Ioan Gruffudd has been cast in the lead role of Harry, a single father who is left to bring up his young son when his wife leaves him, in the BBC adaptation of Tony Parsons' novel Man and Boy.

The Welsh actor has apparently signed an £150,000 deal to star in the £2m film which starts filming next month.

"I am over the moon," Gruffudd told the Daily Mirror. "I've read the book and it's absolutely brilliant. Everywhere I go people are reading it. Landing the part of Harry is very exciting but also very nerve wracking."

"It's tremendously exciting," added author Parsons. "The book has just passed the one million mark so this has come at a great time. It's like getting the six balls on the lottery."

Natasha Little, star of the TV series This Life and Vanity Fair and the movie Another Life, in which she co-starred with Gruffudd, will play Harry's estranged wife Gina, while Ian McShane is to play TV station boss Marty.

"I hope that, like the book, it will be moving, funny and thoughtful," producer Kate Harwood told the Mirror. "In the end it is life-affirming and positive."

The film is to be screened next spring.