Paul Nicholls Leaving Law and Order UK

Paul Nicholls is to leave ITV drama Law and Order: UK.

The British remake of the American crime/legal drama – created by Dick Wolf – features Nicholls as DS Sam Casey. The actor joined the cast of Law and Order: UK in the sixth season as a replacement for actor Jamie Bamber, who played DS Matt Devlin, in the first five seasons.

However, it has been announced that Nicholls will bow out of Law and Order during its forthcoming seventh season. An spokesperson for the drama told The Sun “Due to other work commitments, Paul Nicholls was only ever available to film the first six episodes of Law & Order: UK series seven.”

The actor will bow out in a dramatic storyline in the sixth episode of the forthcoming seventh season. The new series will see the debut of Paterson Joseph as DI Wes Layton and Georgia Taylor as Kate Barker replacing the departed Harriet Walker and Freema Agyeman.

Last year Paul Nicholls briefly joined the cast of BBC One drama Holby City in the recurring role of Simon Marshall. The actor had been due to join Waterloo Road in 2011 but bowed out and was replaced by The Bill actor Alex Walkinshaw.