Harrison Ford will star in a new TV drama based on true crime series The Staircase

The documentary followed the story of American novelist Michael Peterson, who was accused of murdering his wife in 2001. Peterson claimed his wife Kathleen died after falling down the stairs at their home, but police suspected he attacked her and staged the scene to look like an accident.

Ford will take on the lead role in a drama based on The Staircase, according to Variety, with the project currently being shopped to US networks and streaming services. Antonio Campos (The Sinner) is attached to write and executive produce.

This planned adaptation of The Staircase would mark Ford's first series regular role on television, though he has previously made a number of TV guest appearances, including reprising one of his most famous big-screen roles in an episode of the Young Indiana Jones show.

Having worked on the original Staircase from 2001 through to 2018, filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade previously insisted that he would film no more episodes of the documentary following Peterson's decision to take a plea deal in exchange for his freedom.

"Now, the judge has given the final answer, and nobody can come back to that," De Lestrade told Digital Spy. "So that's the end of the process for us, to shoot. Sometimes I wish that some other step could be introduced in the court room that we could shoot. But it was not. So yes, it's finished."