The actor is swapping a zombie apocalypse for a thriller set in rural Scotland

The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln has landed a leading role in an upcoming ITV thriller series.

Lincoln, 50, is best known for fighting zombies as the formidable sheriff Rick Grimes in the long-running zombie apocalypse series, recently reprising his role for the spin-off The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

After spending so much of his career acting stateside it might be easy to forget that Lincoln is British – thanks to his convincing Georgia accent when portraying Rick.

However, the actor has never forgotten his roots – and is heading back to British drama for the first time in 14 years.

The Ones Who Live trailerCredit: AMC0 seconds of 2 minutes, 4 secondsVolume 90%

Announced today (27 June) Lincoln will be starring and executive producing a six-part thriller series titled Cold Water.

Written by playwright David Ireland, Cold Water is set in a fictional Scottish village of-the-same-name and also stars Indira Varma, Ewen Bremner and Eve Myles.

Lincoln will star as a John, a middle-aged man who has become resentful of his life as a stay-at-home dad. After a failed confrontation in the playground, John uproots his family from London and relocates to the rural Scottish village of Coldwater.

Upon arrival, John meets and befriends next-door neighbour Tommy (Bremner) and his wife Rebecca (Myles), the village’s Vicar.

While John is swiftly charmed by Tommy, is wife Fiona (Varma) is less than impressed and believes there is more to their new neighbour than meets the eye.

Andrew Lincoln is best known for his role as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

But as time goes on, John too soon begins to suspect that Tommy is hiding secrets.

Speaking about the series in a press release, Ireland – who is also executive producing the show – said of Lincoln joining: “I’m amazed we’ve managed to attract such a peerless cast, led by the formidable Andrew Lincoln. I hope viewers will be find it intoxicating.”

“We are very excited for ITV to be the home for this brilliant new thriller exploring masculinity, religion and ultimately murder,” Polly Hill, ITV Head of Drama, added.

“David’s scripts are wonderful, and original and have attracted an incredible cast led by Andrew Lincoln.”

Trainspotting star Ewan Bremner will star across from Lincoln in the new series. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for TNT)

“It promises to be a really unmissable drama.”

Cold Water is yet to receive a release date, with filming set to begin later this year.

While Lincoln is best known for Rick Grimes, the actor had his first breakout role in a very different type of role, starring alongside Kiera Knightly, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and Chiwetel Ejiofor in romcom Love Actually back in 2003.

He has also featured in Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Fear the Walking Dead.