Nico lands role in a TV classic

AN Oldham actor and star of teen soap “Hollyoaks” will feature in the remake of a much-loved televised period drama.

Nico lands role in a TV classic



BEATRIZ AYALA



AN Oldham actor and star of teen soap “Hollyoaks” will feature in the remake of a much-loved televised period drama.

Nico Mirallegro, who found fame playing Newt in the Channel 4 soap, has joined an all-star cast for the BBC remake of “Upstairs Downstairs”.

The Emmy-winning show, which was a huge hit for ITV between 1971 and 1975, followed a London family and their servants in the first 30 years of the 20th century.

Now the BBC is reviving the show, with the help of American backers, and setting it in 1936 Belgravia with new family, the Hollands.

The 19-year-old actor, whose character Newt left the popular teen soap in June, will play Johnny, the footman who ferries the family around on their daily business.

Nico’s character, like previous footman Edward in the original series, is a hard-working, ambitious and loyal lad from a northern mining town searching for a better life.

The show will also feature actors such as Keeley Hawes, who played DI Alex Drake in time-travelling drama “Ashes to Ashes”, veteran star of comedy “Dinnerladies” Anne Reid, and Adrian Scarborough who played Pete in comedy “Gavin & Stacey”.

Filming for the series was due to begin this month and the show is expected to hit TV screens as early as this autumn.