The Prisoner

Vulture

Just watched "the prisoner"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061287/
Saw it before when i was around 10 years old and rembember it being very strange and really cool for the time. Watching it now i have to admit it's a masterpiece, the characters are amazing and the setting is so sureal it's just crazy. Anyone else seen it recently or have any fond memories of this classic.

mike65

First saw it on RTE 2 way back in 1980-81. Natutally as a teenager it blew me away with its style, cunning and cheeky plots. I don't buy too heavily into the whole Prisoner cult as there's less to it than meets the eye, ultimatly. Would'nt have been any good without McGoohans steely protrayal of No6 though.

Mike.

navalus

did anyone get the prisoner magazine that came out every 2 weeks and had a dvd with every issue?

Pigman II

I watched it for the first time this year and I thought it was a good show.. The only complaint I can have of it is the way they kept hinting that all this was building up to something big and significan (when as it turned out it wasn't). Oh and the last handful of episodes really jumped the shark when they re-tooled the show. I believe from my readings that this was to be the new format for the show and McGoohan would be sent out on missions each week rather than just be trying to escape the island as usual. As such I guess we can just be thankful show got axed when it did.

Of course most was what is good about the show is down to McGoohan. He still manages to be cool despite that clobber they have him wearing.

mike65

The series was scheduled to run 26 episdoes but as a perplexed British viewing public switched off ITC/ITV cut the run to 17 eps the result was chaotic and surreal as the scripts were still being written as programmes were filmed. Suddenly they had to fashion an ending with practically no notice, hence the very weird finale. It merely adds to its legend!

Mike.

Sarky

My neighbour has the complete set, along with just about everything ever released that was ever affiliated with it. He's even got the GURPS The Prisoner RPG book

I haven't watched all of it yet, to my shame, but it's freaking brilliant so far.

DMC

I'm planning to go to Wales in a few weeks, and one part of my itinerary is Portmeirion. Its a fascinating place, and just the proper location for something so barking as The Prisoner.

mike65

I bet you spot someone in a black jacket with white piping!

Mike.

Vulture

The ending was a bit crazy alright, well more than usuall. I felt confused, creeped out and slightly angry almost the same feelings i had after watching Evangelion. As someone already stated McGoohan really did make the show, had to be tough pretending to be worried about being chased by a weather balloon. Still i have to give it 10 out of 10 simply on style and storylines.

Sarky

I think my favourite bit has been the carnival where the poster ads in The Village were promising fun, frolics and general happiness "By order".

navalus

thanks guys for ignore n me, sorry i butted it.

mike65

Er no and don't take offence this is the internet!

Mike.

Johnny Storm

One of the very best TV shows ever IMHO. I first watched it in the early 80s on the then-groovy Channel 4. I agree with most of the points already made but I would add that IMHO the creative forces behind this show may have more than a passing familiarity with "certain substances". :rolleyes:

Younger posters in the Star Trek forum have commented that they can't get into the Original Star Trek TV series with Spock and Kirk because of how hokey it looks to modern eyes. I wonder how younger views feel about the Prisoner when they see it for the first time?

FYI MCGoohan played the lead in "Dangerman", a very commercially successful but straighter espionage/thriller show just before the Prisoner so there a real resonance in the opening sequence where he resigns his job as a spy only to find himself in the village.

If I was watching this series for the first time I would deliberately never watch the last show. You'd enjoy it more than way. This was a botch job forced on McGoohan and the writers/producers to wrap it up quickly.

My favorite scenes (in spoilers to protect the young and impressionable):-

1) Number 6 finally escapes the village, makes his way back to London, gets in touch with his old spy bosses, tells them everything, they ask him to go up in a reconnaissance plane to find the location of the village, when he finds it the pilot ejects Number 6 and he must parachute back into the village. They're ALL in on it, LOL
2) In the second last episode when through sheer indomitable strength of will Number 6 mentally defeats number 2, he agrees to bring No 6 to meet No 1, they walk along a tunnel lined with jukeboxes which are all playing the Beatles "All you need is love". Great moment. The show should have ended at that point IMHO.

mike65

Ah yes the first scene you mention was a killer punchline.

Mike.

Jack B. Badd

DMC wrote:

I'm planning to go to Wales in a few weeks, and one part of my itinerary is Portmeirion. Its a fascinating place, and just the proper location for something so barking as The Prisoner.

God, I would just love to go to Portmeirion for my hols! Off me goes to check out prices...

monkeyfudge

Has everyone heard the slightly worrying news that Sky One is remaking the series with Christopher Eccleston?

Jack B. Badd

monkeyfudge wrote:

Has everyone heard the slightly worrying news that Sky One is remaking the series with Christopher Eccleston?

Run away! Why do idiots insist on remaking classic TV shows when they were absolutely brilliant in the first place and attempts should clearly not be made to improve upon them? And as much as I like Eccleston (though Tarrant gets my vote for the Doctor) I really can't see him working in the role... *me sighs and begins to mutter incoherently* :mad:

popebenny16

Even more worrying is the fact that theres a planned Hollywood film.

However I think that Patrick McGoohan may have to grant his permission as I think he has some legal rights to The Prisoner.

Great to see a prisoner thread. I have a really good book at home on it, will post details later, written by two French lads, has a nice article by Issac Asimov on the series in it as well.

popebenny16

That book i mentioned above is simply called "The Prisoner" by Alain Carraze & Helene Oswald. I have a Virgin Books edition isbn 0 86369 557 4 it is well worth a look, forward by McGoohan himself, very good epesode by epesode guide.

Think I'll change my sig after finding this thread.

BTW official fan club is six of one, which i can tell a few posters here know already but if you didnt, Google away, plenty to be seen there.

Be seeing you.

Owen

I'm off to Port Meirion with the MINI Club later next year. In the series, the Mini Moke was used (The jeepy Mini derrivative), so it's a pilgrimage spot for all MINI/Mini drivers. Does anyone have the series on DVD? It's one of those things I'd love to watch from start to finish.

galactus

mike65 wrote:

First saw it on RTE 2 way back in 1980-81. Natutally as a teenager it blew me away with its style, cunning and cheeky plots. I don't buy too heavily into the whole Prisoner cult as there's less to it than meets the eye, ultimatly. Would'nt have been any good without McGoohans steely protrayal of No6 though.

Mike.

The Prisoner is an all-time classic. Same here for me Mike - I remember the big build-up to episode 17 at school and then the let down when it was shown (on Tuesday nights IIRC). Not knowning that it was set in Portmeirion helped the imagination a lot too.

Favourite episodes: As with Johnny Storm "The Chimes of Big Ben". Also "The Schizoid Man", and "Free For All".

Totally 60s and very subversive. I always wonder if David Lynch had "The Prisoner" in mind when he made "Twin Peaks" for TV. Maybe its just me but I've always seen similarities in theme.

Would love to visit Portmeirion sometime: probably not during the Prisoner convention though! The hard-core types are more than a bit obsessive!

Be seeing you.

mike65

For some reason I remember it being on a Sunday I could be wrong. My best school friend and I would natter about it during the morning break on Monday
I'm sure.

Mike.

galactus

mike65 wrote:

For some reason I remember it being on a Sunday I could be wrong. My best school friend and I would natter about it during the morning break on Monday
I'm sure.

Mike.

That's it - Sunday. It was repeated on Tuesdays a few years ago as well. You probably remember "The New Avengers" from around that time as well!

Its the last set of VHS tapes i remember buying. Does anyone have the DVDs - are there extras?

mike65

Ah Purdy! *me swoons*

Mike.

Johnny Storm

Pah! Purdy = not bad at all, BUT, Emma Peel = Hubba hubba!!!!!:eek:

FYI Thomas Disch (excellent SF author) also wrote a Prisoner novel although I must admit I have never read it.