X Files star Gillian Anderson will make her radio drama debut in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of 84 Charing Cross Road.

Anderson will feature alongside Denis Lawson in the new version of Helene Hanff's book, which will be the centrepiece of Radio 4's Christmas schedule, airing at 3.10pm on Christmas Day.

Hanff's book, which was turned into a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft, tells the true story of her 20-year correspondence with London bookseller Frank Doel.

The pair had a blossoming romance despite never meeting, exchanging letters and gifts by post. But by the time New Yorker Hanff visited England, Doel had died.

Anderson plays Hanff, who is in search of obscure classics and British literary novels that she was unable to find in New York.

Lawson plays Doel, who works at Marks and Company, an antiquarian booksellers based at 84 Charing Cross Road.

When Doel died, Hanff published their letters as a tribute.

Anderson garnered critical acclaim in Andrew Davies' adaptation of Bleak House on BBC1 in 2005, which also starred Lawson.

The 85-minute radio version has been produced by Tracey Neale and written for radio by James Roose-Evans, who previously adapted 84 Charing Cross Road for the theatre.

Hanff's book was also adapted for BBC television in 1975, when the title roles were taken by Frank Finlay and Anne Jackson. The film, starring Hopkins and Bancroft, was made 20 years ago.