A TV series that details the feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford on the set of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? will air on BBC Two later this year.

Feud: Bette And Joan stars Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange as the Hollywood stars of the title, as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones as Olivia de Havilland and Kathy Bates as Joan Blondell.

The series, which aired in the US earlier this year to critical acclaim, follows the rivalry between the two stars before they worked together on the 1962 film, the details of the production and their lives after the cameras stopped rolling and into the twilight of their careers.

Olivia (left) and Bette in Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte.
Olivia, left, and Bette in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (PA)

The series, devised by Glee and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy, also stars Judy Davis as Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, Alfred Molina as director and producer Robert Aldrich, Stanley Tucci as Warner Bros studio head Jack L Warner and Mad Men actress Kiernan Shipka as Bette Davis’s daughter, B.D.

Patrick Holland, controller of BBC Two, said: “Drama on BBC Two has to stand out for its authorship, unique vision and exceptional craft so I am delighted that Ryan Murphy’s brilliantly realised series Feud: Bette And Joan is coming to the channel.

“It features some wonderful performances, a flawless recreation of period and a delicious unravelling of a personal drama that had a massive impact on modern cinema. Feud is a real treat.”

Sue Deeks, head of programme acquisition at the BBC, said: “BBC Two viewers will relish this critically acclaimed portrayal of old Hollywood and a famously combustible yet poignant relationship – it is a zesty cocktail of glamour, wit and grit.”