U.K. network wants to update cult classic

Get ready to meet the new Number 2. And Number 6, for that matter.

British satellite channel Sky One is embarking on a remake of the cult-classic show "The Prisoner." The new series, slated to run for six episodes, would likely premiere sometime next year, 40 years after the original debuted on ITV. Rumors of a new series have been percolating for some time, but Sky One didn't greenlight the project until this week.

Several reports in the British press say Christopher Eccleston -- who starred in a revival of another cult favorite, "Doctor Who" -- is in line to play Number 6. Eccleston left "Doctor Who," which premiered on the BBC and airs on the Sci Fi Channel in this country, after one season and was replaced by David Tennant ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire").

The remake of "The Prisoner" will stick to the original's outline, in which a government agent resigns his post and then is drugged and dragged off to a mysterious prison called The Village, where people are referred to by numbers rather than names. It's expected to get a modern sheen, though.

"'The Prisoner' is like Pandora's box -- it's the ultimate conspiracy thriller," executive producer Damien Timmer tells the BBC. "Like '24,' the new series will entrap you from the opening scene. We hope it will tap into this iconic show's existing cult following, whilst creating a whole new generation of fans."

Bill Gallagher, writer of the BAFTA Award-nominated series "Conviction" (no relation to the NBC show) and "Clocking Off," will pen the scripts for the new "Prisoner."