41 replies to this topic

[doublenoughtspy]

Hey gang,

Just seeing if there are any other fans of The Prisoner here on CBn.

My favorite episodes are A, B & C, The General, Hammer into Anvil, and Many Happy Returns.

Be seeing you...

[Red Grant]

Hey gang,

Just seeing if there are any other fans of The Prisoner here on CBn.

My favorite episodes are A, B & C, The General, Hammer into Anvil, and Many Happy Returns.

Be seeing you...

I'm a big fan too I like the way that the series posed more questions than it answered. I suppose if it was done today it would be a bit more contrived and have to come up with a reason why No. 6 resigned. I also like the fact it has a beginning (Arrival) and an end (Fall Out) but everything in between can be taken in any order (more or less ).

[Qwerty]

I've been thinking of getting this series on DVD lately...

[Brian Flagg]

I'm a fan. First time I saw it was on my local PBS station late night Saturdays around 1985. Back then I just thought it was too bizarre, but the set where Number 2 was stationed really made an impact. Very eerie to this (then) 13-14 year old. I didn't see it again until BBC America aired it last year. I was totally enthralled by everything about it, the performances, the dialogue and the "Englishness" of the whole show--something that the Bond movies used to have, but no more-- I particularly liked the theme, which at first seemed choppy and unmemorable, but after a few episodes I couldn't get Ron Grainer's theme out of my mind! Bought the Silva Screen volume two of the Prisoner File and went nuts for the underscore, which apparently was mainly library stock cues used for other Brit programs. A show I need to get on DVD...pronto!

[doublenoughtspy]

Hey Brian,

Yes, I first saw the Prisoner on PBS as well, maybe a year or two after you did.

And I agree - the theme sticks in my mind too!

I love the demo harpsicord version that is on the 2nd or 3rd Soundtrack CD - it is really haunting.

As far as Region 1 DVDs go - the A&E set is good and has some nice behind the scenes footage on the final disc.

[Kara Milovy]

Who doesn't love The Prisoner?

[Moore Not Less]

Without doubt, The Prisoner is one of the greatest tv series of all time. The story and the setting (Portmeirion) were inspired. Has there ever been anything more thought provoking? The acting and writing were generally of a very high standard. However, the only downside was that they ran out of ideas towards the end and the episodes dipped in quality. Patrick McGoohan even left briefly at one point to appear in the film Ice Station Zebra before returning to complete the series.

Favourite episodes include Checkmate, The General, The Schizoid Man and Free For All.

[Turn]

Hey gang,

Just seeing if there are any other fans of The Prisoner here on CBn.

My favorite episodes are A, B & C, The General, Hammer into Anvil, and Many Happy Returns.

Be seeing you...

Absolutely. I first read about the series in Starlog magazine when they did an episode guide in the late '70s. I also saw my first Prisoner episodes on PBS in 1985, I think on Saturdays too. It kind of drove my girlfriend at the time nuts since she didn't get the show.

My only problem now is I need it on DVD. I've got many worn VHS copies hanging around still.

My personal favorites are The Chimes of Big Ben, Many Happy Returns and The Girl Who Was Death.

[Brian Flagg]

Hey, couldn't one of the mods move this thread to the Spoofs, Spies and Spin-Offs area? I think it qualifies as one of the above, especially with the Danger Man connection and all...

PBS must have had all of their affiliates broadcast The Prisoner during 1985. It's hard to believe that Public television used to play all those great British shows like Doctor Who, Red Dwarf and so many others. Nowadays they play next to nothing, unless it's pledge drive week. Then when they get their dough, they drop the shows again.

[trevanian]

PBS ran it here starting in the late 70s, these very green looking prints, but the show was compelling anyway. I had a vague memory of first run on CBS in the 60s, as a show with a weird ball that gave me nightmares (I was about 7-1/2.)

PRISONER really knocks me out, I've had them all taped from PBS, then retaped from laserdisc, and now own the DVDs. Oddly enough, one of the clunkiest (THE GENERAL) is the one that I think would most lend itself to a film version, assuming they ever get one made. I know that USUAL SUSPECTS writer did a draft I'd kill to read, but then the TOMB RAIDER director pissed all over it and got the project cancelled.

There are a lot of folks who might be able to play number six, and they're usually prime Bond candidates as well. Right now, I'd lean toward the MI-5 guy, even though his face is a mix of Brent Spiner and Brendan Fraser (the aspect that rules him out as Bond.) I'm only through half of season 2 on MI-5, but the show has consistently blown me away, and the character progression for the lead seems to be putting him on the road to John Drake/Prisonerdom. I thought Fincher would be the ultimate director for THE PRISONER, but again, that's just a pipedream.

Along with TWIN PEAKS and original STAR TREK, THE PRISONER is definitely one of the most thought provoking and rewatchable of series, even though I think McGoohan ran off the tracks with the finale (he needed George Markstein aboard to keep the ideas and the plots in sync, I think.)

Odd little factoid: 2001 and PRISONER were in production practically next door to one another ... supposedly a starfield in the alternate version of CHIMES OF BIG BEN were stolen from 2001's art dept.
I have two film posters in my living room -- one is 2001 and the other is from THE PRISONER ... I guess my idea of high art was formed from MGM London (also ruined me for conventional film entertainment to some degree.)

[spynovelfan]

'I Regret To Say Your Wedding Falls Square In The Middle Of The Prisoner Marathon

By Larry Groznic
The Onion

When I received your wedding invitation, Neil, I was overcome with joy at the prospect of being part of your blessed day. As one of my oldest and dearest friends, you are the kind of person whose nuptials I would not want to miss for all the world. However, as much as I want to be there when you take Beth as your wife, I regret to say that your Oct. 12 wedding falls square in the middle of the Prisoner marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel.

I realize that, on the surface, it may appear that I am slighting you and Beth for the most trivial of reasons. I also realize that, with this no-show, I run the risk of permanently falling out of favor with you. Though I would be pained by a loss of friendship, I am one who has never been too concerned with outward appearances or public opinion. After all, had Number 6 practiced such timidity and deference to his peers, he would still be inhabiting the Village, chemically lobotomized and wading fully clothed in the Free Sea as his jailers used his valuable knowledge to achieve world domination.

I do not mean to liken you to the sinister yet mysterious entity that abducted The Prisoner. But I must wonder what would motivate a man to tie the knot during the very weekend when the Sci-Fi Channel is broadcasting the complete 17-episode run, including the alternate version of "The Chimes Of Big Ben" and a special "making-of" documentary featuring a rare interview with the reclusive Patrick McGoohan himself.

Explanations such as the availability of a reception hall or desire to marry in the fall don't adequately account for why you, Neil Croyer, a card-carrying member of Six Of One, The Prisoner Appreciation Society, would exchange vows with your longtime girlfriend on such a special weekend.

Are you not the man who pioneered the use of the Albertus font on your web page in 1991 and even went so far as to purchase a VCR that is compatible with PAL-format video so you could play your painstakingly acquired copies of 1977 ATV broadcast-feed bootlegs? How could such a supposedly dedicated fan do such a thing? And don't try to plead ignorance, either. I happen to know you are on Six Of One's mailing list, and that they announced the marathon way back in February.

Yet despite this callous disregard of your friends, many of whom share your Prisoner passion, it is I who bears the brunt of your scheduling negligence. Evidently, I am the only member of our circle of friends who has decided not to attend the wedding for marathon-related reasons. And, thanks to a mysterious informant who shall remain anonymous (not unlike Number 6 himself), I have been made privy to several e-mails roundly condemning my decision.

As one unsigned e-mail, rather uncreatively titled "wahts with larry [sic]," put it, "How selfish does a person have to be to miss a good friend's wedding to watch a bunch of Prisoner episodes he's seen a million times, owns on DVD, can record on his TiVo, will be repeated in their entirety the day after the ceremony, and will be butchered by commercial interruptions anyway?" Another wag quipped, "Let's tell Larry that we heard Aimee Porter wanted to have sex with him, but she decided to stay home and catch the Thunderbirds marathon instead."

Passionately argued as they may be, such criticisms are deeply misguided (and that "Thunderbirds marathon" is an outright fabrication). It does not take a genius to figure out that a DVD or TiVo owner, in spite of the impressive technology at his disposal, cannot go online while the episodes are airing and swiftly and decisively refute the moronic prattling of one Muscatis1, that tireless scourge of Prisoner chat rooms who insists that Number 1 is actually the silent, diminutive butler who works at Number 2's residence. Nor would they be able to participate in the concurrent online trivia contest (grand prize being a trip to the Village itself, Portmeirion in North Wales) or vote for the all-time best episode (a tough choice indeed, but I would have to go with "Many Happy Returns" for its gripping narrative and devastating denouement, although I'm certain fans with cruder palates will gravitate toward the overrated "Fall Out" or, God forbid, "The Girl Who Was Death").

And my detractors are undoubtedly ignorant of my invitation-preceding promise to Chuck Kiergaard, publisher of the '60s sci-fi and spy-genre tribute 'zine Catsuit, to pen a review of the Sci-Fi Channel's presentation of the episodes for his Fall 2002 issue. You bet your penny-farthing I'm going to watch both days of the marathon. It would be wildly irresponsible of me not to, given my commitments.

I suppose, Neil, I should have known something was amiss when you failed to denounce The Simpsons' abysmal Prisoner-inspired episode back in the fall of 2000 on the alt.sci-fi.prisoner message board. It was left to lesser lights like TheSuprvisr, BCINGU, Nadia, and Muscatis1 to condemn its painfully forced scenario and glaring inaccuracies (koalas on the Village grounds?!?). That was around the time you began dating Beth, was it not?

Now, I am not blaming Beth for your loss of zeal for preserving the memory and legacy of this classic, groundbreaking program. But don't you think that if two people have a truly caring, loving relationship, they would respect and appreciate each other's interests, even if they don't necessarily share them? At the risk of sounding presumptuous, you wouldn't have asked Beth to wed you on the same weekend she had Bloodmobile duty, now, would you?

Which returns me to the question of why you would choose the weekend of the most important televised event of the year to get married. Perhaps your motives shall remain eternally ambiguous, much like the ending of the final episode of The Prisoner, in which we are uncertain whether the shadowy organization behind the Village has been destroyed or that the liberated Number 6 is truly free. But one thing is certain, Neil: I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, numbered, or badgered into attending a wedding that denies me the rare opportunity to view the complete run of this landmark series in one consecutive stretch on TV. I am not a guest. I am a free man.

Be seeing you.'

[ACE]

LOL.

Never seen The Prisoner.

Seems like a weird cross between The Avengers and The Office.

Would I like it?

ACE

Edited by ACE, 08 September 2005 - 03:08 PM.

[doublenoughtspy]

The Prisoner is to TV what OHMSS & TLD are to film, Ace

[ACE]

Right DoubleNoughtSpy.

I will be borrowing my friend's DVD's ASAP.

Of course, I know what the show is and have seen clips. But never watched an episode.

I am not really a fan of 1960's British Spy TV.

But that is a hell of a recommendation, DoubleNought!

ACE

[Brian Flagg]

If there were ever a TV-Movie of The Prisoner, I wouldn't mind seeing Hugh Laurie cast as Number Six. Laurie seems able to play many different character roles with ease. He's now on a show called House, M.D.. The funny part is, I thought he'd make a good Number Six when I saw him in an interview. I like the world-weary persona he projected.

[trevanian]

Hey Brian,

Yes, I first saw the Prisoner on PBS as well, maybe a year or two after you did.

And I agree - the theme sticks in my mind too!

I love the demo harpsicord version that is on the 2nd or 3rd Soundtrack CD - it is really haunting.

As far as Region 1 DVDs go - the A&E set is good and has some nice behind the scenes footage on the final disc.

PRISONER theme composer Ron Grainier used something very much like the rejected theme when he scored THE OMEGA MAN a few years later. There's one cue when the antagonists attack heston's stronghold in mid-movie that sound almost totally PRISONER like. OMEGA is a guilty pleasure of mine dating all the way back (I've probably seen it 20 times by now), but it wasn't until the mid-80s that I made the connection with it and THE PRISONER.

[Brian Flagg]

I love The Omega Man! Film and score! The soundtrack is a big time collector's item and routinely fetches $125.00 on ebay, if you can find it. I'm happy to say that snagged a copy just before it sold out back in 2002. Yes, there are similarities with it and the Prisoner, but I think it's more a case of Grainer's style being familiar rather than the actual piece. Just my opinion, of course.

As for the film, I prefer the first half. When he meets up with the kids it just loses something. And Anthony Zerbe has waaay too little screen time!

Hey Brian,

Yes, I first saw the Prisoner on PBS as well, maybe a year or two after you did.

And I agree - the theme sticks in my mind too!

I love the demo harpsicord version that is on the 2nd or 3rd Soundtrack CD - it is really haunting.

As far as Region 1 DVDs go - the A&E set is good and has some nice behind the scenes footage on the final disc.

PRISONER theme composer Ron Grainier used something very much like the rejected theme when he scored THE OMEGA MAN a few years later. There's one cue when the antagonists attack heston's stronghold in mid-movie that sound almost totally PRISONER like. OMEGA is a guilty pleasure of mine dating all the way back (I've probably seen it 20 times by now), but it wasn't until the mid-80s that I made the connection with it and THE PRISONER.

[Bond111]

Just started watching this show today, oddly enough. I'd heard about it before and the premise sounded intriguing so I decided to rent the series. I loved the fast-paced style of the show, and how it retains an air of mystery. I can't wait to get the next disc in the set.

[Napoleon Solo]

Just saw this topic after watching "Arrival" and "The Schizoid Man" last night. It was from a mini marathon (4 episodes) that aired on TV Land in 1999. There were multiple charactor actors who had appeared/would appear in Bond movies, including Guy Doleman, George Baker and Earl Cameron.

[Bond Bug]

Yes this is my favourite TV series ever. I saw it when it was first on TV (giving my age away) and I was a small kid.

I love the concept and hope it is brought to the big screen. Mel Gibson was rumoured to once be interested in it. Funny enough he bought Mago Island in Fiji last year, a most exotic island complete with a village of natives, and I did wonder if he considered using that as a location.

If I was Sony/Eon I would buy the rights and put Bond in the situation the prisoner is in. It would be the coolest Bond flick ever, breaking from the formula but would be very edgy.

[Four Aces]

Yes. I saw Secret Agent Man and The Prisoner while growing up. These were cutting edge shows at the time, along with The Saint.

What has happened to the British television series.

4A

[GreggAllinson]

My favourite TV series ever, barring Doctor Who...

[mccartney007]

I just got into THE PRISONER recently and haven't been able to stop watching it. It's terrific. Then again, I'm a huge fan of most of the British television programs from the 60's.

Does anyone know any good books that cover THE PRISONER? I'm interested in reading more about all the social commentary and such contained within the show.

And I'll definately have to include a trip to "The Village" on my next excursion to the UK.

[doublenoughtspy]

Hey Jordan,

Glad we have another convert!

Probably the best all around book on the Prisoner is The Prisoner: A Televisionary Masterpiece by Alain Carraze & Helene Oswald.

Amazon link

It has essays, interviews, production information, and great photographs.

Another great one is The Prisoner: The Official Companion by Robert Fairclough. It seems to be very hard to find now and very expensive.

Amazon link

If you are looking at something smaller and simpler, The Official Prisoner Companion by White is ok as well, although it doesn't have as much depth as the Carraze or Fairclough books nor does it have color photographs.

Amazon Link

[mccartney007]

Terrific, Charles! I'll probably end up with all those books at some point soon. Thanks!

[Blofeld's Cat]

I never really got into THE PRISONER. I only saw a couple of eps though, and found McGoohan to be unpersonable.

From what I've read he's actually like that in real life as well.

[Flavius]

I've always been a fan of The Prisoner, although there is one or two episodes that didn't seem to work for me.

I am a big fan of the car that appears in the opening sequence, and gets a bit of attention in a couple of episodes. It's a Lotus 7 and, surprisingly, a modern version of it is still in production in the UK (see www.caterham.co.uk).

I believe McGoohan was one of the shortlist of actors considered for the role of 007 when Dr No was in pre-production. Rumour is he asked to not be considered as screen testing began, as he is mildly serious about his religion and thought that some aspects of Bond would be a little too racy for him.

[Turn]

I never really got into THE PRISONER. I only saw a couple of eps though, and found McGoohan to be unpersonable.

From what I've read he's actually like that in real life as well.

I'm sure if you gave it a chance again starting with the first couple episodes you'd find yourself hooked as well. While McGoohan's character isn't exactly John Steed or Simon Templer charming, he is a fascinating one given the circumstances he's in. He can go from charming and quick-witted to annoyed and violent.

[DLibrasnow]

BBC America showed three episodes last month and I watched them but couldn't really get into them. On the other hand the three episodes of THE PERSUADERS was great, looking forward to seeing more of that show on BBC America in the future.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I never really got into THE PRISONER. I only saw a couple of eps though, and found McGoohan to be unpersonable.

From what I've read he's actually like that in real life as well.

I'm sure if you gave it a chance again starting with the first couple episodes you'd find yourself hooked as well. While McGoohan's character isn't exactly John Steed or Simon Templer charming, he is a fascinating one given the circumstances he's in. He can go from charming and quick-witted to annoyed and violent.

You are most likely right, Turn. I need the oportunity to watch the show from the very 1st ep to get "into" it, I guess.

One of these days.....