The Walking Dead‘s Lennie James has created, written and will star in Gone – a new drama for Sky Atlantic.

Produced by World Productions (Line Of Duty), Gone will also star BAFTA winner Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster, Scott & Bailey) and Stephen Graham (This is England, Boardwalk Empire).

Lennie will play unlikely hero Nelson ‘Nelly’ Rowe – a man who ‘likes a drink’, whose days are bookended by his first can and his last pint. Nelly lives with whichever woman he happens to be sleeping with at the time – often more than one and sometimes more than two. And he is the life and soul of the pub – a charmer, a chancer, a fighter, a liar and, at his age, a man who should know better.

When Nelly is accused of a terrible crime, he sets off to clear his name and find the real perpetrator. It is a journey that will slam him hard up against the debris of his careless past but also offer him the chance to make amends for his mistakes, not least to Claire (Jones) with who he shared a ‘summer of love’ 13 years ago.

Set on a south east London housing estate, Gone is the story of a man facing the stark and painful reality that the very worst thing happening to someone he loves could be the best thing that has ever happened to him.

Lennie James said: “Everyone knows someone like Nelly. He’s the feller constantly at the end of the bar. The feller that can’t help himself, never really grew up and has wasted who he could have been. They are usually the cautionary tale. They are almost never the hero. In Gone, Nelly might just be…”

Suranne Jones said: “I’m so thrilled to be part of Lennie’s unique creation. His writing is so compelling, his portrayal of the world so distinctive. It is completely different to anything I’ve done before.”

Gone is directed by BAFTA winner Nick Murphy (Occupation, The Last Kingdom).