Prodigy Pictures has cast The Day of the Triffids — with Jason Priestley, Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson and her mother Vanessa Redgrave top-lining the TV remake of the sci-fi classic.

Eddie Izzard, Brian Cox, Jenn Murray, William IIkley and Ewen Bremner are also attached to the two-part 90-minute thriller for BBC One that Toronto-based Prodigy will coproduce with British partner Power Television.

Prodigy, led by Jay Firestone, and Power earlier collaborated on XIII, a minority Canadian/European coproduction with France’s M6 that will also air on NBC.

RHI Entertainment is shopping the latest Canada/U.K. copro between Prodigy and Power in the U.S. market. Their Day of the Triffids will shoot in southeast England and London until April, and will go to air on the BBC next summer.

Originally written in 1951 by the English sci-fi writer John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids was adapted by Patrick Harbinson (ER, Law & Order: SVU). The updated TV script portrays hero Dr. Bill Maysen, played by Scott, in 2011 creating Triffids, or a dangerous crop of oil-producing plants to replace fossil fuels. But Maysen is forced to save mankind when the plants survive a destructive meteor shower, mutate and roam the world to feast on human flesh.

BBC Radio adapted The Day of The Triffids in 1953, 1957 and 1968. BBC Television then aired the last TV remake in 1981.

Firestone shares the executive producer credits with Power’s Justin Bodle and BBC Wales drama head Julie Gardner, while Stephen Smallwood (Murphy’s Law) will produce and Nick Copus (EastEnders, The Summit) will direct the two-part drama.

Besides the BBC, the Prodigy project will also air on BBC HD, the high-definition channel distributed on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

Day of the Triffids and XIII mark a high-profile return to TV production for Firestone, after he led Canwest Global’s production arm Fireworks Entertainment until 2003.

His latest production shingle also produced a pilot for Global Television, Lost Girl, which was directed by John Fawcett (The Border, Ginger Snaps).