Dolly Parton explores faith in show

Dolly Parton will discuss how her faith and beliefs have shaped her life in a new flagship BBC religious programme hosted by Fern Britton.

Actress Sheila Hancock, Tony Blair and Archbishop Desmond Tutu will also appear in the series, which will air in the run-up to Christmas.

Country music star and actress Dolly tells how she balances her strong religious beliefs with her flirtatious image, and says she believes she has proved her Tennessee preacher grandfather - who warned that "a dancing foot and a praying knee don't fit on the same leg" - wrong.

Former This Morning co-host Fern said: "All the interviewees come from very different backgrounds but what binds them together is the fact that, although their faith has been challenged, they've emerged with strong spiritual beliefs."

Hancock, a Quaker, has lost two husbands to cancer. After the death of her second husband, Inspector Morse star John Thaw, she wrote two "inspiring" books.

The actress, who has recently been treading the boards as Mother Superior in the musical version of Sister Act, once penned her own newspaper headline: "I'm not a dreary cow."

The four one-hour programmes called Fern Britton Meets... will begin on BBC One in late November.

The channel will also broadcast two Songs Of Praise specials over Christmas - a spectacular from the Royal Albert Hall with Bryn Terfel, Ruby Turner and Jodie Prenger, and another recorded at a church in Jerusalem.