John Hurt geared up to reprise Quentin Crisp role

London, Apr 30 : Academy Award winning actor John Hurt is all set to reprise his legendary role of British eccentric Quentin Crisp in a sequel to classic 1975 ITV drama 'The Naked Civil Servant'.

The shooting for 'An Englishman in New York', named after a song Police singer Sting wrote about the flamboyant gay writer, will commence in August in London and New York.

According to ITV's director of drama, Laura Mackie, it was "a real thrill" to enable Hurt "to reprise such an iconic role", for which he had earlier bagged a Bafta TV award for original performance.

'An Englishman in New York', produced by the company Leopardrama, which claims that it is set in the 1970s and 1980s and picks up where 'The Naked Civil Servant' left off.

The writer is Brian Fillis, whose earlier works include the biographical TV dramas Fear of Fanny, about TV chef Fanny Craddock, and The Curse of Steptoe, about Steptoe and Son star Harry H Corbett.

"It is a great honour for us to be working with John Hurt in one of his most seminal roles," BBC quoted Leopardrama executive producer James Burstall, as saying.

Crisp once described himself as the "Stately Homo of England" and died in 1999 at the age of 90 and 'The Naked Civil Servant' (1968) was the first volume of his autobiography.

ANI