LONDON, June 22 (UPI) -- Romola Garai, Matthew Macfadyen, Daisy Lewis, Rachael Stirling and Tara Fitzgerald have joined the cast of the small-screen movie Churchill's Secret, ITV announced.
Garai will play nurse Millie Appleyard and the others will play former Prime Minister Winston Churchill's adult children.
Based on Jonathan Smith's recently published book The Churchill Secret: KBO, the telepicture will be directed by Charles Sturridge. It stars Michael Gambon as the title character and Lindsay Duncan as his wife Clementine.
"Set during the summer months of 1953, Churchill -- now Prime Minister for the second time and in his late 70s -- suffers a life-threatening stroke, which is kept secret from the world," a synopsis said. "Told from the viewpoint of his young nurse, Millie Appleyard, the drama follows his battle to recover as his long suffering wife Clemmie, desperately hopes the stroke will force Winston to retire while his political friends and foe scheme to plot who will succeed him. Meanwhile, his adult children descend on Chartwell, unsure if he will pull through, as tensions within his family begin to surface."
Filming is to begin this month in London, Hayes and at Churchill's principal family home, Chartwell in Kent. Churchill's Secret will be co-produced with Masterpiece where Rebecca Eaton is executive producer and will air in the United States on PBS in 2016
