A remake of cult ‘60s TV show The Prisoner has been bubbling away like an angry tar monster for ages now – for a long time, Sky were said to be planning a revamp with Christopher Eccleston demanding to know what a mysterious authoritative voice wanted (information, by the way) and ending up trapped in a surreal village.

Now US cable network AMC has announced that it’s snagged Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen to star in the new show, which will see Caviezel playing Number Six, the role made famous by original Prisoner overlord Patrick McGoohan. The story- if you really can tell from the original – follows a former British secret agent sent for debriefing to the weird locale of The Village, where he’s stripped of his identity, and assigned the iconic number. All around him are strange, disconnected people dressed in bright outfits and he can’t get a straight answer out of anyone. The head of the place is Number Two, which in the original show was played by a revolving guest cast of thesps, but will be McKellen in the miniseries.

Comingsoon.net has the announcement for the series, which will channel 21st century paranoia and surveillance culture. And, with any luck might be just a little easier to follow. But not too easy- that wouldn’t be The Prisoner.