Eight years is an awful long time to be solving medical riddles like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, and it looked to be that British actor Hugh Laurie was ready to hang up the stethoscope when House bowed out in 2012. How and ever, Deadline is reporting that the award-winning star has been courted back for another medical drama called Chance, which has already earned a full two-season backing by Hulu.
Stepping in to play the titular doctor once again, Laurie is set to headline the new show as Eldon Chance, a man living it out in San Francisco as a forensic neuropsychiatrist. But it’s at this point that Chance diverges off the beaten track when, after a fiery encounter with a patient’s abusive husband, Laurie’s character is forced to venture into the dark criminal underbelly of the city he calls home, encountering police corruption and mental illness. Further along the downward spiral, our world-weary lead begins to explore the deeper frontiers of the human mind itself. Cerebral stuff!
Based on Kem Nunn’s novel of the same name, Chance caught the eye of both Hulu and Room director Lenny Abrahamson, who will executive produce and direct a handful of episodes across its two-season order. Showrunner Alexandra Cunningham and producer Michael London are also involved in the network’s newly-acquired drama, which will begin its 20-episode run in late 2016.
Developed in partnership with Fox 21 Studios, it’s understood that a spec pilot script pitched by Kenn and Cunningham sealed the deal, seemingly managing to capture the “depth and fullness” of Nunn’s original work. Before toplining Chance, Hugh Laurie can next be seen opposite Tom Hiddleston in BBC drama The Night Manager.