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The Prisoner [DVD] [1967]
![The Prisoner [DVD] [1967]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EP1MFNPPL._SL160_.jpg)
McGoohan is Number 6, a man whose resignation from the secret service (seen every week in a montage title sequence--itself an impressionistic TV landmark) triggers his abduction and imprisonment in "The Village", a sort of open prison for spies where everyone has a number not a name. It's a pretty comfortable place and the other inhabitants all seem passively to accept the situation, allowing the Village authorities to control and limit their actions without protest (escape attempts are thwarted by mysterious bubble-shaped guards called "Rovers"). Number 6, however, is an indomitable freedom fighter whose refusal to accept the status quo is a metaphor for the individual ego struggling against the forces of social conformity: "I am not a number I am a free man" is the series' most resonant catchphrase. The Village's allegorical microcosm of society is presided over by Number 2, played by a different actor every week, with whom Number 6 clashes repeatedly in a battle of wills as he continually questions the authority that has imprisoned him ("Who is Number 1?"). In turn the Kafkaesque authorities try to discover the reason why he resigned. His trenchant refusal to provide any reason at all is itself a powerful assertion of individual freedom. The series culminates in perhaps the most bizarre and psychedelic TV episode ever made, "Fallout", in which Number 6's revelatory discovery of the real power that keeps him imprisoned raises more questions than it answers. --Mark Walker
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Part action series, part psychedelic fantasy, part allegory, Patrick McGoohan's masterpiece, The Prisoner, was initially touted as a sequel to his earlier spy series, Danger Man. But when it was first broadcast in 1967 TV audiences were puzzled; when the show was cancelled 17 episodes later due to declining viewing figures, no one was any the wiser. Shot in the picturesque surroundings of Portmeirion in North Wales, whose architectural fantasies provided an ideal backdrop for the show's surrealism, The Prisoner has subsequently been recognised as one of the most innovative and thought-provoking series ever to be broadcast. Despite the primary-coloured flower-power look, the show's bold ideas haven't dated at all, proving that The Prisoner was simply years ahead of its time.
Way ahead of it's time
Review date: 2008-02-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
There's not much to say about 'The Prisoner' that hasn't already been said, but as it made such a huge impression on me, I'm compelled to give my thoughts.
The first thing that struck me about 'The Prisoner' was it's similarity to 'Lost' and other shows of that ilk that are so popular right now, these shows get you thinking "what's really going on" and often leave you guessing, it's not all laid out, you need to fill in a few gaps yourself so it becomes in a strange way an interactive experience. I find myself thinking deeply about the episode I just watched for days after.
Watching every episode is pure escapism from the classic opening titles to the end credits. I really felt how it was to be a prisoner in this strange place the feeling of claustrophobia are conveyed beautifully, Patrick McGoohan is stunning in this, the intensity of his performance is compelling and combined with the stunning cinematography and often surreal soundtrack make this a classic, must see series.
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Reviews
The best TV ever made
Review date: 2008-01-02 Rating: 10 out of 10
In the symbolism of The Prisoner, Number One represents the mass of the public, or the species, which has evolved from an ape to the stressed-up Number Six, who is trying to escape from it. There are two levels of symbolic meaning in The Prisoner, one being a satire about democracy and modern life, with the past represented by the penny-farthing bicycle, the present by the psychodelia, and the future by the surveillance stuff, and the other level of meaning is autobiographical, and deals with McGoohan's acting career and his need to escape type-casting. He sometimes appears to be over-acting, but he is just exploring his range as an actor. He is very funny in places. The Village is a microcosm of what is all around it, and he is trying to escape from both. The most important episodes are nos 1-8 and 15-17, and the rest is padding, or variations of the same themes, but good fun. This is the greatest achievement in TV art and it has never been matched. One of my favourite actors, Kenneth Griffiths, appears in two episodes, and he is terrific. McGoohan was for me the ultimate and best kind of hippy, smart and wise, and in the last episode he portrays the young hippies as not knowing where they are going (this occurs when the escapees are parting on the motorway). The literary lineage behind this is Alfred Jarry and Ionesco.
The prisoner ..
Review date: 2007-12-19 Rating: 10 out of 10
What a fantastic box ...6 disc of brilliant TV sit back watch and learn how Tv..GREAT tv was made
Back to the village
Review date: 2007-05-22 Rating: 10 out of 10
I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.
My life is my own.
Number 6: Where am I?
Number 2: In the Village.
Number 6: What do you want?
Number 2: We want information.
Number 6: Whose side are you on?
Number 2: That would be telling. We want information... information... information.
Number 6: You won't get it.
Number 2: By hook or by crook, we will.
Number 6: Who are you?
Number 2: The new Number 2.
Number 6: Who is Number 1?
Number 2: You are Number 6.
Number 6: I am not a number, I am a free man.
~~~~
No show had a more dynamic start (In dialogue terms), then The Prisoner's verbal parrying exchange between number 6 and number 2 at the start of the show every week.
The show may have it's roots in the Sci-fi and the Philosophical camps, with a dollop of 1984 thrown in.(Substitute Big Brother for Number 2 "Is watching you.")But by a combination of good visuals,intelligently written storylines and concise editing, it rises above all three to become something more then the sum of it's parts.
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McGoohan always claimed that the Prisoner was not Danger Man's John Drake but script editor George Markstein, (The bald chap McGoohan hands his resignation letter to then bangs down on the desk at the start of the show.)said he was.
So because of this personality clash one of them had to go and because of the "Star Power" McGoohan had it was Markstein.
(McGoohan at this time was the highest paid actor in British television.
Markstein went on to help create the more down to Earth secret agent "Callan".)
I'll not comment on the ending as it would spoil the plot for the people who haven't seen it yet,but one thing I will say is, if you like the simple straight forward plots of James Bond you will probably end up scratching your head and feeling a little baffled.
Apparently there was a "village" in the Scottish Highlands for retired British Spies during and after WW2.
(No Rover though)
~~~~
This show influenced other shows for many years to come.The Avengers got even more zany,even Doctor Who was affected with stories like The Mind Robber.In the US many years later shows like Nowhere Man betray it's roots as a Prisoner derivative.It's even been spoofed on The Simpsons,and I can't think of a better compliment then that.
This will keep you watching right up until the last episode's credits.
Perhaps the overall meaning behind this programme is, it's an anti-conformist rant on the part of the Individualistic Mr McGoohan.But that to me seems to cheapen it slightly.
One aspect that can't be denied,it's a show that doesn't let you forget it in a hurry.
Overall comment on the show is, Brilliant in every regard.
For me stand out episodes are "Many Happy Returns" and "The Girl Who Was Death", as in one episode he finally gets away, but it turns out to be another breaking tactic used by the Village to show it can get him back anytime they like.
(Count the number of candles on the happy returns cake)
And the other is so surreal, it out-does a Salvador Dali painting.
Trivia:~ The bowler in the village Cricket match in,"The Girl who was Death" was really called........JOHN DRAKE.
Mr McGoohan's humour perhaps?
(I've visited Portmeirion twice in the past 10 years and I can vouch it's a lot easier getting into then out of.)
Be Seeing You.
The most intelligent T.V. ever produced
Review date: 2007-02-09 Rating: 10 out of 10
Contrary to the perceived wisdom of The Prisoner, the meaning of the series is entirely intelligible if viewed as allegorical as well as literal. The overt storyline is well-known - a mysterious secret agent is imprisoned in a surreal holiday village governed by mysterious rulers, and during the subsequent 17 episodes he learns, adapts, and subtly turns the tables. Seen as such The Prisoner is an exciting, strange and intriguing television series of its time. But the subplot is shrouded in symbolic imagery, intended to disguise its inherent vicious attacks on the establishment - which remain as pertinent today as they were in the 60s.
The Village is a democracy, the inmates vote for each new No.2. But the establishment is corrupt and the inmates are conditioned to believe they are free. Each episode is an allegorical demonstration of the way 'authority' imposes its will on the unsuspecting citizen. No.6, ever rebellious, transparently anti-establishment, represents the individual determined to remain individual, striving to think independently, defying the conformity society expects. He is routinely overcome, but due to his superhuman resistance refuses to be broken. When he finally triumphs, by defeating the authorities in an apparently ludicrous and violent fashion, the emotionally reserved persona created by Patrick McGoohan does so, paradoxically, to the music of The Beatles' All You Need Is Love. But does he ultimately succeed?
These final scenes brilliantly encapsulate the entire point of the series - the danger we are all in if we allow our individual freedoms to be curtailed by fear, conformity and deference, rather than celebrated by compassion, understanding and humanity - peace and love. A hippy spy series unique in its time and ever after.
The Prisoner deserves to be ranked alongside 1984, Brave New World, Kafka and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in its message of free individual expression and resistance to all oppressive authority.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Patrick McGoohan
Creators:
Patrick McGoohan (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: ITV Studios Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: ITV Studios Home Entertainment
EAN: 5037115010339
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 5
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2000-08-14
Number of discs: 5
Aspect ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 960 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1968-06-01
Language: English (Original Language)