Spartacus: Blood and Sand has received mixed critical reaction, but the Starz series certainly has its fans. A second season was ordered well before the completion of the first year, but the show's fate grew murky when it was announced that leading man Andy Whitfield — Spartacus himself — was undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. With Spartacus sidelined, how would Starz pursue a second season?

It appears that the network has found its answer in the form of a special prequel series.

According to the official Starz press release, the six-part Blood and Sand prequel series focuses on Batiatus (John Hannah) and his wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) as viewers behold the rise of the House of Batiatus and its gladiator champions. Whitfield himself is expected to appear in the prequel briefly. Production begins this summer with a January 2011 air date.

It's an interesting solution, as the prequel series not only affords Whitfield some time to stay off the air in a natural way, but it also allows viewers the chance to say their last goodbyes to Lawless and Hannah, who understandably won't be regular fixtures of the ongoing Spartacus continuity given last season's events.