NBC Orders Drama ‘Dr. Wolf’ Starring Zachary Quinto
After multiple attempts to bring the story of the late neurologist Oliver Sacks’ extraordinary work to the small screen, NBC has finally made an appointment with ‘Dr. Wolf‘, with Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Star Trek, American Horror Story) taking the title role.
Inspired by Oliver Sacks’ extraordinary life and work, ‘Dr. Wolf’ follows revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist Oliver Wolf (Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier – the human mind – while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
The drama is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars,” by the late Oliver Sacks, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 82. Physician, best-selling author, and professor of neurology, Sacks was described by the New York Times as “the poet laureate of medicine.” He wrote about and studied various unknown or misunderstood conditions such as Tourette’s syndrome, aphasia, and autism, and became known as the godfather of what came to be called neurodiversity. One of his most famous books, ‘Awakenings’, which followed his work with a group of patients whom he found in strange, frozen states, unable to initiate movement, became the basis for the Oscar-nominated feature film of the same name starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.
There have been a number of attempts to make a TV series based on Sacks’ work over the years, but this is the first time it has landed a series order. NBC previously gave a script commitment to a drama in 2013, but opted not to move forward. Then in 2018 Fabel Entertainment teamed up with Andy Serkis’ The Imaginarium to produce a show, which lead to Fox giving a “put pilot” commitment to a version from ‘Blindspot’ EP Alex Berger in 2019, but that also did not move forward.
Alongside Quinto, the series will star Tamberla Perry (They Cloned Tyrone, The Good Fight), Ashleigh LaThrop (The Kominsky Method, The Handmaid’s Tale), Alexander MacNicoll (The Society, 13 Reasons Way), Aury Krebs (Way Down, Leverage: Redemption), Spence Moore II (Superman and Lois, All American), and Teddy Sears (The Flash, Chicago Fire).
‘Dr. Wolf’ is written by Michael Grassi (Riverdale, Lost Girl, Schitt’s Creek), and exec produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman (for Berlanti Productions); Henrik Bastin, Melissa Aouate (for Fabel Entertainment); And Andy Serkis, Jonathan Cavendish, Will Tennant (for The Imaginarium); and DeMane Davis. Berlanti Productions, Fabel Entertainment and The Imaginarium produce the drama in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television.
‘Dr. Wolf‘ will air in 2024 on NBC in the USA. There is currently no UK broadcaster. However, if you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
