Sex In The City star, Cynthia Nixon is to join the all star cast of ITV’s newest drama, ‘An Englishman In New York’ along with Brothers and Sisters actor Denis O’Hare, who will play magazine editor Phillip Steele, and Pushing Daisies’ Swoozie Kurtz as Crisp’s American agent Connie Clausen.

Picking up where the 1970’s classic The Naked Civil Servant left off, John Hurt will reprise his seminal role as Quentin Crisp for ITV1. Setting off on the journey of a lifetime to the Big Apple, the out-spoken Crisp is immediately embraced by New Yorkers and before long is being wined and dined by celebrities in every corner of the city.

No stranger to the streets of Manhattan, Nixon will take the role of Penny Arcade, the performance artist and playwright who formed a close bond with Crisp in his latter years. The two created the long-running performance/interview piece, The Last Will and Testament of Quentin Crisp.

James Burstall, executive producer, said: “Choosing to shoot the film in New York was a risky decision as the drama industry works very differently in the US from the UK. But the huge amount of strategic planning and the leap of faith are delivering a first rate calibre of cast. There is a real buzz about the project in Manhattan as Quentin was a much-loved and notorious figure – everyone has an anecdote to tell about him. And we’ve been touched by the number of friends and admirers of his (some of whom he never knew) who have wanted to help with the project in a myriad different ways.”