Leeds-born actor Matthew Lewis to star in murder mystery adaptation on Channel 5

The Harry Potter star will play Canon Daniel Clement in Murder Before Evensong.

Author: Hannah Roberts, PAPublished 20th Dec 2024

Harry Potter actor Matthew Lewis is to star in a TV adaptation of crime book Murder Before Evensong.

The Leeds-born TV and film star, 35, will play Canon Daniel Clement, Rector of Champton, in the series based on the debut murder mystery novel by Rev Richard Coles, who was formerly in pop duo The Communards.

A post to Channel 5's social media pages on Thursday read: "Matthew Lewis is set to star in the brand-new murder mystery drama series, Murder Before Evensong, based on the debut novel by Reverend Richard Coles (@revrichardcoles).

"Matthew (@mattdavelewis) will play Canon Daniel Clement, who lives in Champton rectory with his opinionated mother, Audrey.

"When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in the church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided.

"As lines are drawn and long-buried secrets threaten the village's apparent calm, events take a deadly turn."

Author Coles, 62, wrote on X: "All hail Matthew Lewis!

"He stir-fried the Dark Lord's snake in the Deathly Hallows... He was collared by Catherine in Happy Valley...

"AND HE'S PLAYING CANON DANIEL CLEMENT IN THE TELLY ADAPTATION OF MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG, coming soon to @channel5_tv thanks to @AcornTV."

Lewis played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film series, based on the books by JK Rowling.

He has also starred in BBC series Avoidance, Channel 5's All Creatures Great And Small, sitcom Bluestone 42, and BBC drama The Syndicate.

The book, Murder Before Evensong, was written by broadcaster and writer Coles, who recently placed third in ITV reality competition series I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

After releasing his first crime caper in 2022, he wrote A Death In The Parish and Murder In The Monastery.

He wrote about the loss of his husband David, a former vicar who died from alcohol addiction, in his bestselling memoir, The Madness Of Grief (2021).

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