The classic religious film Black Narcissus—which received two Oscar nods in 1947—is set to be adapted into a sultry three-part TV series by the BBC, it has been announced. The plotline follows the story of a Calcutta-based nun, Sister Clodagh, who is reassigned to the remote Himalayas in Nepal where she is to set up a nunnery. 

Adapted from a 1939 novel of the same name by author Rumer Godden, the movie, which released in the summer of 1947, was hailed a “groundbreaking” landmark for post-war British movies at the time.  It had been adapted to a big-screen drama by the legendary filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. 

According to the entertainment website Digital Spy, BBC is currently working with writer Amanda 

Coe to adapt the cult classic for television. The series will follow Sister Clodagh as she moves to the Himalayas to better the lives of people, before starting a forbidden relationship with a British land agent Mr Dean—the two’s budding romance mirroring the tragic fate of a doomed love that once blossomed for a Nepali princess named Shrimati.

Speaking about the planned production, Digital Spy quoted Coe as saying, “I’m thrilled to be adapting Black Narcissus for BBC.  It’s a truly extraordinary love story, as well as a brilliantly unsettling piece of 20th century gothic about the power of a place to get under your skin and the dangers of refusing to learn from history.”

The series, however, remains in its infancy and producers are yet to lock down a cast or location for shooting. In the original 1947 movie, the makers had essentially recreated the Himalayas through large matte paintings for backgrounds. The work done on the imaginary Palace of Mopu—fashioned after Paro Taktsang in Bhutan—had won the movie an Oscar for Best Art Direction.