Ben Miller to Star in ITV Remake of Hit Belgian Series 'Professor T'
Former Death in Paradise star Ben Miller is returning to television in new crime drama based on the popular Belgian series Professor T.
Miller will play a genius OCD criminologist by the name of Professor Jasper Tempest, who unfortunately has several neurological disorders and personal quirks that make him difficult and unpredictable to work with. He has a deep-seated fear of germs, a Tourettes-like inability to control the things he says, a fairly intense case of obesssive compulsive disorder and an overactive imagination. In short, the show is a bit like Sherlock crossed with Monk, mixed with a little bit of Ally McBeal.
Vicious' Frances de la Tour has been cast as his colorful, overbearing mother Adelaide, and the two will be joined by Emma Naomi as Detective Inspector Lisa Donckers with Barney White cast as her police sidekick Dan Winters. In the original series Lisa is a former student of Professor T's, and one of the few people who is not intimidated by or afraid to stand up to him. Whereas Dan is a sweet, kind guy who's always had a thing for Lisa. Together, the three form a sort of dysfunctional crime fighting unit, solving a variety of cases set against the backdrop of Cambridge University, rather than the Antwerp of the original show.
According to Deadline, the series marks the first original drama commission from Eagle Eye Drama, a production set up by the founders of foreign language drama streaming service Walter Presents, the company behind shows like Resistance and Line of Separation. And it appears as though this won't be the only foreign series they attempt to remake for an English audience.
“Professor T is my all-time favourite detective – a tortured genius wrestling with a mystery childhood trauma”, said Walter Iuzzolino, Executive Producer and CEO of Eagle Eye Drama. “It’s a unique crime series with a core of wonderful warm characters at its heart and I am delighted to be working with our hand-picked European production team to make this for ITV and international audiences.”
The original series is available to stream for PBS Passport members via the free PBS Video App if you want to get a head start on seeing what Professor T is all about. If you've already seen it - tell us about it, and whether you think it'll translate well to British television.
