Keith Allen is to star alongside Tara Fitzgerald in BBC1′;s new six-part crime series The Body Farm. Created by Declan Croghan, the series is made by BBC Drama Production in association with Trevor Eve’;s company Projector Pictures for BBC One (1 x 90 minutes and 5 x 60 minutes).

In the series, Allen plays Detective Inspector Hale who calls upon Waking The Dead pathologist Dr Eve Lockhart (Tara Fitzgerald) to help solve crimes.

Commenting, Kate Harwood, controller, Drama Series and Serials, said: “We are excited to have such a wonderful cast line-up and to be following the character of Eve Lockhart into a new job as she leads her forensic team out to fight crime; Eve will face her challenges in the same way that she did in Waking The Dead, with cool professionalism and quiet compassion.”

Produced by Simon Lewis, executive producers are Sue Hogg from BBC Drama Production and Trevor Eve for Projector Pictures.

In the opening 90-minute special, viewers are introduced to The Body Farm, a facility that is pushing back the boundaries of scientific research and solving crimes. “Here no horror is taken for granted,” quivers the BBC, “and murder is seen to be what it is – visceral and shocking.”

Meanwhile, proof that swarthy middle-aged men can still attract audiences came with the opening episode of ITV’;s new medical drama Monroe. Starring James Nesbitt, it attracted a respectable 6 million viewers for episode one.