Mark Gatiss, Mathew Horne and Marc Warren will feature alongside newcomer Douglas Booth in drama set in 1980s
A drama chronicling the early life of musician Boy George will be the third film in BBC2's upcoming trilogy about the 1980s.
The part of Boy George will be taken by newcomer Douglas Booth, while Mark Gatiss plays music impresario Malcolm McLaren. Hustle actor Marc Warren will play nightclub pioneer and Visage front-man Steve Strange.
Gavin and Stacey star Mathew Horne will play Culture Club drummer Jon Moss in the new drama, which has been scripted by Hotel Babylon writer Tony Basgallop.
The BBC2 controller, Janice Hadlow, has given the green light to Worried About the Boy, a drama to be made by the independent producer Red which will follow the future Culture Club singer's journey to become a star of the 1980s fashion and music scene.
Worried About the Boy starts with George, known then by his real name George O'Dowd, leaving the London suburb of Eltham to work as a cloakroom attendant before he meets his future bandmates and becomes a fixture at London's Blitz Club – the favourite haunt of those at the forefront of the New Romantic pop culture movement.
BBC2's 90-minute drama will start filming in Manchester later this month and will be shown as part of the 1980s season on the channel this spring alongside The Royal Wedding, written by Abi Morgan, and an adaptation of Martin Amis' Money, starring Nick Frost.
The 80s season replaces the BBC's planned Decades series of dramas, which has been dropped because of creative problems and cost.
Ben Stephenson, controller, BBC drama commissioning, said: 'Worried About the Boy will be an evocative and visually enticing drama about one of our most iconic British pop stars. With its mix of music, fashion and youth, it rounds off our trio of dramas for BBC2's 80s season perfectly.'
The executive producer, Red founder Nicola Shindler, said the drama would 'show a different side to a story everyone thinks they know'.
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