Gatiss for BBC's 'First Men In The Moon'

Mark Gatiss will star in his own adaptation of HG Wells's sci-fi romance The First Men In The Moon, it has been announced.

The one-off 90-minute BBC Four drama will see the League Of Gentlemen star play alongside Rory Kinnear, whose previous screen credits include Waking The Dead and Silent Witness.

Set in 1969, the story sees a young boy meet 90-year-old Julius Bedford, who tells him the extraordinary story of two men's journey to the moon in 1909.

"I'm completely delighted to have the chance to bring this wonderful, funny, charming and scary story to BBC Four," said Gatiss. "It's very rare to be able to adapt a genius like HG Wells for the small screen and we hope to do full justice to his extraordinary vision."

BBC Four controller Richard Klein added: "The First Men In The Moon is a thoroughly modern classic, a witty and satirical piece of writing by one of Britain's foremost and original science fiction writers."

The film also stars Alex Riddell, Peter Forbes and Katherine Jakeways.