Outlander favourite cast alongside Viola Davis in "character-driven" TV thriller in major production update

Sam Heughan has lined up his next major television role, joining Oscar winner Viola Davis in Ascent, a new thriller for Paramount+ created by Skyfall and Gladiator writer John Logan.

The Outlander star will play Conal, described as one of the top agents at Ascent Ventures.

Fans of Heughan will be pleased to know that so far, his character has been described as a "lethally charming" natural chameleon who uses social cunning and ruthlessness to complete his missions, and gets a thrill out of every job.

It's certainly a turn away from his best known leading role in Outlander, but Heughan has seemingly turned to the world of thrillers for the time being, with the actor also set to appear in Embassy, a political action thriller alongside Anna Kendrick and JK Simmons.

As for Ascent, Davis – who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony across her career – plays Catriona, an elite corporate fixer. The character is forced to weaponise the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is put in danger. The upcoming series has so far been described as "a character-driven thriller set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control".

Ascent was first announced a couple of months ago when Davis was revealed as its star and executive producer. Heughan's casting is now the first major addition to the line-up since, with further exciting details expected to come in due course.

The series comes from John Logan, the Tony Award winner and three-time Oscar nominee behind Skyfall, Gladiator and the gothic drama Penny Dreadful. Logan serves as showrunner and executive producer, with Michael Aguilar also executive producing.

While we don't have a release date for the series just yet, we do know that production is scheduled to kick off in Los Angeles in 2027.

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Authors

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.