Usual Suspects star Byrne to star in Quirke thrillers

Gabriel Byrne (Getty Images)

Gabriel Byrne is set to star in a series of crime thrillers based on novels by Booker Prize winner John Banville.

The Usual Suspects star will play the title character in three episodes of Quirke - about a pathologist in 1950s Dublin.

Two of the 90-minute episodes are written by acclaimed scriptwriter Andrew Davies - the man behind Pride and Prejudice and Vanity Fair.

Banville, who won the Booker Prize in 2005 for The Sea, writes crime novels under the name Benjamin Black.

The new series was announced by BBC1 controller Danny Cohen at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

He also announced another new show, The Ark, about medics at work on the frontline of the First World War.

PA