HE REVIVED Doctor Who, but now Christopher Eccleston is set to take on another television hero with the starring role in a remake of The Prisoner.

The 1967 series, starring Patrick McGoohan as a former secret agent who was kidnapped and imprisoned in a mystery village, baffled millions of viewers around the world .

The new version, made by Granada for Sky One, will incorporate the paranoia, conspiracy theories and hi-tech action sequences of modern-day spy dramas 24 and Spooks.

Lost, another offbeat hit series which has kept viewers hooked despite offering up few of its secrets, was influenced by The Prisoner.

Eccleston, who quit Doctor Who after last year’s hit revival, told the producers that it had long been his ambition to play Number Six, whose escape attempts are constantly thwarted by sinister forces.

Hollywood stars have also pitched for the role but discussions with Eccleston are at an advanced stage, according to production sources.

However, the Welsh tourist “village” of Portmeirion, where the original ATV show was filmed, will be replaced by a more exotic foreign location, probably outraging fans of the original.

While The Prisoner will compete against the third season of Doctor Who in a spring ratings battle next year, BBC One is reviving another action hero — Robin Hood will join the Saturday night line-up this autumn.

Damien Timmer, executive producer of The Prisoner, said: “The series is like Pandora’s box; it’s the ultimate conspiracy thriller. Like 24, the new series will entrap you from the opening scene.”

Granada hopes the series will tap into the show’s cult following, while also appealing to younger viewers. It is expected to appear before a long-mooted Hollywood film remake, and Granada is expecting to sell the show internationally.

McGoohan won a global fan base for the 17-episode series, which made regular use of his catchphrase: “I am not a number; I’m a free man.”

His nameless character — Number Six — was abducted after resigning from a top secret government position and relocated to a sinister village where nothing was as it seemed. However, Granada is promising a “radical reinvention” and a plot that will make sense to viewers who watch the six-episode series.

McGoohan wrote and directed some episodes. Other actors and actresses who featured in the original series included Leo McKern, Paul Eddington, Peter Bowles, Eric Portman, Patrick Cargill, George Baker, Mary Morris, Rosalie Crutchley and Donald Sinden.

It has its own fan club, the Six of One, formed in 1977.

It boasts more than 1,000 members and holds regular get-togethers at Portmeirion, the Italianate village in North Wales built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis 80 years ago. It is now a hotel complex.

As well as the distinctive architecture, The Prisoner featured Mini-Mokes, pennyfarthings and a massive balloons that would appear from the sea to smother anyone attempting to escape.

The series was shown in more than 60 countries.

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