Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery has signed up to star in a Western.

The actress, 34, recently ended her role as Lady Mary in Downton when the hit ITV show came to an end after five years of global success.

Now she will play the female lead in a new period drama, Godless, a mini-series from Netflix to be broadcast next year.

Michelle Dockery and Matthew Goode in Downton AbbeyMichelle Dockery and Matthew Goode in Downton Abbey (ITV)

British actor Jack O’Connell and The Newsroom star Jeff Daniels have also been cast in the period drama.

Michelle plays Alice Fletcher, the owner of a ranch where Roy Goode (O’Connell) is hiding from menacing outlaw Frank Griffin (Daniels).

Griffin terrorises towns across the West as he hunts for Goode, his mortal enemy.

His chase leads him to a quiet town in New Mexico, which is mysteriously made up of entirely women.

Jack O'ConnellJack O’Connell (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Ocean’s Thirteen director Steven Soderbergh is executive producing the drama.

Dockery next stars in the film The Sense Of An Ending with Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling.

Internet TV network Netflix has enjoyed huge success with shows like House Of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey.