The Prisoner Information

The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama.

The series follows a British former secret agent who is held prisoner in a mysterious coastal village resort where his captors try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job. Although sold as a thriller in the mould of the previous series starring McGoohan, Danger Man (1960"68), the show's combination of 1960s countercultural themes and surreal setting had a far-reaching effect on science fiction/fantasy programming, and on popular culture in general.

A TV miniseries remake aired on the U.S. cable channel AMC 15"17 November 2009. In 2009, Christopher Nolan was widely reported to be considering a film version.

Origins and production

The show was created while Patrick McGoohan and George Markstein were working on Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the U.S.), an espionage show produced by Incorporated Television Company (also called ITC Entertainment). The exact details of who created which aspects of the show are disputed; majority opinion credits McGoohan as the sole creator of the series. However, a disputed co-creator status later was ascribed to Markstein after a series of fan interviews published in the 1980s. The show itself bears no "created by" credit.

Some sources indicate that McGoohan was the sole or primary creator of the show. McGoohan stated in a 1977 interview (broadcast as part of a Canadian documentary about The Prisoner called The Prisoner Puzzle) that during the filming of the third season of Danger Man he told Lew Grade, then-chairman of ITC Entertainment, that he wanted to quit working on Danger Man after the filming of the proposed fourth series. Grade was unhappy with the decision, but when McGoohan insisted upon quitting, Grade asked if McGoohan had any other possible projects; McGoohan later pitched The Prisoner. However, in a 1988 article from British Telefantasy magazine Time Screen, McGoohan indicated that he had planned to pitch The Prisoner prior to speaking to Grade. In both accounts, McGoohan pitched the idea verbally, rather than having Grade read the proposal in detail, and the two made a verbal agreement for the show to be produced by Everyman Films, the production company formed by McGoohan and David Tomblin. In the 1977 account, McGoohan said that Grade approved of the show despite not understanding it, while in the 1988 account Grade expressed clear support for the concept.

Other sources, however, credit Markstein, then a script editor for Danger Man, with a significant or even primary portion of the development of the show. For example, Dave Rogers, in the book The Prisoner and Danger Man, said that Markstein claimed to have created the concept first and McGoohan later attempted to take credit for it, though Rogers himself doubted that McGoohan would have wanted or needed to do that. A four-page document, generally agreed to have been written by Markstein, setting out an overview of the series' themes, was published as part of an ITC/ATV press book in 1967. It has usually been accepted that this text originated earlier as a guide for the series' writers. Further doubt has been cast on Markstein's version of events by author Rupert Booth in his biography of McGoohan titled Not A Number. Booth points out that McGoohan had outlined the themes of The Prisoner in a 1965 interview, long before Markstein's single episode tenure as script editor on the Danger Man series.

Part of Markstein's inspiration came from his research into World War II, where he found that some people had been incarcerated in a resort-like prison called Inverlair Lodge. Markstein suggested that Danger Man lead, John Drake (played by McGoohan), could suddenly resign, and be kidnapped and sent to such a location. McGoohan added Markstein's suggestion to material he had been working on, which later became The Prisoner. Furthermore a 1960 episode of Danger Man, "View from the Villa", had exteriors filmed in Portmeirion, a Welsh resort village that struck McGoohan as a good location for future projects.

Further inspiration came from a Danger Man episode called "Colony Three", in which Drake infiltrates a spy school in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The school, in the middle of nowhere, is set up to look like a normal English town in which pupils and instructors mix as in any other normal city, but the instructors are virtual prisoners with little hope of ever leaving. McGoohan also stated that he was influenced by his experience from theatre, including his work in Orson Welles' 1955 play Moby Dick Rehearsed' and the 1962 BBC teleplay The Prisoner by Bridget Boland. McGoohan wrote a forty-page show Bible, which included a "history of the Village, the sort of telephones they used, the sewerage system, what they ate, the transport, the boundaries, a description of the Village, every aspect of it?". McGoohan wrote and directed several episodes, often under pseudonyms.

In a 1966 interview for the Los Angeles Times by reporter Robert Musel, McGoohan stated that "John Drake of 'Secret Agent' is gone." Further McGoohan stated in a 1985 interview that No. 6 is not the same character as John Drake, further adding that he had originally wanted another actor to portray the character. However, other sources indicate that several of the crew members who continued on from Danger Man to work on The Prisoner considered it to be a continuation, and that McGoohan was continuing to play the character of John Drake. Furthermore, Rogers states that Markstein had wanted the character to be a continuation of Drake, but that doing so would have meant paying royalties to Ralph Smart, creator of Danger Man. The issue has been debated by fans and TV critics, with some stating that the two characters are the same, based on similarities in the shows, the characters, a few repeating actors beyond McGoohan, and certain specific connections in various episodes.

McGoohan had originally only wanted to produce seven episodes of The Prisoner, but Grade argued that more shows were necessary in order for him to successfully sell the series to CBS. The exact number that was agreed to, along with how the series ended, is disputed by different sources. In an August 1967 article, Dorothy Manners reported that CBS had asked McGoohan to produce 36 segments, but that he would only agree to produce 17. According to a 1977 interview, Grade requested 26 episodes, which McGoohan thought would spread the show too thin, but was able to come up with 17 episodes. According to The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series, however, the series was originally supposed to run longer, but was canceled, forcing McGoohan to write the final episode in only a few days.

Opening and closing sequences

The opening and closing sequences of The Prisoner have become iconic. Cited as "one of the great set-ups of genre drama", the opening sequence establishes the Orwellian and postmodern themes of the series; its high production values have led the opening sequence to be described as more like film than television.

Plot summary

The series follows an unnamed British agent who abruptly resigns his job, apparently preparing to go on a holiday. While packing his luggage, he is rendered unconscious by a knockout gas in his quarters. When he wakes, he finds himself held captive in a mysterious seaside "village" that is isolated from the mainland by mountains and sea. The Village is further secured by numerous monitoring systems and security forces, including a mysterious balloon-like device called Rover that recaptures those who attempt escape. The agent encounters the Village's population, hundreds of people from all walks of life and cultures, all seeming to be tranquilly living out their lives. They do not use names, but instead are assigned numbers; the protagonist is assigned Number Six, but ostentatiously refuses to go by this, refusing to give in to the pretense.

Six is monitored heavily by Number Two, the Village administrator acting as an agent for an unseen "Number One". A variety of techniques are used by Number Two to try to extract information from Number Six, including hallucinogenic drug experiences, identity theft, mind control, dream manipulation, and various forms of social indoctrination. All of these are employed not only to find out about why Six resigned as an agent but to extract other dangerous information he gained as a spy. The position of Number Two is filled in on a rotating basis; in some cases, part of a larger plan to confuse Number Six, while other times as a result of failure in interrogating Six.

Number Six, distrusting of anyone involved with the Village, refuses to co-operate or provide answers. Alone, he struggles with multiple goals: determining for which side the Village works, remaining defiant to its imposed authority, concocting his own plans for escape, learning all he can about the Village and subverting its operation. Some of his schemes, while not resulting in an escape, do lead to the dismissal of an incumbent Number Two on two occasions. By the end of the series the administration, becoming desperate for Number Six's knowledge and fearful of his growing influence in the Village, takes drastic measures that threaten the lives of Number Six, Number Two, and the rest of the Village. A major theme of the show is individualism versus collectivism.

Cast and crew

Actors who played the same role in more than one episode are:

• Patrick McGoohan as The Prisoner / Number Six (17 episodes)
• Angelo Muscat as The Butler (14 episodes)
• Peter Swanwick as Supervisor (8 episodes)
• Leo McKern as Number Two (3 episodes)
• Colin Gordon as Number Two (2 episodes)
• Denis Shaw as The Shop Keeper (2 episodes)
• Fenella Fielding as The Announcer/Telephone Operator (voice only; unseen and uncredited, 6 episodes)
• Frank Maher as McGoohan's stand-in and stunt/fight double. He was also the fight/stunt coordinator. (17 episodes"?in particular, he can be seen at the start of almost every episode running across the beach)

Crew

• George Markstein ... Script Editor (13 episodes)
• Don Chaffey ? Director (4 episodes)
• David Tomblin ? Director (2 episodes)
• Peter Graham Scott ? Director (1 episode)
• Eric Mival ? Music Editor (13 episodes)

Filming locations

The exteriors for the series were primarily filmed on the grounds of the Hotel Portmeirion in Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales, the location that partially inspired the show. and where McGoohan had previously filmed locations for Danger Man. At the request of Portmeirion's designer Clough Williams-Ellis, the main location for the series was not disclosed until the opening credits of the last episode.

Additionally, filming of a key sequence of the opening credits, and exterior location filming for three episodes, took place at 1 Buckingham Place in London, which at the time was a private residence and doubled as No. 6's home. The building still exists today as a highlight of Prisoner location tours and currently houses the headquarters of the Royal Warrant Holders Association.

In other media

There have been several spin-offs of The Prisoner in other media, including novels, comic books, fan audios, games and several attempts to make a movie.

Documentaries

• Six into One: The Prisoner File, 1984, a 45-minute docudrama presented by Channel 4 after the series rerun. With its central premise to establish a reason why Number 6 resigned, the presentation revolved around a new Number 2 communicating with staff (and Number 1). It reviewed scenes from Danger Man and The Prisoner, incorporated interviews with cast members (including McGoohan) and fans, and addressed the political environment giving rise to the series and McGoohan's heavy workload.
• The Prisoner Video Companion, 1990: a 48-minute American production with clips, including a few from Danger Man, and voice-over narration discussing origins, interpretations, meaning, symbolism, etc., in a format modelled on the 1988 Warner book, The Official Prisoner Companion by Matthew White and Jaffer Ali. It was released to DVD in the early 2000s as a bonus feature with A&E's release of The Prisoner series. MPI also issued The Best of The Prisoner, a video of series excerpts.
• American public television station KTEH (San Jose, California), re-ran the series in the mid-1980s accompanied by commentary from critic Scott Apel before and after each episode. Clips of some of Apel's commentaries may be found on YouTube.
• Don't Knock Yourself Out, 2007: a feature-length documentary (run time: 1 hour 35 minutes) issued as part of Network's official 40th Anniversary DVD set, featuring interviews with around 25 cast and crew members. The documentary received a separate DVD release, featuring an extended cut, in November 2007 accompanied by a featurette, "Make Sure It Fits", regarding Eric Mival's music editing for the series.
• Warner Troyer did commentary after each episode during The Prisoner's run on TVO

Remake

A remake miniseries, in the works since 2005, premiered on 15 November 2009 on American cable TV channel AMC, made in cooperation with British broadcaster ITV after AMCs original production partner Sky1 had pulled out. On 25 April 2008, ITV announced that the new series would go into production, and in June 2008, that American actor James Caviezel would star in the role of Number 6, with Ian McKellen taking on the role of Number 2 in all six episodes. In May 2009 the shooting for the new series was completed with significant plot changes from the original television storyline. The new Village is located in a desert tropical area instead of Wales, with location filming taking place in Namibia and South Africa. The six part series premiered in the UK on 17 April 2010.

Home video

The first home video editions of The Prisoner appeared in the 1980s. In North America, MPI Home Video released a series of 20 VHS tapes covering the series: one for each of the 17 episodes and three more containing "The Alternate Version of 'The Chimes of Big Ben'", a documentary, and a "best of" retrospective. In the 1990s the first DVD release of the series occurred in North America/Region 1, with A&E Home Video releasing the series in four-episode sets and a full 10-disc "megabox" edition in the early 2000s; A&E subsequently reissued the megabox in a 40th anniversary edition in 2007. The A&E issue included "The Alternate Version of 'The Chimes of Big Ben'" and the MPI-produced documentary (but not the redundant "best of" retrospective) among its limited special features.

Numerous editions of The Prisoner were, meanwhile, released in the UK/Region 2 by companies such as Carlton. These editions differed from the Region 1 release in their special features, including one release that included a recently-discovered alternative version of "Arrival".

The Prisoner: The Complete Series was released on Blu-ray Disc in the United Kingdom on 28 September 2009, following in North America on 27 October. The episodes have been restored by Network DVD to create new high-definition masters, of which standard-definition versions were used for The Prisoner: 40th Anniversary Special Edition DVD boxset released in 2007. The US edition, once again by A&E Home Video, includes the first North American release of an alternative edit of "Arrival" (in high definition), as well as "The Alternate Version of 'The Chimes of Big Ben'" from the earlier DVD/VHS releases (in standard definition due to the degraded source material) and assorted documentaries and behind-the-scenes footage.

Awards and honours

• The final episode, "Fall Out", received a Hugo Award nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1969, but lost out to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
• In 2002, the series won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.
• In 2004 and 2007, it was ranked No. 7 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.
• In 2001, TV Guide listed "Fall Out" as the 55th Greatest TV Episode of All Time.
• In 2005, readers of SFX magazine awarded the series fifth place in a poll of British fantasy and science fiction television programs.
• A 2006 survey of leading rock and film stars by Uncut magazine ranking films, books, music or TV shows that changed the world, placed The Prisoner at No. 10, the highest for a TV show.

See also

• The Prisoner in popular culture