The Prisoner

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I'd like to start a discussion on this show, which I just suddenly remembered. This was *fantastic* - it's been ages since I last saw it (about 10 years ago, when Channel 4 last repeated it) but I remember it fondly. Patrick McGoohan's reserved, determined performance, Rover the bubble, "Be seeing you!", that theme music, and of course the balls-out totally insane final episode. Such an incredible show, even if McGoohan had no idea about how to end it.

Is the movie version still going ahead?

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Sunday, 19 October 2003 10:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

Kyle to thread.

― adaml (adaml), Sunday, 19 October 2003 10:30 (6 years ago) Permalink

hey i went to portmeirion a couple weeks ago! it was pretty cool.

― duane, Sunday, 19 October 2003 13:35 (6 years ago) Permalink

"Are you going to run?"
"Like the blazes, first chance I get."
"I mean run for OFFICE!"

I got the box set at Kim's in April and it's awesome. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of No.6's antics has been dealt an irreperable blow since I actually started doing classified government work, kind of like I can't get into Catch-22 as much since being in the USAF. McGoohan was my hero in college though.

Using the Beatles to score the big crazy shootout and escape in the finale was brilliant. Also, the youngster who kept singing the song about bones? Totally awesome. I keep wanting to do that at a polygraph interview.

― TOMBOT, Sunday, 19 October 2003 16:36 (6 years ago) Permalink

You don't all think it's all just a load of nonsensical bollocks, then?

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 19 October 2003 18:28 (6 years ago) Permalink

er, no.
i watched the entire series a couple of months ago. yes it starts getting a bit daft towards the end but the first 8-10 episodes were great. favourite episode : the one where he gets drugged and they can see and influence his dreams. that bit where he walks into the room where the experiment is taking place is seriously spooky!

― joni, Sunday, 19 October 2003 18:36 (6 years ago) Permalink

i loved it when i first saw it. i wonder if i would feel the same now. sometimes things are best preserved in memory. i like the imagery of the show, is nice to look at. partly portmerion, partly the design. i think i will watch it again soon...

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 19 October 2003 18:43 (6 years ago) Permalink

Take a good 16 hours or so and watch the whole series straight through. Your mind may never be the same again.

― brg30 (brg30), Sunday, 19 October 2003 19:43 (6 years ago) Permalink

john ashcroft's favorite series....."you won't get it!"..."by hook or by crook we will"
(you must be hammer or odestien)
and remember kids "questions are a burden upon others, answers a prison unto oneself"

― jameslucasakarroland (jameslucasakarroland), Sunday, 19 October 2003 20:05 (6 years ago) Permalink

i'd like to see the whole thing again too - something very attractive about it all to me when i was younger and saw bits and bobs here and there. part of this comes down to the overlying concept of 'escape' which is my perennial favourite theme of any story. part of it comes down to the general surrealism and self-awareness it has. have read interesting articles in the past about how the making of it and the difficulty in culminating the story really messed up McGoohan's mind.

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 19 October 2003 21:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

there aren't too many series which so successfully and completely rendered the feeling, style, and texture of an entire world so viscerally; the prisoner is otherworldly and familiar, inexplicable and at the same time has images that resonate on some kind of archetypal level, and it does this, most of the time, without even seeming like its trying. sorry to sound so pretentious.

the graphic novel sequal wasn't too bad. If there was a film I'd hope it to be as good but I'm sure it won't be. Mel Gibson owned the film rights to this for ages, that seems to have never happened; McGoohan still retains some control if I'm not mistaken.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 19 October 2003 23:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

I'd not heard of the graphic novel, I'll have to look it up.

It's pretty fantastic. Quoth the poster on my wall: "I am not a number, I'm a free man."

― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 20 October 2003 00:14 (6 years ago) Permalink

Graphic novel = just okay, but I admire them for doing it the hard way rather than the easy way.

Best episode = "A, B and C."

Best song about it: Teenage Filmstars' "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape."

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 20 October 2003 01:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

for real, is it better than that iron maiden one?

― duane (24 hour troubleshooter), Monday, 20 October 2003 04:11 (6 years ago) Permalink

I am itching to write at insane length about The Prisoner on my blog, but promised Robin C that I wouldn't until he'd watched the series ('cos I don't want to spoil the ending for him)...I remember doing a stream-of-consciousness thread about it on ILE a couple of years back but can't remember where exactly.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 20 October 2003 07:10 (6 years ago) Permalink

yeah, we made several jokes when the US State Dept adopted the color-coded Terrorism Evil Threat Level Indicator Thing.

"Orange Alert! Orange Alert! Number Six is trying to escape! Activate Rover!"

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 13:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

ha! check this out!

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 13:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

thanks kingfish, i was starting to wonder.....

― Vacillating temp (Vacillating temp), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 20:55 (6 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

My mate lent me this the other day. He accidentally gave me the last episode, which is, by all accounts, the maddest. So I am thinking that the whole thing is as barmy, swith the geezer in the hat singing about bones and Number 1 and those blokes behind the judge with the black/white masks on. Despite not having a clue what was going on (hence feeling like Kafka with a headache) I was intregued. Shall I continue watching, or better still, is the box set a worthwhile investment?

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Monday, 26 January 2004 15:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

Absolutely. My girlfriend and I rented the dvd's a few at a time last month and watched it all. Love that McGoohan!

(highlight of the show: the 'sport' in the Village that's a cross between American Gladiators and wire-fu with trampolines).

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 26 January 2004 15:31 (5 years ago) Permalink

I'm with Martin here. (If that indeed is his actual opinion.)

― Leee Majors (Leee), Monday, 26 January 2004 22:49 (5 years ago) Permalink

He might have changed his mind by now...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 27 January 2004 13:35 (5 years ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

Heads up, BBC America is showing it now (along with The Saint and The Avengers).

Friday nights are now booked.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 17 July 2004 06:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

bbc4 has been showing them 2 a week on friday nights for the last month. er, maybe i should've mentioned this earlier...

be seeing you.

― koogs (koogs), Saturday, 17 July 2004 07:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

i watched all the episodes again over the last few weeks. i was fearful it wouldnt stand up to hazy memories of it, but i was pleased to find that it does. difficult to pick a favourite, but i think they are all great up and including "living in harmony", though that episode suggested more non-village episodes, if it had carried on to the 2nd series (as was originally planned before the plug was pulled?)

the following episode, the girl who was death, also suggests that, 2 consecutive non-village episodes. however, this episode was the first (and only) episode to disappoint, so perhaps it is a blessing a 2nd series never happened.

i wasnt sure about the last episode, it seemed more "sixties" than the others, though of course the last episode was all done on the fly, due to strict time constraints. under the circumstances it came out very well, though you can see the padding and playing for time, particularly after the village is left, which is quite surreal and silent.

i had forgotten how great alexis kanner was

― *@*.* (gareth), Sunday, 24 October 2004 14:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

I'm going as No. 6 for Halloween, and my girlfriend is going as No. 2.

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 24 October 2004 14:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

I don't really think of either as very ghoulish.

― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 24 October 2004 14:19 (5 years ago) Permalink

I went as no. 6 a few years ago...easy costume, I bought some faux-keds black shoes w/ white rubber bottom, khaki pants I already owned, bought a shitty black salvation army sport jacket and had a friend sew a white border like tubing, black mock-turtleneck, a bit of gel in the hair to get the part right and I had an actual no. 6 pin I bought from a fan-club many years ago.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 24 October 2004 14:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

i was #6 for two years. I used a thrift store sport coat with white electrical tape for the lining, and made a button after pringint out a #6 graphic and putting it into one of those high school sports photo pins that moms wear.

― Sir Kingfish Beavis D'Azzmonch (Kingfish), Sunday, 24 October 2004 18:37 (5 years ago) Permalink

Haha. I got my thrift store sport coat yesterday, put on some white bias tape for the lining, and I'm going to print out the graphic at work tomorrow for the pin.

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 24 October 2004 23:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

there were originally 2 series planned (or a second series was hastily commissioned after the success of the first) and, as you noticed, a lot of episodes after the first 12 were non-village episodes which was how he was going to expand it and keep it from getting stale but which didn't really work for me (holodeck anyone?)

saw the recent bbc4 reruns and thought the last episode held up better than i remembered. it didn't make a lot of sense but it didn't need to. i had the feeling it was someone having fun destroying everything he'd taken a lot of time creating and the last wordless 15 minutes is great in its own way, like you say, very 60s.

― koogs (koogs), Monday, 25 October 2004 07:25 (5 years ago) Permalink

A lot of those later episodes (e.g. Hammer Into Anvil, It's Your Funeral") were essentially warmed-up Danger Man scripts.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 25 October 2004 07:41 (5 years ago) Permalink

Portmeirion is still exactly the same as it was in 1967. (went last year)

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 25 October 2004 08:16 (5 years ago) Permalink

When I went, the green dome above Number 2's house wasn't green - it was copper-coloured.

(apparently, when the house was built the architect couldn't afford a proper copper dome, so made one out of green-painted plywood. In the 90s the Portmeirion Trust managed to save up enough cash to buy a copper one - so, of course, it was the wrong colour for a few years until the copper had weathered a bit)

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 25 October 2004 08:19 (5 years ago) Permalink

The complete series DVD boxset is available cheap(er) from MVC at the moment, if anyone's interested. 30-odd quid, I think. I toyed with the idea, but I can't even get through 6 episodes of Boys From The Blackstuff.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Monday, 25 October 2004 10:30 (5 years ago) Permalink

I've got the box-set, inspired by a trip to Portmeirion this summer. I've never seen it before, and was mostly confused by the arguments that seem to go on over the running order. For example, the box-set order isn't the same as the order it was broadcast in; 'Chimes Of Big Ben' is, I think, the second episode in the box-set, but apparently I would never have understood it that early on. I found a recommended running order on t'internet and have been following it (though I have to admit it's been a while since I watched an episode - after about 4 or 5 it seemed to me that they are all essentially the same...)

― Mog, Monday, 25 October 2004 11:02 (5 years ago) Permalink

The original intention was for The Prisoner to be a seven-part serial, but ITC wanted a full series of 13 episodes so that it could go into syndication in the USA. McGoohan still considers the key seven episodes to be:

Arrival
Chimes Of Big Ben
Free For All
Dance Of The Dead
Checkmate
Once Upon A Time
Fall Out

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 25 October 2004 11:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

the grinning pullover has the box set in his shops for ?’20

― The Real DG (D to thee G), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:26 (3 years ago) Permalink

I really must get on with writing about this for the blog.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:33 (3 years ago) Permalink

i had a teacher in 8th grade (when i was 14 years old) who, each wednesday, dedicated the last hour and a half of class to watching an episode of the prisoner and discussing it afterwards. whatever you think of the show it was a great way to spend wednesday afternoons. thank you mr. hutch. (from the very first class, he asked us to ponder the symbolism of the bicycle. none of us got it.)

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:55 (3 years ago) Permalink

dude I hate you

― TOMBOT (TOMBOT), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

I worked with someone once who's uncle was the Second Unit Director for the Prisoner.

Which basically meant he took a camera crew to film closeups of a filing cabinet, a street sign, etc for inserts.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:00 (3 years ago) Permalink

― The Real DG (D to thee G), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

thank you mr. hutch.
And what did mr. starsky have you watch in his class, Tracer, Escape From New York?

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:26 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

It's back on! ITV4 or sumthin'.

― Tom D., Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

Presumably because of the impending remake. We watched it last night - we already have the DVD box set so I wasn't really paying attention to it.

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's been impending for the last fifteen years!

― Mark G, Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

And long may it, errrrrrrrr, impend

― Tom D., Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

They've cast Ian McKellen for it, think it's actually in production soon

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

They haven't cast No. 6 tho

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

Who Is No. 6?

― Tom D., Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

(My wife was working for a talent agency until last week, then she quit, so now I'm allowed to talk about who's been signed up for what. Too bad I can't remember anything interesting)

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

So you can't confirm that Marcello Carlin is to be cast as No. 6?

― Tom D., Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

I will not confirm or deny any such rumours

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:15 (1 year ago) Permalink

itv4 has 'hitler in colour'

― DG, Thursday, 20 March 2008 16:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

9 months pass...

Very sad news.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hls8g79toC_XSUxWXSHcbe8n9ergD95N1HBG0

― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 17:07 (10 months ago) Permalink

Needs it's own thread.

― Mark G, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 17:18 (10 months ago) Permalink

oh no. :(

― sean gramophone, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 17:19 (10 months ago) Permalink

aww ;_;

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 17:20 (10 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

full series online!

http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner-1960s-series/

― kingfish, Sunday, 8 February 2009 08:44 (9 months ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

is there a thread for the remake? its gonna be shitty isn't it >:(

― luol deng (am0n), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 16:59 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

this is actually being done? what a disaster for ...

― sarahel, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:07 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

― luol deng (am0n), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:12 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

NOOOOOOO!

― sarahel, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:27 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

AMC is advertising the shit out of this. looks awful.

― because I used to be a nuclear physicist (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:31 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

Will Not Be Seeing You

― I Poxy the Fule (Tom D.), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:33 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

will be forgotten like the '70s Casablanca TV series.

― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:35 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

upside is i can watch the og series thru on-demand

― luol deng (am0n), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:44 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

rover appears to have eaten all the pies.

― koogs, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 17:47 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

i've only seen snippets in the ads, there is not reason this remake SHOULDN'T be good (decent enough actors, AMC has a great reputation now for series) but the clips I've seen don't inspire much hope; for one thing, it looks much to desolate. THe Village was interesting because it was a little town with it's own economy, etc. This looks like some kind of housing plan in the desert. Bah.

― akm, Sunday, 8 November 2009 22:25 (1 week ago) Permalink

eh, they're not filming it in Portmeirion?

― The Real Dirty Vicar, Tuesday, 10 November 2009 22:45 (1 week ago) Permalink

I'll give it a few episodes. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Read?

― windy = white, carl = black (polyphonic), Tuesday, 10 November 2009 22:46 (1 week ago) Permalink

this remake actually makes me angry. mostly because I had to sit through ads for it to see Mad Men

― squarefair (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 10 November 2009 23:12 (1 week ago) Permalink

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