From Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of the original Swedish/Danish co-production The Bridge (Bron), Marcella is an eight-part crime drama that’s due to start shooting this month in London for ITV. Rosenfeldt and Nicola Larder (Sky’s development executive on The Tunnel and Dracula) created the modern-day series which will star Anna Friel in the title role. Produced by Tony Wood’s Buccaneer Media, this is Rosenfeldt’s first drama for the UK which will be injected with his Scandinavian noir style.

ITV originally greenlit the series over the summer and has now rounded out the cast. Also set to star are Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael, Nicholas Pinnock (Fortitude), Ian Puleston-Davies (Coronation Street), Nina Sosanya (Last Tango In Halifax), Ray Panthaki (Convenience), Jamie Bamber (Law & Order: UK), Patrick Baladi (The Office), and Harry Lloyd (Game Of Thrones).

Friel, who last starred in NBC’s American Odyssey and Norway’s The Saboteurs, plays Marcella, a Metropolitan Police detective shocked to the core when her husband leaves her unexpectedly, confessing he no longer loves her. Having given up her fast-tracked career 10 years prior, she returns heartbroken to the Met’s Murder Squad. With the abrupt end to her marriage and isolated from her children, Marcella throws herself into work to stop from falling apart.

She wants back in on the serial killer case she first worked in 2005 and has a hunch she couldn’t follow through with earlier due to falling pregnant with a second child. Has the killer re-appeared or is a copycat murderer responsible for these recent deaths that bear the same M.O.? How will Marcella cope returning to duties when her own temperament is so fragile and vulnerable? Will throwing herself into her work provide the answers she’s seeking? Or lead her dangerously into territory she must evade at all cost? Suspicious of her husband’s motives for leaving her, Marcella finds herself playing detective away from work, but those findings could lead her to further heartbreak.

The drama will be executive produced by Rosenfeldt, Larder and Wood whose Buccaneer is a joint venture with Cineflix Media. Directors are Charles Martin (Skins, The Returned), Jonathan Teplitzky (Broadchurch, The Railway Man) and Henrik Georgsson (The Bridge). Producer is Fortitude‘s Andrew Woodhead.