TV cameras are set to descend on the quiet back streets of Darwen for a new drama starring QI host Stephen Fry and How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris.

Location scouts have been touring the estate beyond St Peter’s Church for some time, looking for backdrops for the 1980s period piece.

And it can now be revealed that house on Joseph Street has been selected to film scenes for the project by Russell T Davies, a writer for Dr Who and the Channel 4 series Queer As Folk.

The Boys will follow the lives of three boys, Ritchie, Roscoe, and Colin, who become friends as they start out in 80s London.

Davies, who has frequently pushed the envelope with his portrayal of gay relationships, will tackle the AIDS epidemic, rejection and prejudice.

Olly Alexander, from chart-topping pop band Years & Years, plays Ritchie, with newcomer Omari Douglas as Roscoe and Callum Scott Howard as Colin.

Keeley Hawes, of Life on Mars fame, has the role of Ritchie’s mum and Shaun Dooley will be his dad, with Fry, Harris and Tracy Ann Oberman rounding out the cast.

In a letter to residents, unit manager MacKenzie Crossland said: “Filming will take place on one day only, Thursday, December 5.

“Most of the scenes will take place within 19 Joseph Street, although there will be a few scenes that take place in the alley behind the row of houses.”

A plea has also been made to residents of Joseph Street, Higher Church Street, Entwistle Street and Church Terrace to consider moving their cars, on the filming day, to allow the crew to set up.

Residents in Joseph Street and Higher Church Street are even being asked to take their wheelie bins in so they can be replaced by 1980s alternatives.

Early filming for the drama has taken place on Le Mans Crescent in Bolton. The drama should air next year.