Mr. Mercedes centres on a demented killer who taunts a retired police detective with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he can strike again. Brendan Gleeson plays Detective Bill Hodges, a retired cop who is driven out of retirement after an old nemesis reappears, while Anton Yelchin will portray Brady Hartsfield, a mentally deranged ice cream truck driver and IT worker for Cyber Patrol (aka Geek Squad) who is secretly the Mercedes Killer.

Why we’re looking forward to this: This one’s a way off, not hitting our screens until 2018, but after the superb adaptation of King’s 11.22.63 starring James Franco, which may just turn out to be the television event of the year (and yes, that’s a bold claim given we’re only in May), we’re excited about the potential of small screen King again.

Brendan Gleeson is always a joy to watch, having been the best thing about the already awesome 28 Days Later, and the fact that Mr Mercedes has David E Kelley as its showrunner, a man who knows a thing or two about successful television—Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope, LA Law, Picket Fences to name but four of his shows—means that the quality of this adaptation is virtually guaranteed to be high.

Of course, it could all go horribly wrong, but given the talent and the source material—Mr Mercedes being one of King’s better works of the decade or so—we’re looking forward not only to this adaptation, but potentially the other two books in the trilogy (2015’s Finders Keepers and End of Watch, which is due out in hardback next month).

Mr Mercedes is set to hit the small screen in 2018, but if you haven’t already indulged, check out 11.22.63 right now!

RICHARD COSGROVE