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Mathew Horne (Gavin And Stacey, The Catherine Tate Show), Marc Warren (Hustle, Mutual Friends), Mark Gatiss (The League Of Gentlemen, Crooked House) and talented newcomer Douglas Booth are announced to star in Worried About The Boy, a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two drama from Red Production Company about a young Boy George and his journey to become a star on the Eighties fashion and pop music scene.

Written by Tony Basgallop (Hotel Babylon, Hughie Green Most Sincerely) and directed by Julian Jarrold (Red Riding, Brideshead Revisited), Worried About The Boy follows George's journey from cloakroom attendant to cultural icon – from falling in love for the first time, to embracing his unique style, to meeting his Culture Club bandmates.

As a teenager, George O'Dowd realised he was not like the other boys his own age – sharp-witted, independent-minded and with a passion for clothes and make-up, he dreamt of becoming a star.

Leaving the suburbs of Eltham for the smoke of the city he soon became a fixture at the infamous Blitz Club – the favourite haunt of those at the forefront of the New Romantic movement.

Set at the heart of the changing music scene and youth attitudes of the Eighties, Worried About The Boy reflects on an iconic and influential star and the cultural era he is synonymous with.

Douglas Booth plays Boy George, Mathew Horne plays Culture Club drummer Jon Moss, Marc Warren plays nightclub pioneer and Visage front-man Steve Strange, and Mark Gatiss plays music impresario Malcolm McLaren.

Ben Stephenson, Controller, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Drama Commissioning, says: "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 ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two's Eighties season perfectly."

Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer, Red Production Company, says: "At Red Production Company we always try to tackle provocative subjects with humour and warmth and this is exactly what Tony's script does with Boy George. I was very excited at taking such an iconic British character and showing a different side to a story everyone thinks they know. The early Eighties magical setting of the Blitz Club and the New Romantics is fun, visual and new to TV drama."

Matthew Bird (The Street, Plus One) will produce the 90-minute drama, which begins filming in Manchester this month.

Worried About The Boy was commissioned by Ben Stephenson and Janice Hadlow, Controller, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two.

The executive producers are Nicola Shindler (Red Production Company) and Juliette Howell and Lucy Richer (³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Drama).

Worried About The Boy will show as part of the Eighties season on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two, which includes dramas The Royal Wedding, written by Abi Morgan, and an adaptation of Martin Amis' Money, starring Nick Frost.

The season will broadcast in the spring.

LH2

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