TV series based on Silence of the Lambs' Clarice Starling planned by CBS

US network CBS has green-lit a pilot based on writer Thomas Harris's Clarice Starling, the FBI agent from Silence of the Lambs.

According to Deadline, the show which has received a 'big series commitment', and will be set a year after the events of the iconic, Oscar-trawling thriller.

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Alex Kurtzman, best known for being the executive behind the reboot of the Star Trek franchise and writer of movies like Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible III and The Mummy, will make the show, with production partner Jenny Lumet.

“After more than 20 years of silence, we’re privileged to give voice to one of America’s most enduring heroes – Clarice Starling,” the pair said.

“Clarice’s bravery and complexity have always lit the way, even as her personal story remained in the dark. But hers is the very story we need today: her struggle, her resilience, her victory. Her time is now, and always.”

Taking place in 1993, it will see Starling back in the field, navigating both serial killers and the world of Washington politics, though Hannibal Lecter will not be involved.

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Starling's character was more fleshed out in Harris's book, detailing an upbringing as the daughter of a police officer killed in the line of duty, who was then sent to live at her uncle's farm, but who runs away and winds up in an orphange, all before joining the FBI academy.

It's not yet known who will play Clarice.

The movie won the 'big five' at the 64th Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Director for Jonathan Demme, Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins, Best Actress for Jodie Foster and Best Screenplay for Ted Tally.

And it's not the first time the property has inspired a TV series either, with the acclaimed Hannibal, based on Harris's complex psychopath Hannibal Lecter, airing three series on NBC, with Mads Mikkelsen in the lead.

A pilot for Clarice will be filmed, but its thought that the network already want the show to become a series and a writer’s room has already been established.