Sean Bean has joined the cast of 'World on Fire'.

Sean Bean

Sean Bean

The 'Game of Thrones' actor's role in the upcoming BBC1 Second World War drama series is currently unknown, but he's "thrilled" to have been cast in the "ambitious" programme, which has been written by Peter Bowker.

He said: "I am thrilled to be part of this ambitious drama. Peter Bowker's study of the human stories that thread through this huge global conflict is fascinating and something I look forward to being part of on screen."

The seven-part programme has a strong ensemble cast which also includes the likes of Helen Hunt, Lesley Manville, Blake Harrison, Jonah Hauer-King, Julia Brown, Brian J Smith, Parker Sawyers, Bruno Alexander, and Zofia Wichlacz.

The drama tells the story of the first year of the war, exploring its impact on ordinary people from Britain, the US, France, Poland and Germany.

Filming began in Prague last month and will also take place in Manchester, London, Paris and Berlin.

Meanwhile, though Sean only appeared in nine episodes of 'Game of Thrones' as Ned Stark, he recently admitted he is very "proud" of his key role in the show because he was such an "anchor of goodness" to his family and other characters.

He said recently: "He was such a fantastic character to play. He was one of the very few good men with principles and morals and values in the whole thing, because everybody's backstabbing and poisonous people.

"He was an anchor to a lot of people, and of goodness... I was just glad to play Ned Stark. I'm very proud of it."