Rob Lowe to Star in Crime Drama ‘Wild Bill,’ ITV Orders Miniseries

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Rob Lowe is to star in and exec produce six-part crime drama “Wild Bill” for British broadcaster . The miniseries is produced by 42, Shiver and Anonymous Content.

Lowe will play high-flying U.S. cop Bill Hixon, who is appointed chief of police in East Lincolnshire, a rural part of Eastern England.

When Hixon arrives in Boston, Lincolnshire, with his 14 year-old daughter Kelsey in tow, he’s hoping they can flee their painful recent past. But this unfamiliar, unimpressed community will force Bill to question everything about himself and leave him asking whether it’s Boston that needs Bill, or Bill that needs Boston?

The drama is the first time 42 (“Traitors,” “Ironbark,” “Watership Down”) (“13 Reasons Why,” “Maniac,” “Mr. Robot”) and ITV Studios label Shiver have collaborated to produce a drama series for ITV.

“Wild Bill” is created by David Griffiths (“The Hunted,” “Collateral Damage”), Kyle Killen (“Halo,” “Awake”), and Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble (“Silent Witness,” “Thorne: Sleepyhead & Scaredycat,” “Trial & Retribution”), and will be written by lead writers and showrunners Keeble and Appleton.

Lowe will act as an exec producer on the show alongside Eleanor Moran and Rory Aitken on behalf of 42, and Tim Carter, managing director of Shiver. Appleton, Keeble, Griffiths, Killen, as well as Scott Pennington and Keith Redmon from Anonymous Content, will also be credited as EPs.

Lowe said: “Wild Bill is a larger than life character who’s outrageously articulate, has nothing to lose and revels in being an American fish out of water.”

Keeble and Appleton said: “’Wild Bill’ gives us a chance to write about modern Britain and modern crime through unique eyes. We wrote this for , for his smart-talking, anarchic, soulful voice. Displacing Rob in Brexit Britain and specifically in Boston, Lincolnshire allows us to tell stories that are leftfield and unexpected. We wanted to write something that couldn’t take place anywhere else, or at any other time.”

Filming will take place around London and in Lincolnshire from November. ITVS GE will be responsible for the international distribution of the series.