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The Prisoner is back in the Village in a new series of audio adventures from Big Finish.

The new audio series of The Prisoner is to be written and directed by Big Finish’s co-executive producer, Nicholas Briggs. “The Prisoner has been a great love of mine for many years, ever since my late father told me all about it back in the 1960s,” Briggs explains “It actually premiered on British TV in 1967 on my sixth birthday! I finally got the chance to see it as a teenager when ITV repeated it on Saturday evenings in 1977. I instantly fell in love with the series and have been avidly re-watching it ever since. The chance to re-imagine the 1967 series for audio drama is a great privilege and I can’t wait to get started — actually, I’ve already started.”

The new audio version of The Prisoner will be very much based on the original, which starred Patrick McGoohan. “It won’t simply be a slavish retelling of all the original episodes,” Briggs comments. “Aficionados of the original series will certainly recognise much of what they loved about it. A lot of the familiar iconography will be there, but my aim is to push the boundaries, all the while pursuing McGoohan’s stated agenda of the fight against rampant progress and dehumanisation.”

No casting decisions have yet been made. “For Number Six, we’re looking for someone who can portray that vital determination and anger, creating a lethal package of dynamite charisma,” Briggs adds. “They need to be compelling and powerful as well as having great enthusiasm for the series.”

Giles Ridge, SVP Content and Brand Development, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, said: “The Prisoner changed the landscape of British television in the 1960s — a thought-provoking series that feels as fresh and dynamic now as it did almost fifty years ago. Big Finish are renowned for their audio plays based on cult properties and we are delighted to be working with Nick and his team on this true classic.”

The initial release of a lavish, collectors’ edition box set of five CDs (four hour-long episodes and a behind-the-scenes documentary, with full-colour, souvenir booklet) is set for January 2016, with other box sets to follow. It can be pre-ordered here.