JASON ISAACS leads the cast of ITV drama The Cary Grant Elevator.

The four-part drama Archie, about the life of Hollywood’s leading man, starring Jason Isaacs as Cary Grant and written by Jeff Pope, was released exclusively on ITVX last year and is expected to air on ITV1 soon.

Born in Bristol, England in 1904 to parents Elsie and Elias, Archie tells the story of young Archibald Alexander Leach’s difficult childhood and how extreme poverty, his father’s adultery and the loss of his older brother John tore the family apart his loving mother into a downward spiral of grief and depression.

Jeff Pope’s scripts show how deception, cruelty and an overwhelming lie shaped Archie’s life. At 14, he auditioned for the music hall band Bob Pender Troupe, a group of acrobats, stilt walkers, clowns and comedians, after seeing them at the Bristol Hippodrome.

Slender and athletic, he learned the art of stilt walking, and when the troupe went on tour to the United States, teenage Archie was intoxicated by the land of opportunity. Believing he was not wanted by his family in the UK, he decided to stay in the US and try to get into show business.

With no thought of acting, a chance meeting with comedian George Burns helped him launch his acting career and land him a contract with a film studio that felt he needed to change his name, and Cary Grant was born.

The drama cuts to scenes from 1961, when the legendary actor was at the height of his fame breaking box office records in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, but was extremely unhappy in his personal life.

After going through two failed marriages, he began courting an actress he had seen on a television show: Dyan Cannon. Dyan, 33 years his junior, did not initially succumb to his charms and rejected his attempts to meet because she did not feel they could ever be compatible.

Stunningly handsome, polite and sophisticated, Cary continued to pursue her by introducing his famous friends until they finally married in Las Vegas in 1965.

The series also stars Laura Aikman as Cary’s formidable ex-wife, actress and filmmaker Dyan Cannon, and Harriet Walter as Elsie Leach, Cary’s mother.

Dainton Anderson (Patrick Melrose), Calam Lynch (Bridgerton) and Oaklee Pendergast (Home) play young versions of Archie Leach, and Kara Tointon (Mr Selfridge, The Halcyon, Sound of Music Live) plays young Elsie.

Archie is now available on ITVX.