Elijah Wood to play Todd in comedic detective series 'Dirk Gently'

NEW YORK, March 23 (UPI) -- The Lord of the Rings alum Elijah Wood is to star in the comedic-thriller series Dirk Gently, which is set to premiere this fall, BBC America said.

Adapted from Douglas Adams' novels and written for the small screen by Max Landis, the eight-installment show is a co-production of AMC Studios, IDEATE MEDIA and IDW Entertainment with Circle of Confusion producing.

The series follows "the bizarre adventures of eccentric 'holistic' detective Dirk Gently and his reluctant assistant Todd, as they wend their way through one big, seemingly insane mystery a season, crossing unlikely paths with a bevy of wild and sometimes dangerous characters, each episode landing them a few random steps closer to uncovering the truth," the cable network said in a press release Tuesday.

Wood will play Todd, who is specifically described as "not a sidekick." The actor who will play the role of Dirk has not been announced yet.

"Todd's just flat-out better than Dirk at a lot of things," the release said. "He always attempts to solve matters with the fewest steps possible; despite being a compassionate, sweet, smarter-than-average man with biting wit, Todd often finds himself at the intersection of morally gray crossroads. Thus, his bad habits of lying and stealing have dire consequences that he can't put off forever, even though he tries. Todd's not a bad person. He's not a good person yet, either, but he'll get there."