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The Prisoner
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The original The Prisoner was a 17-episode, British television series broadcast in the late 1960s.
ring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama.
Although sold as a thriller in the mould of McGoohan's previous series, Danger Man (called Secret Agent in its U.S. release), the show's combination of 1960s countercultural themes and surreal setting had a far-reaching effect on science fiction/fantasy programming, and on popular culture in general.
A remake, a TV miniseries from AMC, is slated to air in 2009 and Christopher Nolan has been widely reported to be considering a film version.
show was co-created by Patrick McGoohan and George Markstein.
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Encyclopedia
The original The Prisoner was a 17-episode, British television series broadcast in the late 1960s.
Description
Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama.
Although sold as a thriller in the mould of McGoohan's previous series, Danger Man (called Secret Agent in its U.S. release), the show's combination of 1960s countercultural themes and surreal setting had a far-reaching effect on science fiction/fantasy programming, and on popular culture in general.
A remake, a TV miniseries from AMC, is slated to air in 2009 and Christopher Nolan has been widely reported to be considering a film version.
Origins and production
The show was co-created by Patrick McGoohan and George Markstein. Markstein, script editor of Danger Man, remembered that during World War II some people were incarcerated in a resort-like prison. He suggested that Danger Man lead, John Drake, could suddenly resign, and be kidnapped and sent to such a location.
This idea was mirrored in an episode of Danger Man, "Colony Three", Drake infiltrates a spy school in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The school, in the middle of nowhere, is staffed by instructors who are themselves virtual prisoners with little hope of ever leaving.
McGoohan grafted this on to the material he had developed in the intervening years and pitched it to Lew Grade of ITC Entertainment. Grade bought the show and it was produced for broadcast on ITV and overseas. McGoohan wrote a forty-page show Bible, and wrote and directed several episodes, often under pseudonyms. The exteriors for the series were filmed primarily on location "in the grounds of the Hotel Portmeirion, Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales", according to the location credit in "Fall Out," the 17th and final episode.
The series was originally broadcast in London 1 October 1967 through 4 February 1968.
There is debate as to whether the series ended by mutual agreement or cancellation.
Opening and closing sequences
The Opening and closing sequences of The Prisoner have become significantly iconic.
Plot
The series follows a British agent who abruptly resigns his job and then finds himself captive in a mysterious seaside "village" whose leader tries to find out why he quit. Throughout the series, the unnamed prisoner, labelled "Number Six," by his captors, tries to escape while defying all attempts to break his will. He also tries to discover for which "side" his captors work and the identity of the never-seen "Number One", who presumably runs the Village. Number Six often thwarts the various individuals serving as the Village's chief administrator, "Number Two." As the series reaches its climax, Number Six's indomitable resistance and mounting blows against the administration threaten the viability of the Village itself, which forces its desperate warders to take drastic action. The series features striking and often surreal storylines, and themes include hypnosis, hallucinogenic drug experiences, identity theft, mind control, dream manipulation, and various forms of social indoctrination. A major theme is individualism versus collectivism.
Cast and characters
Actors who played the same role in more than one episode are:
Crew
In other media
There have been a number of spin-offs of The Prisoner in other media, including novels, comicbooks, games and several attempts to make a movie.
Documentaries
- Six into One: The Prisoner File, 1984, a 45-minute docudrama presented by Channel 4 after the series rerun. With its central premise to establish a reason why Number 6 resigned, the presentation anchored around a new Number 2 communicating with staff (and Number 1). It reviewed scenes from Danger Man and The Prisoner, incorporated interviews with cast members (including McGoohan), and addressed the political environment giving rise to the series and McGoohan's heavy workload.
- The Prisoner Video Companion, 1990, a 48-minute American production with clips, including a few from Danger Man, and voice-over narration discussing origins, interpretations, meaning, symbolism, etc., in a format modeled on the 1988 Warner book, The Official Prisoner Companion by Matthew White and Jaffer Ali. It was released to DVD in the early 2000s as a bonus feature with A&E's release of The Prisoner series. MPI also issued The Best of The Prisoner, a video of series excerpts.
- American public television station KTEH (San Jose, California), re-ran the series in the early 1990s accompanied by commentary from critic Scott Apel before and after each episode. Clips of some of Apel's commentaries may be found on YouTube.
- Don't Knock Yourself Out, 2007, a feature-length documentary issued as part of Network's official 40th Anniversary DVD set, featured interviews with around 25 cast and crew members. The documentary received a separate DVD release in November 2007 accompanied by a featurette, Make Sure It Fits, regarding Eric Mival's music editing for the series.
Television remake
A remake, in the works since 2005, is now slated for release in 2009 as a miniseries on AMC, in cooperation with British broadcaster ITV. On 25 April 2008, ITV announced that a new series of The Prisoner would go into production, and in June 2008, that American actor James Caviezel will star in the role of Number 6, with Sir Ian McKellen taking on the role of Number 2 in all six episodes.
Awards
The final episode, "Fall Out", received a Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1969, but lost out to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In 2002, the series won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.
In the May 30 – June 5 2004 issue of TV Guide magazine, The Prisoner was voted #7 of the 25 top cult shows ever.
In 2005, readers of SFX magazine awarded the series fifth place in a poll of fantasy television programmes.
A 2006 survey of leading rock and film stars by Uncut magazine ranking films, books, music or TV shows that changed the world, placed The Prisoner at #10, the highest for a TV show.
Footnotes and references
External links
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