Twitter

Dr. Death has a new lead star. Peacock announced today that Little Fires Everywhere actor Joshua Jackson will be stepping into the titular role in the upcoming medical drama series, joining Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater. The announcement comes after Jamie Dornan, who was originally cast in the role, had to leave the show due to production delays caused by the coronavirus.

Jackson will now play the “young, charismatic and ostensibly brilliant” Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a successful doctor with a flourishing career in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Death, a true story based on the Wondery podcast of the same name, follows Dr. Duntsch’s rise and fall as he built a neurosurgery practice that was hiding many dark secrets behind its walls.

While Dr. Duntsch projected a bright and capable image on the outside, patients inside his practice were leaving with horrifying injuries and even dying after seeing him for routine spinal surgeries. It wasn’t until two other physicians in the area, neurosurgeon Robert Henderson (Baldwin) and vascular surgeon Randall Kirby (Slater), took notice that Dr. Duntsch’s crimes came to light. The show’s official description reads, “Dr. Death explores the twisted mind of Dr. Duntsch and the failures of the system designed to protect the most defenseless among us.”

Dr. Death comes from executive producer and showrunner Patrick Macmanus (The Girl From Plainville), as well as executive producers Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch and Taylor Latham from Escape Artists, and Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy of Wondery.

And if Dr. Death is giving you some Dirty John vibes with its twisted medical story, you’re right on track. Director Maggie Kiley, who will also executive produce the first two episodes, has previously worked on Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, as well as Riverdale. Euphoria‘s Jennifer Morrison and So Yong Kim will also direct. Production on Dr. Death begins this fall.