Tom Burke has been cast as private investigator Cormoran Strike in the upcoming BBC adaptations of Jk Rowling’s mystery novels. Rowling, who publishes the Cormoran Strike series under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, has written three stories in the saga so far, all of which are being adapted for television.

Tom BurkeTom Burke will be playing Cormoran Strike in the upcoming BBC series

Burke is best known for starring as Fedor Dolokhov in the BBC series ‘War and Peace’ earlier this year and as Athos in the 'The Musketeers'. The 35-year-old is also an established theatre actor, having won the Ian Charleson Award in 2008.

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"I'm thrilled about the casting of Tom Burke, a massively talented actor who'll bring the character to perfect life,” author Rowling said. “Cormoran Strike is pure joy to write and I can't wait to see Tom play him.”

In the novels Strike is a a war veteran who sets up his own small detective agency along with his assistant Robin. Speaking about the role Burke said: "I'm overjoyed to be immersing myself in the role of Cormoran Strike, who is as complex as he is larger than life.

"I know I'm joining an extraordinary team of people on a series that for me is peppered with moments of real emotional depth and meticulously grounded in the page-turning momentum of these novels.”

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The three novels in the series so far The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm, and Career of Evil are all being adapted, with shooting scheduled to begin in the Autumn. ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ will be broadcast as three 60-minute episodes, while ‘The Silkworm’ and’ Career of Evil’ will each have two episodes