Hugh Laurie to play a space captain in Veep creator Armando Iannucci's upcoming sci-fi comedy

Actor Hugh Laurie is to return on HBO with Avenue 5, a space comedy from Armando Iannucci, who is also the creator of Veep, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Laurie steps into the shoes of Ryan Clark in Avenue 5 who is an attractive American captain. The narrative of the Iannucci’s series is set in space, in the future and already has a commitment for a pilot episode with orders for backup scripts.

Avenue 5 will be yet another collaboration between Laurie and Iannucci after Veep and The Personal History of David Copperfield. Laurie had often been a guest star on the political comedy featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

After Iannucci’s exit as showrunner from the fourth season of Veep, Avenue 5 will mark his return to HBO. The report adds that pilot for Avenue 5 was picked up in September 2017. Shooting for the show’s pilot will begin in London this year.

Laurie will be seen in his first series-regular part after Hulu’s drama Chance, which ran for two seasons. The actor has previously won six Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Dr House in Fox’s eight-season medical drama.

Laurie will also be a part of the six-part mini series, Hulu’s Catch-22. The project is due to air in 2019.