Variety is reporting that AMC and ITV are creating a new six-part miniseries based on Patrick McGoohan’s 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner.  Jim Caviezel will star as Number 6, the ex-secret agent mysteriously confined in a surreal village, while Ian McKellen will portray Number 2, the administrator of the village—a part that was played by a number of different actors in the original 17-episode series in which the position of Number 2 was changed on a regular basis.  The new Prisoner miniseries is slated to air in both the U.S. and the U.K. in 2009.

Back in 2006 AMC and Sky One first announced a new version of The Prisoner (see “AMC Remaking The Prisoner”) that was supposed to air in 2008, but the two companies reportedly could not agree on an actor for the key role of Number 6.

Bill Gallagher, who wrote the six-episode Conviction series for the BBC, is writing the new Prisoner series, which will follow the general outline of the original, but which will also stand alone and explore the concerns of a contemporary audience.  According to Variety, the original series reflected the paranoia of the Cold War, while “the remake will reflect 21st-century stressors such as constant surveillance and the conflict between liberty and security.”  No word yet on whether the new village will keep the charming penny-farthing bicycle logo or if the jackets worn by the denizens of the village will retain their equally anachronistic Edwardian piping.