Cumbria will become the home of another high-profile television drama.

Filming is to start this week on an ITV drama starring Marcella actress Anna Friel.

She will hed the cast of Deep Water, adapted from the Windermere series of novels by Paula Daly.

Friel will star opposite Sinead Keenan and Rosalind Eleazar in the six-part emotional thriller.

ITV say that crews will be working in the Cumbrian countryside within days.

It will be set against the backdrop of the Lake District and follows the lives of three complex women who are all struggling to do their best for their families, but face tough choices.

The women are connected by the school gates, each with children around the same age - and Friel will play disorganised mother-of-three, Lisa Kallisto, who juggles her hectic family life with running a business.

Little Boy Blue star Keenan plays physiotherapist Roz, who once had a thriving private practice, but the debts run up by her partner Winston have left the family facing financial ruin.

When Roz is offered help with their debts from an unexpected quarter, the decision she makes could change the course of her life.

Rellik star Eleazar plays wealthy and attractive Kate Riverty, who has a home overlooking Lake Windermere and a well-drilled and highly organised family life as mother to Lucinda and Fergus, and wife to husband Guy.

When Kate invites her friend Lisa and husband Joe to dinner, the evening goes spectacularly wrong for Lisa after she makes a spontaneous decision.

Penned by Indian Summer writer Anna Symon, the series aims to take a modern look at families, the pressure of juggling busy lives, and an exploration of what it means to be a perfect mother.

Polly Hill, head of drama at ITV, said: "Anna has cleverly woven together two of Paula's brilliant novels, to create a wonderful modern and layered series.

"It's about three very different women on their own incredible and often shocking journeys, whose lives connect at the school gates.

"It's funny, sexy, truthful and often outrageous, and should have the audience asking what they would do to hold their own family together. I am delighted to be working with Kudos on this great new series for ITV."

Karen Wilson, chief creative officer for production company Kudos, added: "We are thrilled to be working with Anna and ITV on bringing these wonderful books to life, and telling stories about modern women in an interesting and beautiful part of rural Britain."

Deep Water is the latest in a series of prominent television productions - of various genres - to be filmed in Cumbria in recent years.

ITV shot Safe House, starring Christopher Eccleston, in the Lakes.

Meanwhile, the BBC has brought the Keswick area to wide attention with its groundbreaking series The A Word, with Eccleston also leading the cast in that.

Jonny Vegas starred in BBC sitcom Home From Home, which was shot around Pooley Bridge and aired earlier this year.