Vicky McClure, Andrew Buchan and Stephen Dillane cast in Alex Rider series alongside teenage spy

• The best TV shows airing in 2019
• The best TV shows to watch on Netflix
• Listen to the RadioTimes.com Podcast now: subscribe on iTunes / subscribe on Google Podcasts

Buchan, who is known for his role as grieving father Mark Latimer in Broadchurch and was seen recently in the BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders, will play Ian Rider, Alex’s detached uncle and reluctant guardian who, unbeknownst to his nephew, has been training him since childhood and preparing him for the dangerous world of espionage.

Game of Throne's Stannis Baratheon, Dillane will play Alan Blunt, the head of secret MI6 offshoot The Department who sends Alex on a covert mission, while Line of Duty star McClure will portray his second-in-command Mrs Jones, who tries to keep Alex safe where possible.

McClure’s fellow Line of Duty star Ace Bhatti and Black Earth Rising actor Nyasha Hatendi also join the cast as Mrs Jones’s colleagues John Crawley and Smithers.

Rounding off the cast are Brenock O’Connor, another Game of Thrones alumnus, who stars as Alex’s jovial best friend Tom, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo (Doctor Who) as Alex’s housekeeper Jack Starbright, Marli Siu (The Sopranos), Earl Cave (Born to Kill), Katrin Vankova (Snatch), Nathan Clarke (Tyrant) and Talitha Wing (The Feed) as troublesome teenagers at the Point Blanc academy, Haluk Bilginer (Halloween) as corrupt principal Dr Greif and Ana Ularu (Siberia) as his manipulative deputy Eva Stellenbosh.

The series is based on Point Blanc, the second book in Horowitz’s series which has sold over 19 million copies worldwide. It is set in both London and The French Alps, where the Point Blanc school is remotely located.

When Alex leaves his ordinary teenage life to go on a dangerous mission to work as an undercover agent at the Point Blanc academy, he must call upon skills he didn’t even know he had as he investigates the sinister truth behind the school.

Author Horowitz will serve as an executive producer on the series, which is adapted by Bafta-winning screenwriter Guy Burt (The Bletchley Circle).

Horowitz’s novel series was previously adapted into a film in 2006, titled Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer.

The new adaptation, which has begun filming, will air in eight parts. A broadcaster and airdate for the adaptation are yet to be announced.

Secret Weapon, the latest book in the Alex Rider series, was published in April 2019 and Horowitz’s 12th Alex Rider novel, Nightshade, is due in 2020.