William Hurt leads the list of actors signed to star in AMC’s upcoming Sci-Fi Series Humans.

Hurt (A History of Violence, Damages) will star in the Channel 4, AMC and Kudos co-produced series, which is set in a parallel present where ‘Synths’ - highly-developed robotic servants eerily similar to their live counterparts – are part of the human household. Hurt plays George Millican, a widower who has formed a close relationship with his out-of-date synth Odi, who he treats more like a son than a piece of machinery.

Also starring in the series are Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The  Honourable Woman), Tom Goodman-Hill (The Devil’s Whore, Mr Selfridge), Colin Morgan (Merlin, The Fall), Rebecca Front (The Thick Of It, Just William), Neil Maskell (Utopia, The Mimic) and Gemma Chan (Dates, Fresh Meat), said network officials.

Humans, written by British writing partnership Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley (Spooks, Spooks: The Greater Good), is based on the award-winning Swedish sci-fi drama Real Humans and will debut on the network in 2015.