NBC Picks Up Action-Drama 'Odyssey' For 2014-15 Season

Odyssey is the latest drama series picked up by NBC for the 2014-15 season.

In this Traffic-like action drama, an international conspiracy explodes when three strangers' lives unexpectedly collide - a female soldier, a corporate lawyer and a political activist. After a team of American soldiers battle Jihadists in North Africa, they're shocked to find that one of the men they killed is Al Qaeda's top man. Sgt. Odelle Ballard (Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies) - a soldier, mother, wife and the unit's only female member - discovers computer files that suggest a major U.S. corporation is funding the Jihadists. But before she can tell anyone, her team is attacked and left for dead.

Anna Friel Joins The Cast Of Showtime Pilot THE VATICAN

Golden Globe-nominated actress Anna Friel (PUSHING DAISIES) has been cast as Kayla Duffy, the younger sister of Cardinal Thomas Duffy in THE VATICAN, a provocative contemporary genre thriller about spirituality, power and politics – set against the modern-day political machinations within the Catholic church.

Unlike her brother (portrayed by Emmy® Award winner Kyle Chandler – FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), Kayla is a sexually active, hard-partying New Yorker. She is darkly witty and openly rebellious against all norms and institutions, including the church. While Kayla and Cardinal Duffy are close, honest and loving siblings, she is always a complication, and at times a liability for a man of the cloth who is one of the public leaders of the Catholic Church. THE VATICAN will begin production in 2013 and is being produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with SHOWTIME for series consideration.