Simon Pegg Joins Channel 4’s “The Undeclared War”

Simon Pegg is a favorite amongst cinephiles, largely for his wide range of offbeat characters, from Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead to playing Scotty in Abrams-era Star Trek films, though lately he can be see more on the small screen. Even so, anytime his name is attached to a film or series there is an inherent level of excitement added, and it just so happens he was recently announced through Variety to be joining the cast of Channel 4’s The Undeclared War, a cyber warfare thriller set in the not too distant future.

The story follows a top squad of computer analysts working for a British spy agency, the GCHQ, which will be very similar to the NSA or the CIA in terms of state functionality. Over the course of the series the team will uncover a plot that sees a nefarious group attempting to take control of the country’s electoral system, in the wake of Britain having elected its first Black prime minister, whose a conservative.

Pegg will play the GCHQ operational chief who is in charge of the cyber division and lead the charge in warding off the cyber attacks. He joins an ensemble that also includes Mark Rylance, Adrian Lester, Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Alex Jennings. There are likely to be more casting announcements in the coming weeks as the project firms up its roster.

Peter Kosminky (Wolf Hall) has been tapped to both write and direct the ten-part series, and he’s had a lot of success with this particular genre, particularly with the BBC, so the excitement level is high for this particular adaptation. He will also executive produce the series, along some de Sophie Gardiner. There is currently not timeframe set for when filming will happen or when to expect The Undeclared War to be released. Peacock has picked up the rights to the series and will broadcast the show in the US.