First light shone over Shadows on the Vatican

Step aside, Dan Brown. There's a new high-charged political and religious thriller in Rome, and it's coming soon in the form of the four-part adventure Shadows on the Vatican.

Inspired by real events in Italy and "freely adapated" from David Yallop's 1984 bestseller In God's Hand, the new series stars James Murphy, an Americn ex-priest who receives a distressed call for help from an old friend in Rome. Once he arrives in the ancient city that's "bathed in eternal twilight, its skies tinted the color of blood", Murphy discovers that a briefcase full of compromising documents has gone missing as well, and "the Vatican’s involvement and some strange parallels with his own traumatic past inspire James to get to the bottom of this mystery."

Of course, no trip to Rome by a former member of the clergy would be complete without some soul-searching, and indeed James will encounter "the most unlikely travelling companion who will question his deepest beliefs. And so the two characters begin both a physical journey in search of the truth, and a metaphysical exploration of the inner soul and the darkest secrets that everyone hides, even a 'champion of the faith' like James."

While no firm release schedule has yet been announced, the debut episode entitled Greed is due for release sometime before the end of the year. For more details in the coming months, pop on over to the official website.