Five snaps up rights to hit US TV series starring Hugh Laurie

Laurie, famous for his roles in TV's 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' and the 'Stuart Little' films, stars as Dr Gregory House, a maverick anti-social American doctor who specialises in infectious diseases.

Together with an elite medical team at a New Jersey hospital they solve the cases no one else can. 

The series premiered in the US on the Fox network and quickly became a ratings hit.

The show's producers took a gamble on Laurie after a search for the quintessential American failed to come up trumps.

Laurie auditioned for the role by video from his hotel in in Namibia, where he was shooting the recently released film 'Flight of the Phoenix'.

One of the show's executive directors Bryan Singer, director of 'X-Men' and 'X-Men 2', saw the audition tape and declared that was just want he wanted: an American guy, unaware that Laurie was English. 

It currently attracts an average 18m viewers every week, putting it in the US top 10.

The series will broadcast weekly from June 9 at 10pm.

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