A 'Sex and the City' prequel is set to hit TV screens next year.

The original series - which ran from 1998 to 2004 and focused on writer Carrie Bradshaw and her life as a New York singleton - was a huge hit and now producers are working on a new show based on Carrie's life before she moved to Manhattan.

The series will be based on the book 'The Carrie Diaries', which was penned by 'Sex and the City' writer Candace Bushnell and opens with Carrie starting her senior year in a small town high school in the 1980s.

And the new project will not feature Carrie's New York friends Miranda Hobbs and Charlotte York, but a young Samantha Jones will make an appearance.

Sarah Jessica Parker - who played Carrie in the TV show and in the two movies - will not be involved, nor will series creator Darren Star and director Michael Patrick King.

King told Entertainment Weekly magazine: "My Carrie Bradshaw started at 33, and I took her to 43. For me, the idea of going backwards and making her less evolved ... is something that I don't even imagine doing."

Parker has ruled out any involvement with any TV shows, saying: "There's not a TV series that I'm part of. No film either - not for the near future. And it doesn't feel sad."