Any other actor and I’d be sick of the sight of him, but Philip Glenister is more than ok in my book after his epoch-making turn as Gene Hunt in Life On Mars. It really was one of those performances, and how he didn’t win a BAFTA for his efforts is beyond me completely.

But awards schmawards – it seems that Big Phil hasn’t done too badly out of the show. Not only is he starring in the LOM sequel, Ashes To Ashes, but he’s also put pen to paper on another BBC period drama. Except this one doesn’t have any Cortinas in it.

Philip will star in the Cranford Chronicles, a 19th century-set yarn based on three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell (Cranford, Mr Harrison’s Confessions and My Lady Ludlow). The series will explore life in a fictional run-down town in Cheshire, and the BBC describe it as a, “witty and poignant story [that] follows the small absurdities and major tragedies in the lives of the people of Cranford during one extraordinary year.”

Philip is in good company too – Dame Judi Dench, Imedla Staunton and Barbara Flynn will also appear in the five-parter.