavendish said: "We are thrilled to combine the wonderful talents of Matthew Rhys and Jamie Dornan with the remarkable new star in the making Ann Skelly."

Whilst Tommy Bulfin, Executive Producer for BBC Two, added: "With the phenomenal Ann Skelly cast as Beth and with Jamie Dornan and Matthew Rhys returning to the BBC, to have a cast of this calibre on board for Death And Nightingales is incredibly exciting. I can\'t wait to see them bring Allan\'s brilliant scripts to life."