Wire star Dominic West to play Fred West

Dominic West, the actor who made his name as Jimmy McNulty in the hit US series The Wire, will play the serial killer Fred West in a new ITV drama. In a genius bit of casting, it turns out the actor is an uncanny doppelganger for the Gloucester murderer.

UB Dead actress Monica Dolan has been cast as his wife and accomplice Rose West and Emily Watson will star as Janet Leach, the voluntary worker who became Fred West's confidante through more than 40 police interviews after his arrest in 1994.

The two-part drama, Appropriate Adult, comes from the Bafta award-winning team behind ITV's adaptation of the Myra Hindley story, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, and begins filming in Manchester next month.

Researchers spent three years studying every aspect of the Cromwell Street murders and brought in members of the Gloucestershire Constabulary in order to gain a "unique insight" into the police investigation that brought the pair to justice.

Fred West committed suicide in 1995 while on remand in Birmingham's Winson Green prison charged with 12 murders, including those of his two daughters Charmaine Costello and Heather. Rose West is serving a life sentence at London's Holloway prison.

Director Julian Jarrold shocked audiences with his brutal Yorkshire Ripper thriller, Red Riding 1974, for Channel 4 in 2009, the ITV drama will be toned down considerably to avoid causing distress to those affected and will not depict any murder scenes.

Jeff Pope, the executive producer, said: "Our intention is to produce a sober and thought-provoking drama based on a true story". ·