1 "We can rebuild him. We have the technology." Actually, we have Jim Carrey. Last week the actor confirmed he would play Steve Austin in a film version of cult 1970s TV series, The Six Million Dollar Man.

2 Premiered in 1973 as a series of three TV movies based on a serious sci-fi novel, Cyborg, it proved so popular he was given a whole series. It ended in 1978.

3 Steve, played by Lee Majors, gained his powers (and his tracksuit) after an accident cost him both legs, an eye, and an arm. But thanks to the titular $6m (it went a long way in 1973) he was given new, nuclear-powered limbs and a telephoto eye. Complete with cool sound effects.

- Introduced in series two, Jamie Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) was Steve's squeeze until a tragic parachuting accident left her near dead. Bionics saved her, and she became the Bionic Woman complete with her own series. The two married in the 1991 TV movie, Bionic Ever After.

5 The series action figures were must-have items in 1970s school yards. The Steve Austin doll had a bionic eye and a bionic arm - the skin peeled back so you could see the mechanics.

6 Before it was cancelled the series became a parody of itself, with awful characters such as Max, the bionic dog and the bionic bigfoot.

7 The new film will be more tongue-in-cheek, and is expected in cinemas in 2005 - hopefully without the ridiculous moustache Steve sported in the last two series.

Sunday Herald