Wire star West to play Fred West

'The Wire' star Dominic West is set to play serial killer Fred West in a new ITV drama, it has been announced.

West married long-term Irish partner Catherine Fitzgerald - whose father Desmond is the 29th Knight of Glin - in Limerick last June.

The couple – who dated for three years when they were studying at Trinity College in the early nineties and then reconciled in 2002 – returned to the church a day later for the christening of their children Dora, three, two-year-old Senan and one-year-old Francis.

West's new vehicle 'Appropriate Adult' will centre on the time between English builder West’s arrest and his suicide in his prison cell, on New Year’s Day in 1995.

The drama will focus on how he confided in Janet Leach, the voluntary worker who sat in on his police interviews.

Leach will be played by 'The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers' and 'Gosford Park' star Emily Watson, while Rosemary West, who was convicted in 1995 of the murder of nine young women, including her own daughter Heather, will be played by '2010 DCI Banks: Aftermath' actress Monica Dolan.

The two-part drama, from the team behind the Bafta award-winning ITV drama 'See No Evil: The Moors Murders', which starred Maxine Peake, will be recorded in Manchester later this year.

ITV said it consulted with Gloucestershire Constabulary over 'Appropriate Adult'.

Executive producer Jeff Pope said: “Our intention is to produce a sober and thought- provoking drama based on a true story.

“We have developed the script over the past three years and it provides a unique insight into the police investigation which led to the conviction of Fred and Rose West and the crucial role Janet Leach played as the ’appropriate adult’.”

West, 41, is best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the gritty HBO drama series 'The Wire'.