Showtime has renewed the new series "Dexter" — led by Cabaret and "Six Feet Under" star Michael C. Hall — about a police expert who moonlights as a serial killer.

Production will begin on 12 new episodes next spring for a premiere later in 2007, according to an announcement.

The new series debuted on the cable network Oct. 1 in its regular Sundays at 10 PM (ET) timeslot and repeats during the week at various times. Check your local listings.

Based on the Jeff Lindsay novel "Darkly Dreaming Dexter," the series "follows Dexter Morgan (Hall), an incredibly likeable forensics expert for the Miami Metro Police Department, who moonlights as a serial killer with a penchant for inflicting his own unusual brand of justice – he kills people who truly deserve it," reads a show announcement.

Joining Hall in the cast of "Dexter" are Jennifer Carpenter (The Crucible, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose") as his policewoman sister Debra, Lauren Velez (Intimate Apparel, "New York Undercover") as his boss, David Zayas (Anna in the Tropics, Our Lady of 121st Street) as a fellow homicide detective and James Remar (Bent, California Dog Fight, "Sex and the City") as his ex-cop adoptive father. Julie Benz and Erik King also appear.

Hall, last seen Off-Broadway in Mr. Marmalade, is known for his Emmy Award-nominated turn as David Fisher in the HBO series "Six Feet Under," a role he landed right after his Emcee duties in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. The actor did a stint on Broadway in Chicago — opposite his then-wife Amy Spanger — and has also appeared onstage in Skylight, Corpus Christi, The English Teachers, Cymbeline, Macbeth, Henry V, Timon of Athens, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and Camelot.

James Manos Jr. ("The Sopranos") penned the pilot directed by Michael Cuesta ("L.I.E.," "Six Feet Under"). John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton ("Live from Baghdad") and Manos Jr. executive produce the series.