Douglas Henshall will take the lead role of Detective William Muncie in Muncie, ITV's new three-part series about real-life serial killer Peter Manuel, who will be played by Martin Compston.
Manuel struck terror into the heart of Scotland in the late 1950s when he murdered eight people, sexually assaulting some of them.
Muncie will tell the tale of the detective who attempts to bring down Manuel, who was hellbent on taking revenge on the very man who first arrested him and saw him convicted of sexual assaults in 1946.
When he was released nine years later, he went on a killing spree in South Lanarkshire all the while taunting his arch nemesis.
ITV's controller of drama Victoria Fea said: “We’re delighted to be commissioning the mini-series from World Productions and Finlaggan Films, and to be working with Nick Stevens, whose scripts perfectly capture Manuel’s personal vendetta against the man who struggled to bring him to justice.”
Scottish-born actor Douglas, best known as Nick Cutter in ITV’s sci-fi series Primeval and as Jimmy Perez in BBC1's Shetland, will lead the cast as the Lanarkshire sleuth, while Martin, best known as anti-corruption crusader Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott in hit BBC2 drama Line of Duty, will play Manuel.
Filming on Muncie will begin in Scotland later this month, directed by John Strickland (Line of Duty) and produced by Gillian McNeill, whose past programmes include mini-series Casanova and Vanity Fair.
Muncie will be brought to the screen by World Productions, which produced Line of Duty.
No word yet on when Muncie will be broadcast by ITV.
