Saturday, October 14, 2017

50 Years On, Secrets Of 'The Prisoner' Are Finally Revealed


Mark Braxton at the British publication Radio Times offers a piece on one of my favorite TV series from my teenage years, Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner.

In the autumn of 1967, Patrick McGoohan unleashed his magnum opus on an unsuspecting world. Over 17 episodes, The Prisoner teased, enchanted, challenged and even angered its audience, leading to a switchboard meltdown after its controversial conclusion.

It told the story of Number Six (McGoohan), held captive in an Italianate setting known only as The Village, and the attempts by unnamed interrogators to “break” Six by making him explain why he’d resigned from his covert job.

Though The Village may look idyllic there can be no escape: anyone who attempts it is squashed by giant, white, balloon-like “Rovers”.

But who is in charge of the operation? Who, in other words, is Number One? (For those who’ve yet to see the show, it’s worth preserving that particular surprise – and it’s a good one.)

… With elements of spy fiction and action adventure, the heavily allegorical series touched on science, politics, psychology and even the Wild West, and also made a star of its colourful and eccentric location: Portmeirion in north Wales.

For 50 years the series has been celebrated, discussed and pored over, and answers have been continually sought to some of its more perplexing puzzles set by the American-born Anglo-Irish McGoohan. And now, In My Mind, a compelling documentary containing interviews with its famously guarded star and showrunner, aims to do just that.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:



You can also read an earlier post on Patrick McGoohan's other classic TV series Danger Man (Secret Agent in the US) via the below link:


And you can read Patrick McGoohan's obituary in the Los Angeles Times via the below link:

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