Rob Lowe Heads to Britain for ITV Crime Drama 'Wild Bill'

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Rob Lowe is going across the pond for his latest starring role.

The former “West Wing” star will play a high-flying U.S. cop who is appointed Chief Constable of the East Lincolnshire Police Force in the ITV crime drama “Wild Bill,” TheWrap has learned.

The six-episode series is produced by 42 (“Traitors,” “Ironbark,” “Watership Down”) and Anonymous Content (“13 Reasons Why,” “Maniac,” “Mr. Robot”) and ITV Studios label, Shiver. It marks the first time the three have collaborated to produce a drama series for ITV, according to a statement from the U.K. network.

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Along with playing the titular role of Bill Hixon, Lowe will also act as an executive producer on “Wild Bill” alongside Eleanor Moran on behalf of 42, and Tim Carter, managing director of ITV Studios label Shiver. Writers Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble, creator David Griffiths, Kyle Killen, Scott Pennington and Keith Redmon from Anonymous Content also join the team as executive producers.

Having started his career in the 1980s as part of Hollywood’s Brat Pack in movies such as “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “The Outsiders” and “Oxford Blues,” Lowe has embraced TV in recent years starring in hit series including “Parks and Recreation,” “Code Black” and “Brothers and Sisters.” He will soon be seen hosting Fox’s competition series “Mental Samurai,” produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted & Alternative Television and A. Smith & Co. Productions.

Also Read: Rob Lowe to Host 'Mental Samurai' Competition Series on Fox

“As an actor, ‘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,” Lowe said of his latest role. “As a executive producer, I’m excited to work with such talented partners and to come back to work in the UK, which I always love.”

“Wild Bill gives us an chance to write about modern Britain and modern crime through unique eyes. We wrote this for Rob Lowe, for his smart-talking, anarchic, soulful voice,” writers Keeble and Appleton added. “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.”

“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 show-runners Keeble and Appleton.

Also Read: 'The Orville' Star Adrianne Palicki on Rob Lowe Spraying Her With 'Too Much' Blue Goo

See the full series description courtesy of ITV below:

When high-flying US police chief Bill Hixon lands 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?

With a first class degree in Criminology, a Masters in Psychopathology and a Doctorate in Statistical Mapping, Bill Hixon is impressively qualified to tackle the county’s crime figures with his graphs, charts, algorithms and a tapestry of digits. Whip-smart, acerbic and unstoppable, Bill is very good at what he does. America’s Top Metropolitan Police Chief three years running is the ideal candidate to make his mark on the East Lincolnshire Force, not least by driving through drastic cuts. From the outset Bill isn’t about making friends. He’s here to get the job done and get the hell out as quick as his spin-class-toned legs will carry him.

But Bill discovers the people of Boston are just as smart-mouthed, cynical and difficult to impress as he is. They don’t suffer fools, authority or algorithms gladly. And the man who’s spent his life keeping the messiness of human intimacy at arm’s length is reluctantly propelled into frontline policing and forced to reconsider his relationship with those closest to him. It’s funny and dangerous in equal measure.

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The Brits are known for their often naughty sense of humor just as much as their love of tea. Check out TheWrap's recommendations for British comedy imports available to stream on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.
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"Gavin & Stacey" (Hulu)
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"The IT Crowd" (Netflix, Hulu)
Graham Linehan's cult favorite "The IT Crowd" follows three employees of a fictional corporation's IT department. Chris O'Dowd and Richard Ayoade star as a pair of tech experts overseen by a manager played by Katherine Parkinson. A U.S. adaptation, led by Ayoade reprising his role, failed to make it to air on NBC.
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"Fleabag" (Amazon)
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"Peep Show" (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon)
Comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb star as a mismatched pair of roommates -- a neurotic loan manager and a slacker musician -- in Channel 4's long-running hit comedy. The beloved series aired for an unprecedented nine seasons before finally concluding in December 2015.
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"Spaced" (Hulu)
Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright, who would later go on to collaborate on "Shaun of the Dead," first teamed on the Channel 4 series "Spaced" in 1999. The slacker comedy starred Pegg and co-creator Jessica Stevenson as two strangers who pretend to be a couple in order to meet the requirements to rent a cheap apartment.
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"Catastrophe" (Amazon)
Created by and starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, "Catastrophe" follows a couple as their one-night stand blossoms into a real relationship due to an unexpected pregnancy. The acclaimed series has been nominated for multiple awards including a Primetime Emmy for writing.
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"The Thick of It" (Hulu)
Before creating HBO's Emmy-winning "Veep" in the U.S., Armando Iannucci satirized the inner-workings of the British government on the BBC's "The Thick of It," which ran for four seasons between 2005 and 2012. "Doctor Who's" Peter Capaldi stars as the government's no-nonsense director of communications.
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"Lovesick" (Netflix)
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"Doll & Em" (HBO)
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"The Office" (Netflix, Hulu)
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's original version of the mockumentary series "The Office" ran for just two seasons, but the show has since been adapted in a number of other countries, including a long-running and hugely successful NBC adaptation starring Steve Carell.
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"Black Books" (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon)
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"Coupling" (Hulu)
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The Brits are known for their often naughty sense of humor just as much as their love of tea. Check out TheWrap's recommendations for British comedy imports available to stream on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.

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