MIRFIELD actor Patrick Stewart has been signed up to play a new TV hero.
The actor - famed for his Star Trek and X Men roles - will play the lead in a new sci-fi thriller planned by ITV1.
The £4.5m production of Eleventh Hour is being billed as the company's answer to Dr Who, which has made a successful comeback on BBC1.
The four-part series will centre on a scientist, played by Stewart, who averts disasters with the aid of his glamorous female assistant.
The programme will see Stewart returning to British television for the first time in 20 years.
Series writer Stephen Gallagher was delighted with the news of Stewart's signing.
He said: "It was a real champagne moment.
"X Men 3 had their dates to meet and we had ours. Both of us wanted him."
