Alex Rider screenwriter's "condition" was a brand new female character to challenge Alex

Alex Rider is based on Point Blanc, the second book in Horowitz's teen spy series, and which was originally marketed towards school-age boys.

However, the TV series will feature a brand new character, Kyra, described by screenwriter Guy Burt as "a young version of Lisbeth Salander's character from Girl With A Dragon Tattoo".

You can buy the 10-book collection on Amazon here.

Asked by RadioTimes.com about how he hoped the series would appeal to more young women, screenwriter Guy Burt said, "It was very much a kind of condition of involvement for me, that we had a female character that could hold her own against Alex. Things that I've written for television in the past have included dramas like The Bletchley Circle, which was specifically about women, and had four female leads."

He continued, "I really wanted to have a female character who's kind of not just a love interest, not just a sort of side character, but somebody central. So that's Kyra [played Marli Siu], and she is a kind of slow burn character, she's introduced to us about halfway through the series but she becomes more and more significant as the series goes on. And for me, partly because she's entirely my creation, she's not in the books at all, it's been great fun trying to find a way to place her within this.

"A kind of mental shorthand for her throughout has been a young version of Lisbeth Salander's character from Girl With A Dragon Tattoo. If you can imagine her as a teenager."

Marli Siu (Grantchester), who plays Kyra, a student at the mysterious school Point Blanc, joins a cast that includes Otto Tarrant (Mrs Wilson) in the title role, and Line of Duty's Vicky McClure as Alex's handler, Mrs Jones.

Alex Rider will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in the UK on 4^th June, with all eight episodes available for UK Prime members to stream. You can also read the entire book series here.

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