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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

AMC brings cult classic ‘The Prisoner’ back to TV

Jim Caviezel`
 (no photographer / The Spokesman-Review)
From Wire Reports The Spokesman-Review

The classic cult TV series “The Prisoner” is going to be remade for AMC, with Jim Caviezel (“The Passion of the Christ”) starring as Number Six, the character played by Patrick McGoohan in the original.

Ian McKellen (Gandalf from “The Lord of the Rings” movies) will co-star as his charismatic nemesis, Number Two.

The six-part miniseries is expected to premiere on the cable channel in 2009.

“It is witty, intelligent and disturbing,” McKellen says. “I am very excited to be involved.”

The original series, which debuted on CBS in 1968, ran only 17 episodes but has retained fascination for many TV fans over the years because of its sense of mystery.

Number Six was a political prisoner in a lovely village, but his captors were rarely seen, and he was never certain what it was they wanted from him. Other residents – all identified by number, rather than name – were equally enigmatic.

While the original series was a commentary on Cold War politics, AMC says the new version will be “reinterpreted” to reflect “21st-century concerns and anxieties, such as liberty, security and surveillance.”