With the passing of James Gandolfini, HBO's new miniseries Criminal Justice - based on the BBC series of the same name - was put into doubt. Thankfully, Robert DeNiro has agreed to fill the role left by Gandolfini.

The original BBC series starred Ben Whishaw and Pete Postlethwaite and was a huge success when it ran in 2008. HBO has said the American remake will take a slightly different approach, but the general plot will be the same. DeNiro will play Jack Stone, a lawyer who's hired to defend a young man accused of murdering a girl in New York.

Steven Zaillian, writer of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake, will be directing the first episode and the show is expected to broadcast as some stage in 2014.

This could be a very good move for Robert DeNiro as his last few films haven't exactly been great. TV has consistently shown that it can regenerate an actor's career. While nobody's questioning DeNiro's ability, you can tell from his last few performances that his heart wasn't in them. It might just be that the films he was in weren't up to much and that he wasn't go to push himself. After all, he was great in Silver Linings Playbook so we know it's not a case of him forgetting he can act. TV is often given much more creative control over its story so it would appeal to somebody like DeNiro to get involved.