BBC AMERICA TO CO-PRODUCE "BURTON AND TAYLOR" FOR DRAMAVILLE

Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter star as the legendary acting couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

New York - Friday, March 22 - Announced today, BBC AMERICA is co-producing for Dramaville, Burton and Taylor, starring Dominic West (The Hour, The Wire) and Helena Bonham Carter (Lone Ranger, The King's Speech), as Hollywood's most famous volatile on-again-off-again lovers, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The 90-minute drama follows their private and public relationship played out against their ill-fated appearance in a 1983 revival of Noel Coward's stage play, Private Lives.

Written by William Ivory (Made in Dagenham, Going for Gold), Burton and Taylor is a BBC Drama Production for BBC Four and co-produced by BBC AMERICA. The drama is distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide.

Burton and Taylor is one of the most fascinating, glamorous and tempestuous relationships of the 20th century - the two most famous movie stars of their day who played out every high and low of their love affairs, multiple marriages and divorces right in the public eye.

Perry Simon, General Manager, Channels, BBC Worldwide America commented: "We are thrilled to bring Burton and Taylor to BBC AMERICA's Dramaville. With the incredibly talented and award-winning Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West in the title roles and a compelling script from William Ivory, Burton and Taylor captures the final and complicated reunion on stage of two British and Hollywood icons. We're excited to tell this story in the tradition of the great BBC dramas our audience has come to expect."

The executive producer for the BBC is Jessica Pope. The director is Richard Laxton (Effie, Him And Her, Hancock) and the producer is Lachlan McKinnon (Silent Witness).

Burton and Taylor is the latest title to join BBC AMERICA's Dramaville, the home of groundbreaking British drama. The Dramaville slate includes the upcoming mini-series Spies of Warsaw, premiering April 3, the returning Golden Globe(R)-winning mini-series Luther, upcoming mini-series Broadchurch and previous acclaimed mini-series including The Hour and Inside Men.

Note to editors:

BBC AMERICA delivers U.S. audiences high-quality, innovative and intelligent programming. Established in 1998, it has been the launch pad for talent embraced by American mainstream pop culture, including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, Graham Norton, and successful programming formats including ground-breaking non-scripted television like Top Gear and top-rated science-fiction like Doctor Who. Owned by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, BBC AMERICA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including an Emmy(R), five Golden Globes(R) and ten Peabody Awards. The channel attracts one of cable's most affluent and educated audiences and is available on cable and satellite TV in more than 80.6 million homes. It broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, with content available On Demand across all major digital platforms. Online, www.bbcamerica.com is the place to go to dig deeper into pop culture with a British twist.