"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe will play Rudyard Kipling's son in "My Boy Jack," a World War I drama that will air next year on British broadcaster ITV.

Radcliffe will play 17-year-old Jack Kipling, son of the English author of "The Jungle Book" and the "Just So Stories."

The film tells the true story of how Rudyard Kipling used his political connections to enlist Jack in the Irish Guards, even though his son had been turned down for health reasons by the military many times before.

When Jack subsequently went missing in action, his mother and father began a tragic search for his body. Although their attempts spanned years, his body never was recovered.

Radcliffe said he was very moved by the plight of the hundreds of thousands of young men who lost their lives in the trenches across Europe, and he felt the story also would have contemporary resonance.

"I've always been fascinated by the subject (of WW I) and I think it's as relevant today as it ever was, with young men still sacrificing their lives in the name of war," he said.

Based on the play by writer David Haig -- who will play Rudyard Kipling -- "Jack" will be filmed next year.

Radcliffe will also be seen next year doing a nude turn in a West End revival of Peter Shaffer's disturbing psychodrama "Equus," and weaving his magic in the fifth Harry Potter movie "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix."