ITV has confirmed it talked to Tom Hanks about a role in one of its upcoming Miss Marple TV movie adaptations but says reports of a deal are wide of the mark.

The broadcaster said it quickly became clear the Hollywood star was unavailable because he was busy on another project, the film adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code.

"Any super sleuths out there can see that Tom Hanks is rumoured to be in Miss Marple's neck of the woods [and will] soon be filming another great mystery, The Da Vinci Code," ITV said.

"However, had they looked more closely at the evidence, they'd have seen that Miss Marple's finger of suspicion only briefly rested on Mr Hanks and he has not actually been accused of anything.

"Miss Marple has, in fact, got her beady eye on a few of Mr Hanks' contemporaries, although a good detective never reveals her hunches until the mystery is finally unravelled..."

Hanks, a double Oscar winner best known for his roles in Saving Private Ryan and Forrest Gump, is filming at the same Shepperton studio complex ITV uses for Miss Marple.

The Agatha Christie drama will return for a second series with Geraldine McEwan in the lead role after a successful first run over Christmas and the new year.

Another American movie actor, Mash and Ocean's 11 star Elliott Gould, has already signed up for another ITV adaptation, Poirot.

One of the defining features of ITV's new take on Miss Marple is the large and stellar cast.

The four Christie stories already broadcast on ITV1 have featured Simon Callow, Jack Davenport, Joanna Lumley, Sir Derek Jacobi, Jane Asher, Robert Powell, Amanda Holden, Griff Rhys Jones, Zoe Wanamaker and Elaine Paige.

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