EXCLUSIVE: Murder Mystery and The Alienist star Luke Evans is to lead an ITV crime drama from Bodyguard producer World Productions. The actor, who also starred in The Fate of the Furious, will play police officer Steve Wilkins in The Pembrokeshire Murders.

The three-part series, which depicts the pursuit of a cold-blooded serial killer, is based on true-crime book Catching the Bullseye Killer, written by Senior Investigating Officer Steve Wilkins and ITV news journalist Jonathan Hill.

Filming kicks off this month on the series, which was commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill, is written by In Plain Sight’s Nick Stevens. The series comes from ITV-owned Bodyguard and Line of Duty producer World Productions and is produced by Hinterland’s Ed Talfan for Wales-based Severn Screen.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle’s Keith Allen plays John Cooper, Game of Thrones’ Owen Teale plays Gerard Elias, The End of the F***ing World’s Alexandria Riley stars as Jackie Richards, Requiem’s Caroline Berry plays Pat Cooper, All the Money in the World’s Oliver Ryan stars as Andrew Cooper and Undateable’s David Fynn plays ITV News journalist Jonathan Hill.

ITV Studios will distribute with production support from the Welsh Government.

The story centers around two unsolved double murders from the 1980s that cast a shadow over the work of the Dyfed Powys police force. In 2006, newly promoted Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins decided to reopen both cases. Employing pioneering forensic methods, Wilkins and his team found microscopic DNA and fibers that potentially linked the murders to a string of burglaries committed in the ’80s and ’90s. The perpetrator of those robberies was nearing the end of his prison sentence, but if Steve Wilkins was right, he was also a serial killer. Could Steve and his team find enough forensic evidence to charge their suspect before he was released to potentially kill again?

Luke Evans said, “It is a privilege to be playing the role of Steve Wilkins in The Pembrokeshire Murders and working again with Simon Heath, his team at World Productions and ITV. It’s a huge responsibility for me as the drama depicts a true crime which to this day still affects the families of those whose lives were tragically taken.”

ITV’s Polly Hill said, “Nick Stevens script is a fascinating and insightful account into how and why the Dyfed Powys Police team reopened this cold case and brought a serial killer to justice after he’d evaded capture for nearly two decades. I have wanted to work with Luke Evans again since we made The Great Train Robbery, which Simon Heath and World Productions also produced. I’m delighted that The Pembrokeshire Murders is that project, as Luke will be incredible as Steve Wilkins and this is going to be an unmissable drama for our ITV audience.”

World’s Simon Heath added, “We’re thrilled to be working again with Luke and Nick to bring to the screen the story of Steve Wilkins and his team’s brilliant cold case detective work.”