Syfy to air BBC's 'Sinbad' starring Naveen Andrews

Sinbad is coming to Syfy.

Sadly, it's not the Sinbad of "Jingle All the Way"/"First Kid"/"A Different World" fame (that would be too awesome). It's Sinbad, the heroic Middle Eastern sailor, in the latest of many versions of his tale.

This one is a 12-part series from BBC Worldwide/Sky 1 and stars newcomer Elliot Knight as the seafaring adventurer and "Lost's" Naveen Andrews as his arch-nemesis, Lord Akbari.

Sophie Okonedo ("Hotel Rwanda"), Timothy Spall ("The King's Speech") and Dougray Scott ("Ever After") are set for special appearances, while the regular cast includes Elliot Cowan as Norwegian sailor Gunnar, Marama Corlett as jewel-thief Rina, Estella Daniels as aristocrat Nala, Junix Inocian as the Cook and Dimitri Leonidas as Doctor Anwar. Is it just us, or does Sinbad's crew sound a little like Captain Mal's Serenity gang on "Firefly"?

"Sinbad" sets sail on Syfy in April 2013.