Channel 4 has secured a deal for the rights to screen a major new £40m US series starring Al Pacino as a professional suffering from AIDS in the'80s.
Described by producers HBO as a "once in a lifetime event", Angels in America is poised to take the UK by storm when it is broadcast next year.
From the director of The Graduate, Mike Nichols, the six-part series will explore the "sexual, racial, religious, political and social issues of the Reagan era" as the AIDS epidemic spreads.
The six-hour production recently completed filming in the US and Italy and is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name.
Also starring Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson, the show has been warmly received by UK television buyers who say it could be "the next ER".
MediaCom broadcast director David Jowett said: "This type of show will be targeting the most valuable audience of younger, upmarket, light tv viewers and because it's coming from HBO, it has a greater chance of success."
It comes as the latest in a long line of C4 shows from HBO following the success of imports such as Sex and The City, ER and Six Feet Under.
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