Ray Winstone’s new TV drama is to fill the slot taken by Nigella Lawson’s The Taste, after her show was axed in the US.

The cooking competition fronted by the sexy British cook has seen its ratings plummet since it launched on the ABC network in 2013 – with audience figures more than halved from seven million to less than three million viewers.

Nigella’s food show will now be replaced by epic Bibical drama Of Kings And Prophets, starring fellow Brit Ray.

Ray Winstone (Anthony Devlin/PA)
Ray Winstone (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Ray, 58, stars as Saul in the 13-part drama, centred around a battle-weary king, a powerful and resentful prophet, and a resourceful young shepherd.

The pilot for Of Kings And Prophets was shot in Paarl Rock in South Africa, and also stars Star Wars beauty Maisie Richardson-Sellers, 23.

Channel 4 axed the British version of The Taste, which also featured bad boy chef Anthony Bourdain on the judging panel, after just one series.

But BBC Two recently announced it had commissioned a new series of Simply Nigella, to air in the autumn.