Downton star Joanne Froggatt to star in BBC drama

Froggatt's other credits include Spooks, Robin Hood and Coronation Street

Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt is to join a cast including Emilia Fox and Ben Chaplin in a new BBC One drama strand directed by Dominic Savage.

The Secrets will feature five 30-minute stand-alone films supporting new writing, made by Working Title TV.

Froggatt, who plays Anna Bates in ITV1's Downton Abbey, will star in an episode written by Elinor Cook alongside Fox and Chaplin.

Last month it was announced that Olivia Colman would appear in the series.

She will star alongside Gavin & Stacey actress Alison Steadman and Sightseers' Steve Oram in the first two episodes.

Top Boy actor Ashley Walters has also been confirmed for the second episode.

Actress Sarah Solemani will appear in a film she has written herself, while Helen Baxendale will star in another episode by Ben Ockrent.

Juliette Howell, head of television at Working Title TV, said: "I'm thrilled that Dominic has assembled such a stellar line-up.

"It's hugely exciting to see so many of our finest actors bringing these original and distinctive new voices to life on BBC One."

Savage's TV work includes 2012's True Love, which also comprised of five different stories, all set in Margate.

Producer Guy Heeley said: "It's really exciting to see these bold and ambitious stories being brought to life in such a compelling way by this incredibly high calibre cast."

Frogatt's episode, the first in the series, tells of a man whose wife is unaware that he is secretly married to another woman.

The five episodes are currently filming in London and will air on BBC One later this year.