William Hurt, Katherine Parkinson, Tom Goodman-Hill, Colin Morgan, Rebecca Front, Neil Maskell & Gemma Chan lead the cast of "Humans"

Bold new eight-part drama series from Channel 4, Kudos and AMC starts shooting in the UK this week

William Hurt (A History of Violence, Damages), Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The Honourable Woman), Tom Goodman-Hill (The Devil's Whore, Mr Selfridge), Colin Morgan (Merlin, The Fall), Rebecca Front (The Thick Of It, Just William), Neil Maskell (Utopia, The Mimic) and Gemma Chan (Dates, Fresh Meat) are to star in Humans - the ambitious new co-production from Channel 4, AMC and Kudos.

Humans is set in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' - a highly-developed robotic servant eerily similar to its live counterpart. In the hope of transforming the way they live, one strained suburban family purchases a refurbished synth only to discover that sharing life with a machine has far-reaching and chilling consequences.

Written by British writing partnership Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley (Spooks, Spooks: The Greater Good), Humans is based on the award-winning Swedish sci-fi drama "Real Humans".

William Hurt plays George Millican, a widower who has formed a close relationship with his out-of-date synth Odi, who he treats more like a son than a piece of machinery.

BAFTA award-winning Katherine Parkinson plays Laura, a woman who seems to have it all - a great career as a lawyer, a loving husband, three children. But inside she's struggling with her own unresolved demons. In a misguided attempt to help the situation her husband Joe, played by Olivier award-winning Tom Goodman Hill, buys a Synth. Played by Gemma Chan, Anita is the pliant, servile automaton that all Synths are supposed to be - but every now and then, she does something inexplicable. Something... almost human

Colin Morgan joins the cast as Leo, who's desperately trying to track down someone from his past; BAFTA award-winning Rebecca Front plays the NHS funded overbearing carer synth, Vera; and Neil Maskell takes on the role of police officer D.S Peter Drummond, who works for the Special Technologies Task Force.

Humans has started filming and will TX in 2015 on Channel 4 and AMC. Further casting to be announced in due course.

The series (8 x 60') is produced by Kudos (Utopia, Broadchurch, The Hour) in association with Matador Films (Real Humans). Executive producers are Jane Featherstone (Broadchurch, Utopia, The Hour) and Derek Wax (The Hour, Occupation, Lip Service) for Kudos with Chris Fry (The Smoke) set to produce for Kudos, and Henrik Widman and Lars Lundstr�m for Matador Films. Commissioned for Channel 4 by Piers Wenger, Beth Willis and Simon Maxwell and Kristin Jones and Joel Stillerman for AMC and distribution will be handled by Shine International.