James McAvoy leads Frankie Boyle crime thriller with huge cast

James McAvoy is leading a darkly comic new crime thriller from Frankie Boyle, with Christopher Eccleston and Benedict Wong among an impressive supporting cast.

Meantime is based on Boyle's bestselling debut novel and follows Felix McAveety, played by McAvoy, as he attempts to survive modern Glasgow while dealing with family problems, questionable friendships and a potentially life-changing opportunity.

Christopher Eccleston joins huge cast

McAvoy is joined by Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston alongside Benedict Wong, Shirley Henderson, Mark Bonnar, Shauna Macdonald, Jamie Michie and Josette Simon.

Boyle has adapted his own novel with Neil Webster, while Tetris and Filth filmmaker Jon S. Baird will direct all six episodes. The series is being produced in Scotland by Happy Tramp North and Expectation in association with Sky Studios.

Rather than a conventional crime drama, Sky is promising something considerably stranger. The story mixes criminal schemes and family tensions with Boyle's typically dark humour as Felix attempts to work out what, if anything, he wants from his life.

McAvoy described the scripts as hilarious and said the project offered an opportunity to explore Glasgow and Scottish identity from a perspective rarely seen on television.

It also gives Boyle his first major scripted television adaptation based on his own fiction, with the comedian serving as writer and executive producer.

Meantime will arrive on Sky and NOW in 2027, although an exact release date has not yet been announced.