Bonham-Carter and West as 'Burton and Taylor' - BBC4's Last Drama Hurrah [Pictures]

The BBC Four biopic Burton And Taylor will - as Drama Commissioning Controller Ben Stephenson puts it – see them "go out with a bang,” of original drama, anyway. The TV movie details the relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor during the Noël Coward play Private Lives.

"I nearly didn't take the role," Bonham-Carter admitted to Vogue. "When I first found out about it, I thought, 'Elizabeth Taylor? I should run a mile.' Even my mum said, 'Don't touch that with a barge pole.' But it was the script that won me over - it was such a touching, sweet story. The fact that it was about two of the world's most famous stars was incidental."

We can't wait to watch these two as Taylor and Burton

Burton and Taylor were Hollywood’s golden couple; think Brad and Angelina then multiply them by ten, and subtract all the humanitarian work and mass-adoption. Most famously, they starred together in the 1963 British-American-Swiss film, Cleopatra, one of the most expensive films ever made, and the highest grossing film in the year of its release.

West made his name as agent McNulty in The Wire - a Baltimore cop

Their relationship was controversial to say the least. Married twice, consecutively, the couple were condemned by the Vatican for starting their relationship while still married to their respective partners. Burton died at age 58 from a brain haemorrhage on 5 August 1984 at his home in Céligny, Switzerland. Taylor died aged 79 on March 23, 2011 in hospital following complications with her heart.

According to West, Burton and Taylor were "just brilliant together as actors as well," according to Den of Geek. Bonham Carter feels that Taylor was "such an inspiration," describing her as a "phenomenal woman," funny, witty, clever… “she wasn’t a victim." Burton and Taylor will premiere at 9.00pm on Monday 22nd July on BBC Four.