John Simm? New period drama for Channel 4? Oh yes, yes, yes YES! He’s been a bit quiet since the epoch-making Life On Mars and that’s fair enough – two years of grappling with Gene Hunt is enough to tire anyone out. But now he’s back and I have to say I like the sound of his new project very much, because not only do I think JS is one of the country’s finest actors but I’m really interested in the English Civil War of the 17th century.

I really like the way Channel 4 do period dramas. They’re a bit rough around the edges, a bit grimy and a bit mucky. I’ve always though that the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were like that because I saw a documentary once where they said that horses and other animals pooed in the streets.

Look at the channel’s City Of Vice for a recent example of grimy period dramas.

So anyway, John Simm. He’s going to be starring in a Civil War series called The Devil’s Whore. What a great title, sort of quite Blackadderish.

It will tell the story of a young artistocratic woman called Angelica Fanshawe (Andrea Riseborough) who is drawn to the anti-monarchist cause at a time when public uprising demands execution of the king.

John Simm plays anti-hero Edward Sexby. But that’s not all… The Wire’s Dominic West and Maxine Peake (yes, TV Scoop fave Maxine Peake!) will be in it too. It’s also been written by Peter Flannery, the guy who wrote Our Friends In The North and one of the country’s top playwrights.

Talk about pedigree. It’s just started filming, so watch this space.