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Jonny Lee Miller joins Canterbury Tales

Jonny Lee Miller, Paul Nicholls and Teachers' star Andrew Lincoln have joined the cast of the modern-day remake of The Canterbury Tales.

The BBC1 adaptation also stars Julie Walters, James Nesbitt, Dennis Waterman and Billie Piper.

Geoffrey Chaucer's book will be retold for a modern audience by contemporary writers Tony Marchant, Peter Bowker, Sally Wainwright and Tony Grounds.

Each of the tales will be set on the pilgrims' route to Canterbury. The journey begins in Southwark and goes through Gravesend, Rochester and Chatham and finally to Canterbury.

The tales are: The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, The Sea Captain's Tale, The Wife of Bath, The Man of Law's Tale and The Pardoner's Tale.

A spokeswoman for BBC1 said: "Chaucer held up a mirror to the 14th century and we intend to do the same for the 21st.

"Each tale has been imaginatively updated to reflect Britain today, with such themes as the cult of celebrity, the obsession with youth and the bigotry shown towards asylum seekers.

"The tales are as relevant today as they were 600 years ago."