Sean Bean cast in new ITV series The Frankenstein Chronicles

The actor will play Inspector John Marlott in the upcoming six-parter

Sean Bean will play 'extraordinary hero' Inspector John Marlott in The Frankenstein Chronicles (Jason Alden)

Sean Bean is set to star in a new period crime drama series re-imagining the iconic Frankenstein myth.

The award-winning actor will play “extraordinary hero” Inspector John Marlott in six-part ITV commission The Frankenstein Chronicles, with the rest of the cast yet to be announced.

Marlott, known as a man who “doesn’t know the meaning of fear”, will be taken on a terrifying journey in pursuit of a chilling foe, after he is recruited by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel in the opening scenes.

While contemplating his recent successful arrest of opium smugglers, Marlott spots the mutilated body of a dead child washed up on the shore and soon begins tracking the diabolical perpetrator.

“As he investigates, Marlott discovers that what’s he’s dealing with is more horrific than he could possibly have imagined,” the official synopsis reads.

The upcoming series has been created by Emmy-nominated writer and director Benjamin Ross and writer Barry Langford.

“Marlott’s investigation takes him into the dark corners of Regency London,” said Ross. “He discovers an underworld of prostitution, drug smuggling, bodysnatching and murder for profit.

“The rational evidence points first one-way and then another as he contemplates a frightening alternate scenario.”

Filming for The Frankenstein Chronicles is scheduled to begin in Northern Ireland in January 2015.