With an impressive piece of casting, ITV has managed to nab Imelda Staunton for the upcoming family drama Flesh And Blood. Here’s everything you need to know…

Imedla Staunton, of Harry Potter and Vera Drake fame, will play a character called Mary in the drama. Mary is the nosy neighbour to the main cast, which should be a fun role for Staunton to sink her teeth into.

Here’s a lengthy decription of the show, courtesy of the official ITV press bumf, which confirms some other impressive actors among the cast…

“Flesh and Blood is a modern story of three adult siblings – Helen (Claudie Blakley), Jake (Russell Tovey) and Natalie (Lydia Leonard) – who are thrown into disarray when their recently widowed mother Vivien (Francesca Annis) declares she’s in love with a new man, Mark (Stephen Rea). 

“As she nears her 70th birthday, the siblings’ suspicions are heightened when retired GP Mark sweeps their mother off her feet, shifting her priorities away from her children. The happiness of her 45-year marriage to their father, Terry, is called into question, which sends a seismic shock through the lives of the siblings. Years of secrets, lies, rivalries and betrayals come to the surface and threaten to blow apart everything they’ve held dear.

“With their large family home overlooking the Sussex coast, their inheritance and the happy memories of their childhood all suddenly threatened by the arrival of Mark, the siblings attempt to find out more about him. But will their long-buried grudges and complicated personal lives allow them to pull together?”

Staunton’s neighbourly Mary is described as “unhealthily attached to Vivien and her family’s unfolding drama.”

Filming has begun on the drama, which is written by Sarah Williams and directed by BAFTA nominee Louise Hooper. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.