Burke to play Cormoran Strike in Galbraith adaptations

“War and Peace” star Tom Burke is to play Cormoran Strike in the BBC’s upcoming adaptations of JK Rowling’s adult crime novels written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Burke will play war veteran Strike in a three-part “event drama", with filming due to start this autumn. The first in the series, The Cuckoo’s Calling, will be split into three one-hour-long dramas, with the adaptations of second and third books The Silkworm and Career of Evil both divided into two one-hour parts.

The books are published by Little, Brown.

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

Burke added: "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. Cormoran’s world is rich and raw.”

Lucy Richer, BBC acting controller of drama, added that readers had "fallen" for Strike and that she thought the television audience would too.