Dennis Haysbert will be a familiar face to millions of fans of '24', where he played US senator later president David Palmer, the target of villains hunted down by a rogue Jack Bauer aka Keifer Sutherland.
He'll be facing a whole new threat in brand new BBC political thriller 'Undercover', where he plays Rudy Jones, a man falsely imprisoned on Death Row for twenty years, who is refusing to go quietly.
'Undercover' is a new six-episode drama, due to air next year on BBC One. Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo will play Rudy's oldest friend Maya, married to Nick, played by Adrian Lester.
His role in '24' made Dennis Haysbert a very familiar television face
Maya is a woman about to become the first black Director of Public Prosecutions. Just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny Maya discovers that her husband and the father of her children has been lying to her for years. Is he concealing an affair, or is it something altogether more sinister? If she digs up his real past will she be safe and who wants her in this job and why?
Twenty years ago Nick was a fearless and dedicated undercover officer, infiltrating organisations considered a danger to society because of their political beliefs. Nick built himself a fake past and now with his wife unsuspecting and his conscience killing him, his secret identity may compromise his wife’s new career.
Sophie Okonedo earned an Oscar nomination for her role in 'Hotel Rwanda' alongside Don Cheadle
As well as '24', Dennis Haysbert has been consistently on screen in films 'Absolute Power', 'Dead Rising', 'Sin City', 'Major League', 'The Unit' and 'Far from Heaven'.
Dennis is by no means the first US star to succumb to the lure of British drama. Shirley MacLaine set a recent predent with her scene-stealing arrival to 'Downton Abbey', followed swiftly by Paul Giamatti - not forgetting George Clooney providing a special treat for the Countess Dowager.
Oscar winner Mira Sorvino appeared in BBC Two's 'Intruders' and, in 2011, Chloe Sevigny moved to Manchester to film British six-parter 'Hit and Miss' where she starred as a pre-op transexual contract killer.
Just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny Maya discovers that her husband and the father of her children has been lying to her for years. Is he concealing an affair, or is it something altogether more sinister? If she digs up his real past will she be safe and who wants her in this job and why?
Dennis Haysbert is due to start filming this month and Undercover will transmit on BBC One in 2016. As well as BBC One, the series will air on BBC America as part of the partnership between BBC Worldwide and AMC Networks.