TV

Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater team up to take down a dangerous surgeon in Dr. Death trailer

All eight episodes of Dr. Death start streaming on Peacock on July 15.

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Published on June 15, 2021 09:00AM EDT

Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin are on a mission to save lives and seek justice in the new trailer for Peacock's upcoming series Dr. Death.

The clip shows neurosurgeon Robert Henderson (Baldwin) and vascular surgeon Randall Kirby (Slater), as well as Dallas prosecutor Michelle Shughart (AnnaSophia Robb), setting out to stop Dr. Duntsch, who 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.

The eight-episode drama is based on Wondery's podcast of the same name, which in turn is based on the terrifying true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, once considered a rising star in the Dallas medical community. Like the podcast, the series seeks to answer the "why" behind Duntsch's crimes, while peeling back the layers of the broken healthcare system that enabled him to slip through the cracks.

"A guy from a top medical program, who has two deaths that we know of. The state of Texas has executed people for less," Dr. Kirby says in the trailer. "The question isn't why he did it, it's how he got away with it," Dr. Henderson adds. "If you come for me, you better be ready for what I'm going to do to you," Dr. Duntsch intones ominously over some intense footage from the series.

At the Tribeca premiere of the series on Monday, Jackson said of his character, "He's just a phenomenally awful, fascinating human being, Dr. Duntsch, which I thought was perfect for me. I was sold right from the jump because he's such an outlandish character, and trying to find a way to see him as a human being and portray him as a human being as opposed to just a purely evil nefarious doctor, I thought was so interesting."

Slater, who recently starred in another true crime show, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, said that series such as these offer a chance at some introspection. "I think the great thing about getting to tell this story over eight episodes is we get to delve so deeply into the minds of these types of people," he said. "The more we can learn about mental illness and where it can stem from and what that background is, the more awareness we'll have, and have more knowledge about what we can do. The more we study our humanness and the challenges of being human and what it takes to actually live in this world, I think the better off we'll be."

Dr. Death features an all-female directing team that includes Maggie Kiley (Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, Riverdale), Jennifer Morrison (One of Us Is Lying, Euphoria) and So Yong Kim (Lovesong, Grand Army). Patrick Macmanus serves as showrunner.

All eight episodes of Dr. Death start streaming on Peacock on July 15.

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