Ben Whishaw to star alongside Hugh Grant in BBC drama

Ben Whishaw is set to star opposite Hugh Grant in BBC One's A Very English Scandal.

The Lobster actor has been tapped to play Norman Scott, a stable boy and part time model who was rumored to have had an affair with British politician Jeremy Thorpe, played by Grant, during the 1960s.

The Liberal Party leader was accused of conspiring to murder Scott in 1979 after their sexual relationship was discovered.

Writer Russell T. Davies confirmed Whishaw's casting in the venture at the Edinburgh International Television Film Festival on Friday (25Aug17), with the three-part program to be based on a book penned by British journalist John Preston.

Stephen Frears, the man behind Florence Foster Jenkins and The Queen, is to direct the show, with Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin producing for Blueprint Pictures and Lucy Richer for the BBC.

Whishaw has starred in several of the broadcaster's dramas in the past, winning an International Emmy for his part in 2008's Criminal Justice as well earning a BAFTA for playing Richard II in hit period drama The Hollow Crown in 2012.

A Very English Scandal will mark Grant's first appearance on British television in almost 25 years.