Following the death of their captain last season, the cops on "Castle" will soon have a new boss in their midst.

The show's season four premiere of this fall will introduce a new character, Police Captain Victoria Gates (aka "Iron Gates"), who will be played by Penny Johnson Jerald. Because Gates will be arriving as a transfer from Internal Investigations, she will likely be an instigator and an irritant to the detectives as IA members are wont to do.

"Penny is an actress of extraordinary depth, versatility and experience," said "Castle" creator Andrew Marlowe in a statement. "We are delighted to have her as a part of the 'Castle' family, and look forward to everything that she's going to bring to the role."

The show stars Canadian actor Nathan Fillion as mystery writer Richard Castle and fellow Canuck Stana Katic as Detective Kate Beckett.

According to the same release with Marlowe's statement, Gates will immediately take issue with Castle's presence in the police station, and may try to permanently separate him from his muse, Beckett.

In the season three finale of the series, after betraying his team, Capt. Roy Montgomery (played by Ruben Santiago-Hudson), was gunned down. Later that episode Beckett was also shot. Both incidents are rumoured to have serious repercussions on the series immediately.

The series also stars Tamala Jones, Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever, Susan Sullivan and Molly Quinn.

Newcomer Jerald is best known for her role as Sherry Palmer on "24," which also starred Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland. Jerald is a Julliard-trained actress, and has also appeared on "The Larry Sanders Show," "ER," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "The 4400."

"Castle" had it's own homage to "24" last season in the episode "Countdown," where the team only had that day to find a bomb in New York City. The show also featured a character with the last name "Bauer" and another named "Jack."

Full episodes of the last season of "Castle" are currently available online at CTV.ca, and the series will return this fall to CTV.

About Tyrone

Tyrone Warner has been with CTV.ca since 2005, covering news, entertainment and everything related to CTV. When he’s away from the computer, you can find him writing, recording and performing his own music, running his own record label and dabbling in photography, painting and creative collage. Follow him on Twitter!