2009 TV Preview: 'The Prisoner' reborn

Next up on our non-stop TV tour of 2009 is one of the most culty cult shows ever.

The Prisoner is returning to screens next year more than 40 years after the original in a new joint remake from ITV and American broadcaster AMC.

Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) takes on the iconic role of Number Six, a man who is kidnapped and held as a prisoner in a strange village. Veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen stars as Number Two, the villainous chief of the village.

How faithful will the new version be to the original? Will Rover be bounding back too? Tube Talk spoke to executive producer Michele Buck to find out.

Does this new version have the same overarching plot as the original?
"The original series was 17 hours and we're only making six, but it does have an overriding story. He's in the village and he wants to get out of the village - that was the conceit of the original series and that's the same with our version. Why is he in the village and how is he put in the village? All of that you'll have to watch to find out. But the overall rules are same, yes."

How do you think fans of the original will take to the new version?
"I hope really well! We'd be bonkers if we thought we were going to make something they wouldn't like. We have obeyed the rules of the first series so I'm hoping it will work for them... in an updated way."

Was it difficult trying to juggle the expectations of what The Prisoner should be with trying to make the new version feel fresh and distinctive?
"I think if you're a drama maker, you're always reinventing the genre or trying to find the next turn. Even in classic adaptations you're trying to do something different. This isn't just a classic adaptation, this was an iconic series originally and actually to have another spin of the dice is a huge challenge. The Prisoner has no rules; it's unconstrained in that way. It was modern and rule-breaking in its time and hopefully we've done the same here."

Perhaps the most iconic part of the original series was the giant blimp. Is it returning?
"Ahh, you mean Rover? I'm not going to comment on Rover. You'll have to watch to find out! What I will say is that I hope in our version of The Prisoner, we've identified the trigger points from the first run of what the audience wanted and liked, where it was surreal, where it was weird, and have reinvented those same beats."

The cast is led by James Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen. What characters do they play and what do the actors bring to the roles?
"Jim is clearly playing Number Six, the Patrick McGoohan part. Ian is playing Number Two, who's in charge of the village and is the big baddie, really. The thing with this is that we're making it for both the American audience and the British audience. Jim is very much an applauded American actor that we're really lucky to get. He's a good looking alpha male. Ian McKellen is the other half of the casting for the British audience. He's probably our most important British actor. To get him to commit to do a TV series is a fantastic achievement."

Were they both familiar with the original audience?
"Ian knows it very well and clearly wanted to do it because it resonated with him. I think the premise for Jim was a new thing. I would be very surprised if he was familiar with it before we gave him the call. But we gave him the call, he read the scripts and was very excited."

Originally this project was in development for Sky1 and Christopher Eccleston was a rumoured Six. What changes resulted from the move to ITV/AMC?
"It was never going to be with Christopher Eccleston. At the time we announced we were doing The Prisoner, as with Doctor Who previously, the press was always second guessing and decided Christopher Eccleston was doing it. I can categorically say it's never been him. It was always going to be an American lead, because it's an American-British co-production and the split we decided on was an American Number Six and a British Number Two."

Have you planned beyond the first series?
"The original Prisoner was 17 one-hours and we've made six. Let's see whether the audience will accept it or not. I'm hoping they will and believe they will!"

Additional reporting by Simon Reynolds

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Next up on our 2009 TV Preview: Robin Hood series three