Eleven-year-old Joey Price is set to make his professional acting debut in a star-studded drama based around the Great Fire of London.

And the Tiptree lad’s major role in ITV’s primetime series, The Great Fire, only came about after his talent shone as the ‘tinman’ in his school production of the Wizard of Oz.

Joey said: “I am really excited. It is my first TV job.

“I was really surprised I got the part. I got into acting when I did a school play with my friend.

“She said I did really well and she went to an acting school on a Saturday morning and said I should go along.

“I did, and I really liked it and everyone is really nice.”

Joey has been attending The Academy theatre school in Coggeshall for a couple of years and through it, auditioned for an agency which he only joined at Christmas.

It was through that agency, ARG Talent, that Joey auditioned, against more than 100 other youngsters, for the role of David Farriner in The Great Fire.

David is the nephew of Thomas Farriner, the baker whose Pudding Lane shop the Great Fire of London famously started in, in 1666.

The four-part drama series stars Andrew Buchan as Thomas and Rose Leslie as David’s mum, Sarah, who is known for her roles in Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey.

His family, who also include dad John, 45, and three older sisters, have only seen a snapshot of his smallscreen debut so far and are eagerly anticipating the first of The Great Fire series, at 9pm tonight.