New York, NY – BBC AMERICA today announced the acquisition of A Poet in New York, a film written by acclaimed screenwriter Andrew Davies (House of Cards, Little Dorrit) and starring Tom Hollander (Rev., In The Loop), which marks the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth and explores the final days of the famous poet.

A Poet in New York, directed by Aisling Walsh (Room at the Top, Loving Miss Hatto), will premiere this fall on BBC AMERICA.  It also stars Essie Davis (The Slap, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries), as Dylan’s wife Caitlin, Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Page Eight), and Phoebe Fox (Switch, New Tricks).

The film is a Modern Television production for BBC Cymru Wales. It is produced by Ruth Caleb. The executive producers are Griff Rhys Jones for Modern Television and Faith Penhale and Bethan Jones for BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Two. BBC Worldwide holds the international distribution rights.

One of the most renowned poets in the world, Dylan Thomas is the creator of some of the most memorable lines in the English language. Known for his wild, hard-drinking lifestyle as well as his brilliance, his popular and electrifying tours made him a much-loved celebrity in the US.

A Poet in New York opens with Thomas (Hollander) arriving in the city on his fourth visit during which he planned to rehearse, write and party. On his way to Hollywood to write an opera with the equally famous composer Igor Stravinsky, he had to earn enough money to fund his trip out west by fulfilling his commitment to a production at the prestigious Poetry Centre in Manhattan. But what might have been a triumphant new path in his career turned into a requiem for a man whose life had spiraled out of control.  His life ended on a smog-ridden November day in 1953 at the young age of 39.  Moving between the present in New York and the poet’s past in his hometown of Laugharne in Wales, the drama explores how Dylan Thomas’ experiences made his life virtually untenable and examines how his destructive personality played into his own demise.