Posted in: Apple, TV | Tagged: Beat the Reaper

Beat the Reaper: Will Poulter to Lead Apple TV Thriller Adaptation

Will Poulter will star in Beat the Reaper, an Apple TV adaptation of the books by Josh Bazell about an amoral doctor dealing with criminals.

Published Sat, 20 Dec 2025 10:37:03 -0600

by Adi Tantimedh

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Article Summary

Will Poulter stars as Dr. Peter Brown in Apple TV’s new thriller adaptation of Beat the Reaper.
The series is based on Josh Bazell’s novels about an amoral doctor with mob ties and a hidden past.
Sam Catlin will serve as showrunner and executive producer for Apple Studios and New Regency.
The first season tackles the original book, bringing dark humor, crime, and redemption to the screen.

Apple TV has announced that it has picked up Beat the Reaper, a new dramedy thriller starring BAFTA Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Will Poulter, who will also serve as executive producer. Beat the Reaper will be showrun and executive produced by Sam Catlin with Apple Studios and New Regency serving as co-studios.

Beat the Reaper: Will Poulter to Lead Apple TV Thriller Adaptation — Apple TV

Based on the novel series of the same name by Josh Bazell, Beat the Reaper will star Poulter as Dr. Peter Brown, an intern at Manhattan's worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he'd prefer to keep hidden. Whether it's a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna is a hitman for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear of sharks, and an overly close relationship with the Federal Witness Relocation Program. More likely to leave a trail of dead gangsters than a molecule of evidence, he's the last person you want to see in your hospital room.

Nicholas LoBrutto, also known as Eddy Squillante, is Dr. Brown's new patient, with only three months to live, and a very strange idea: that Peter Brown and Pietro Brnwa might just be the same person. Now, with the mob, the government, and death itself descending on the hospital, Peter has to buy time and do whatever it takes to keep his patients, himself, and his last shot at redemption alive. To get through the next eight hours-and somehow beat the reaper.

Hailing from Apple Studios and New Regency, Beat the Reaper will be executive-produced by Catlin under his overall deal with Apple TV. Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, and Natalie Lehmann will executive produce for New Regency. The first season will adapt the first book in the series.

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