Patrick Swayze, suffering from pancreatic cancer, is back at work soon in a new TV show.

The 'Dirty Dancing' star, currently receiving medical treatment, will star in a police drama series 'The Beast'.

"I have searched for quite a long time to find a character that is this multilayered, unpredictable and downright entertaining as well as a project this current and cutting-edged," Swayze said in a statement.

The 'Ghost' actor will play an unorthodox FBI veteran who's training a new partner in his unusual style of police work, while under investigation from a secret Internal Affairs team. Tensions build when the new by-the-book partner is ordered to help investigate his mentor.

Thirteen one-hour episodes of the series have been ordered by US cable channel A&E Network.

Although the 55-year-old Swayze made no reference to his health, network bosses revealed that the actor's doctors have given him the go-ahead to work.

Production is set to begin within a few months in Chicago, with the series to debut in the US in early 2009.

Swayze, who received the cancer diagnosis in March, is being treated at San Francisco's Stanford University Medical Centre.