Italian dectective series starring Bond girl Caterina Murino to air on BBC 1

Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino star in Zen, a BBC One crime series based on the novels of Michael Dibdin and starting on Sunday 2 January 2011 - reports Suit 101.

Fictional Italian detective Aurelio Zen is coming to BBC One in three feature length dramas on consecutive Sundays, starting on Sunday 2 January 2011. Rufus Sewell stars as Zen, created by British author Michael Dibdin. Italian actress Caterina Murino stars as Zen's love interest, Tania Moretti, alongside an international cast including Ben Miles, Stanley Townsend, Catherine Spaak and Francesco Quinn.

Set in and around Rome, Zen features the attractions of Italy combined with the thrills of the Michael Dibdin novels.

In “Vendetta”, the first of the three episodes, Zen has to re-investigate a multiple murder. Flamboyant millionaire and government construction magnate Oscar Faso and his guests have been shot dead. Prime suspect and friend of Faso, Renato Favelloni, has "found God" in prison and is retracting his confession, a move that could send shockwaves through government – so Zen must intervene.

In the second episode “Cabal”, the body of Umberto Ruspanti, a member of one of Rome's most prominent aristocratic families, is found underneath a bridge in the early hours of the morning. Zen is assigned the case to ensure a swift conclusion of suicide but he suspects murder.

English actor Rufus Sewell has recently starred as Tom Builder in the TV series The Pillars of Earth but he had his first break back in 1992 when he played Billy in the TV series Gone to Seed and two years later he starred as Will Ladislaw in Middlemarch. In 1998, he played John Murdoch in Dark City, one of the best science fiction movies of all time. More recently, he played King Charles II in the 2003 TV mini-series Charles II: The Power & The Passion and Doctor Jacob Hood in Eleventh Hour.

Caterina Murino came to fame for her portrayal of Solange Dimitrios in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale but she was already known to Italian viewers for her role as Franca Baldini in the 2004 TV series Orgoglio. She also played Miss Maupassant in the 2007 film St Trinian’s.

"Zen's a perfect mixture of all the things that I would love to see in the cinema – corruption, love, elegance and humour,” she said in the official BBC press release. “Everything mixed in perfect doses.”

Discuss this news here...