Desperate Housewives and Doctor Who actor Ryan Carnes to play the Phantom

ACTOR Ryan Carnes, whose credits include Doctor Who and Desperate Housewives, is to play comic book hero the Phantom in a new TV movie.

Carnes, 26, will play the masked crimefighter in a four-hour pilot movie on the Sci Fi channel which is intended to launch a new series.

Carnes was Justin, the boyfriend of Andrew Van Der Kemp (Shawn Pyfrom) in Desperate Housewives and appeared in two Doctor Who episodes - Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks - as Laszlo, who was turned into a half-pig slave. He was also in last year's horror flick Trailer Park of Terror, based on the Imperium Comics series.

Isabella Rossellini will guest star in the TV movie as the villainous Lithia, who is overseeing a mind-control experiment.

Other cast members include Cameron Goodman and Sandrine Holt.

The project, by screenwriter Daniel Knauf and his son Daniel, will air in 2010, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Phantom began as a newspaper comic strip in 1936 and has since featured in numerous comic books, novels, video games, serials and a 1996 film starring Billy Zane.

A new big-screen remake called The Phantom: Legacy, with Sam Worthington reportedly in consideration for the lead role, was announced in December last year.