Sophie Dahl has been named as the face of a new documentary exploring the life of home cooking icon Mrs Beeton. 

The model, who recently hosted her own cook show the Delicious Miss Dahl, will be recreating some of the recipes associated with the writer.

She commented: "I have been a long-time devotee of Mrs Beeton and leapt at the chance to learn more about her extraordinary life through this programme."

It is now yet known when the documentary will air on the BBC, but bosses from the corporation said they are "thrilled" to have Dahl back on BBC Two.

Commissioning editor of factual formats and features Alison Kirkham noted that it will provide a perfect fusion of cookery and social history.

Nielsen BookScan data recently named Jamie's 30-Minute Meals as the number one book in the Christmas chart for this year after shifting more than one million copies.