Paul Nicholls in BBC school drama filmed in Coventry

Paul Nicholls made his TV debut in children's drama in the 1990s

Former EastEnders actor Paul Nicholls has been cast in a new BBC high school drama being filmed in Coventry.

Children's programme Phoenix Rise, comprising 20 episodes, is set in a West Midlands school.

Nicholls plays a man who did not return from a lorry driving job in Europe, leaving two children at home alone.

Filming has started in and around Coventry, including at former secondary school Woodlands Academy, and the drama is set to launch next year.

Produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions, Phoenix Rise follows a diverse group of teenagers who are taking their first tentative steps back into mainstream education after being excluded.

Each episode will follow one of the characters as the optimism and fun of teenage life is set against the challenges they face in and out of the classroom.

Tyler Fayose takes the role of Jamie Stewart, the head teacher who fights to give the children a second chance and integrate them back into school life.

Nicholls, who portrayed Joe Wicks in EastEnders, made his TV debut in children's drama in the 1990s.

In Phoenix Rise he plays Carl, who failed to return from a lorry driving job, leaving his two children Billy, 15, and Rihanna, 11, at home alone for months on end.

The programme is set to launch next year on BBC iPlayer.