EXCLUSIVE: Mark Strong (Kingsman), Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones) and Daniel Mays (Line of Duty) will star in the Sky-commissioned thriller series Temple. The high-concept eight-parter, produced by Hera Pictures head Liza Marshall (Riviera), is playwright Mark O’Rowe’s adaptation of the acclaimed Norwegian drama series Valkyrien about the workings of an illegal and subterranean clinic.

We first announced Strong for the darkly comic drama last summer when it was still in early stages. Additional cast is being finalized with production due to begin next month.

Strong will star as Daniel, a surgeon who is driven by personal tragedy to treat anyone in his underground London clinic who is willing to pay for medical help outside the system. Aided by Lee (Mays), a disgruntled transport employee, and Anna (van Houten), a guilt-ridden medical researcher, they treat a variety of increasingly desperate and highly dangerous patients, as Daniel’s morality is tested to the limit.

Executive producers are Marshall, Strong and O’Rowe for Hera Pictures and Gabriel Silver and Anne Mensah for Sky. Luke Snellin (Wanderlust) is the lead director, with Shariff Korver (Fenix) and Lisa Siwe (Modus) following; Barney Reisz (Black Mirror) produces. Sky Vision will distribute internationally and co-fund the series, which is being lined up for Sky One in 2019.

Strong, currently on screen in Epix series Deep State, said, “Mark O’Rowe has created a complex and multi-faceted character in Daniel — a man pushed to the extreme as his world is radically destabilized. Temple is a gripping and humane morality tale for our time.”

Former Scott Free, Channel4 and Archery Pictures exec Marshall added: “After the success of Riviera, I am thrilled to be working with Sky again on my first production for Hera. I think the audience will love the world of Temple and it’s darkly funny take on life.”