A television series of Dr. Death, based on the true crime podcast from Wondery Podcasts (Dirty John podcast), is in development at Universal Cable Productions, Deadline has confirmed. You can check out the trailer for the podcast in the player below.
Dr. Death is based on the terrifying true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a rising star in the Dallas medical community. Young, charismatic and ostensibly brilliant, Dr. Duntsch was building a flourishing neurosurgery practice when everything suddenly changed. Patients entered his operating room for complex but routine spinal surgeries and left permanently maimed or dead. As victims piled up, two fellow surgeons and a young Assistant District Attorney set out to stop him. Dr. Death explores the twisted mind of a sociopath and the gross negligence of the system designed to protect the most defenseless among us.
Patrick Macmanus, Syfy’s Happy! showrunner who is also developing Slaughterhouse-Five for Epix, is set to pen the adaptation and will also executive produce as part of his overall deal with UCP. Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch will executive produce via Escape Artists alongside Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy of Wondery Podcasts.
