Looking’s Russell Tovey to Star in Australian Prisoner Drama Banished

Out actor Russell Tovey will star as one of the first arrivals to Australia's prisoner colonies in the BBC's new show Banished, reports The Guardian.

According to the BBC, the program will showcase the "the lives, loves, relationships and battle for survival of a group of convicts, the soldiers who guard them and the men who govern them in the early days of this settlement."

In addition to Tovey, Banished's cast includes Downton Abbey's MyAnna Buring and Rush's Julian Rhind-Tutt, as well as Lord of the Rings's David Wenham.

Though details are sparse at this moment, the show's creator, Jimmy McGovern, says "how the first convicts survived is the best story [he has] come across in over 30 years as a dramatist. When you've got something like that, you don't worry about the narrative; you just concentrate on the characters. That is what we did."

He added that Banished is probably one of the most character-driven scripts he's ever written.

Banished begins shooting on location next month, and is scheduled to air on the U.K.'s BBC Two early next year.