Colin Farrell has decided to flex his thespian chops with a move that will see him take the lead in BBC2’s Andrew Haigh thriller ‘The North Water’.

Based on the Ian McGuire novel, the story will be serialised into four episodes for the channel. Set in the U.K. and in the Arctic wasteland in the late 1850s, ‘The North Water’ tells the story of Patrick Sumner, a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as ship’s doctor on a whaling expedition to the Arctic in search of redemption. But instead, he finds himself on an ill-fated journey with Henry Drax (Farrell), a murderous psychopath he meets while on board.

Casting the right leads is the most important part of any project and I’m thrilled to have Colin Farrell on board. I am a huge admirer of his work and can’t wait to see him bring Drax vividly to life,” said Haigh.

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The story is being adapted by ‘Lean on Pete’ filmmaker, Andrew Haigh, It will be executive produced by Jamie Laurenson, See-Saw Films’ head of television, and Hakan Kousetta, the COO of television, alongside Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, joint managing directors. Niv Fichman for Rhombus Media and Lucy Richer for the BBC are also exec producing. Kate Ogborn will be producing for See-Saw. The North Water is a co-production with Rhombus Media.

Filming is due to commence this Autumn.

Farrell was last seen in Steve McQueen’s ‘Widows’ alongside Viola Davis and Liam Neeson. He will next be seen in Tim Burton’s ‘Dumbo’, other projects in the pipeline are Guy Ritchie’s ‘Toff Guys’ and Tate Taylor’s ‘Eve’ alongside Jessica Chastain.