Freddie Highmore & David Shore Reunite for New Crime Drama

Freddie Highmore and David Shore aren’t done with each other yet — not by a long shot. The duo behind The Good Doctor are officially back together, co-creating a new crime drama series called I’m Not Here to Hurt You for Canadian streamer Crave and Sony Pictures Television.

And the premise? It’s a good one. Highmore plays an upstanding family man who, after accidentally killing someone in a bicycle accident, spirals into a life of crime — “driven by the noble but futile goal of never hurting anyone ever again.” The series is inspired by the true story of a man who became known as Ireland’s most polite bank robber, and by The Irish Independent podcast of the same name, hosted by journalist Kevin Doyle. Sony Pictures Television quietly optioned the podcast’s screen adaptation rights back in 2024, and now it’s all coming together.

“We weren’t quite done with each other after all,” Shore and Highmore said in a joint statement. “We’re thrilled to be collaborating again, excited to return to Canada alongside our partners at Bell and Blink49 Studios, and grateful for Sony’s continued support. And now we have to get to work.”

The two spent seven seasons together on The Good Doctor, the ABC medical drama where Highmore played Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgical resident with genius-level abilities. The show wrapped its run in 2024 after becoming one of ABC’s most reliable hits. Reuniting with Shore for something this tonally different — a darkly comic family crime story rooted in true events — feels like a deliberate, exciting pivot for both of them.

How the Deal Came Together

I’m Not Here to Hurt You is produced by Blink49 Studios and represents the first-ever co-commission between Sony Pictures Television and Bell Media, Crave’s parent company. Sony is handling U.S. and international distribution, and gave global buyers an exclusive first look at the project during its annual L.A. Screenings presentation. It’s an unusual structure — Sony co-commissioning with a Canadian streamer while retaining worldwide sales rights — which signals just how much confidence the studio has in the show’s international appeal.

Crave, for its part, has been on a serious hot streak. The streamer is home to Heated Rivalry, the hockey romance drama that became a worldwide phenomenon and was subsequently picked up by HBO. Landing Highmore and Shore is a clear move to build on that momentum with prestige-level talent.

“This new series marks an exciting moment for Crave as we continue to build our portfolio of compelling, premium original content with international appeal,” said Justin Stockman, VP of Global Content at Bell Media. “Freddie’s ability to embody complex characters is second to none, and we’re delighted to collaborate with celebrated Canadian creative, David Shore, on our first-ever project with Sony Pictures Television.”

Lauren Stein, EVP and head of creative at Sony Pictures Television, was equally enthusiastic. “David and Freddie have an extraordinary creative partnership built on trust, collaboration, and a shared passion for powerful storytelling,” she said. “They have a unique ability to create richly layered characters who are imperfect, complicated, and deeply relatable — the kind of characters audiences genuinely care about.”

Blink49 Studios CEO John Morayniss — a veteran of Entertainment One and Alliance Atlantis who founded the banner in 2021 — called it “a truly compelling and emotionally complex series with enormous international potential.”

What’s Next for Shore and Highmore

Shore is arguably one of the busiest showrunners in television right now. Beyond I’m Not Here to Hurt You, he’s developing a contemporary remake of The Rockford Files for NBC starring David Boreanaz, and a legal drama called Conviction with Elisabeth Moss and Warren Littlefield executive producing. It’s a remarkable run for the man who also gave us eight seasons of House on Fox with Hugh Laurie.

Highmore, meanwhile, isn’t exactly sitting still either. He recently appeared in the Amazon Prime Video series The Assassin, and Deadline reports he’s also attached to another new Sony Pictures Television project, Chocolate Wars, which was unveiled this week at BritBox and UKTV.

Shore and Highmore both serve as non-writing executive producers on I’m Not Here to Hurt You, alongside Claire Londy through Highmore’s Alfresco Pictures banner and Erin Gunn through Shore’s ShoreZ. Highmore also holds a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television through Alfresco.

No premiere date has been announced yet, but with Sony pushing the show hard to international buyers right now, this one is moving fast. For fans who spent seven years rooting for Shaun Murphy, watching Highmore play a very different kind of complicated man — one trying desperately not to make things worse while making everything worse — sounds like exactly the kind of role he was born to take on.