Netflix Boards BBC Steven Moffat Series ‘Inside Man’; Stanley Tucci, David Tennant, Dolly Wells, Lydia West Join Cast

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has boarded its latest BBC drama, taking the international rights to Steven Moffat’s limited series Inside Man, which has assembled a stellar above-the-line cast ahead of production taking place later this year.

Deadline can reveal that Oscar-nominated Supernova and Spotlight star Stanley Tucci has been set in the title role of the Inside Man, while he will be joined by Doctor Who and Des actor David Tennant, and The Pursuit of Love and Dracula star Dolly Wells. Rounding out the headline cast is Lydia West, who featured in the acclaimed Channel 4/HBO Max series It’s A Sin.

Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Steven Moffat is keeping plot details firmly under wraps, so much so that only he himself knows how the story will conclude. That means Netflix and the BBC are in the dark about how Inside Man will end.

What we do know is the four-part Hartswood Films series centers on a prisoner on death row in the U.S., a vicar in a quiet English town, and a maths teacher trapped in a cellar, as they cross paths in the most unexpected way.

Sherlock director Paul McGuigan will helm the series, with Alex Mercer producing. Executive producers are Sue Vertue for Hartswood Films and Ben Irving for the BBC. Chris Sussman oversees for Netflix. Inside Man was first commissioned in 2019 by BBC drama director Piers Wenger and Charlotte Moore, BBC chief content officer.

Husband and wife Moffat and Vertue said they can’t wait to “crawl out of our lockdown bunker” to get to work on the series, which Sussman described as “fiendishly clever.” Wenger added that the combination of the script and cast will create “television magic.”

BBC Studios brokered the deal with Netflix, which will stream the show outside of the UK and Ireland. It’s another example of the BBC and Netflix partnering on a major drama, with other recent examples including The Serpent and the upcoming supernatural horror series Red Rose.

Inside Man has echoes of Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ 2020 series Dracula, which was also a co-production between the BBC and Netflix. The three-part series also starred Wells and West in the retelling of Bram Stoker’s legendary story of a blood-sucking count from Transylvania.

Tucci is repped by CAA, Curtis Brown and Anonymous Content, while Tennant is repped by Independent Talent and UTA. Wells’ representatives are Independent Talent, UTA, and Anonymous Content, and West is repped by Independent Talent, WME, and Untitled Ent.