The six-part series follows Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci as he travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country’s regional cuisines.

In each episode, Tucci visits a different region or city of Italy, showing viewers how the diversity of Italian cooking offers a gateway through which they can glimpse Italy’s history and culture. From the luxurious creamy carbonara of Rome, the delicious simplicity of Sicily’s pasta alla Norma, the saffron-infused silkiness of risotto in Milan and the world’s best pizza in Naples – he comes prepared with a bottomless appetite for it all.

Stanley Tucci says: “It has been a dream of mine to make this show for many years and a great joy to make it with CNN and RAW. I am so honoured that it has been acquired by the esteemed BBC.”

The programme, which is produced by CNN and London-based film and television production company RAW, also recently won a Primetime Emmy Award and has already been renewed for a second season.

Jo Lapping, Head of Factual Acquisition, BBC, says: “We’re excited to take viewers on an unforgettable journey with the fantastic Stanley Tucci across a country renowned for its incredible food – it’s a brilliantly entertaining and mouth-watering experience we know viewers will enjoy.”

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy is a six-part series produced by RAW and CNN and acquired by BBC Programme Acquisition. Executive producers for Searching for Italy are Adam Hawkins, Eve Kay, and Stanley Tucci for RAW, Amy Entelis and Lyle Gamm for CNN Original Series.