Plan B Forum

It was 50 years ago, on 5 September 1966, that the cameras rolled for the first time in the Italianate village of Portmeirion as filming got under way for the cult 1960s adventure TV show The Prisoner.



The programme starred actor Patrick McGoohan playing the part of Number Six who is held captive in a mysterious village where the residents are known only by a number.

Each week, he would attempt to escape, only to find himself unable to break free from those who held him. But who were they? Why was he imprisoned? Which side were his captors on? And who was Number One?

The show was the creation of McGoohan, producer and director David Tomblin and script editor George Markstein who appeared in the opening titles, playing the role of the man to whom McGoohan's character offers his resignation. But it was McGoohan who, as well as being its star, shaped the show, writing and directing key episodes.


Continues here...

Love this show, I have it all on DVD.

So do I

Ground-breaking and excellent show.

So do I

And I too...

My all time favorite television show.

Lord Jim wrote:

So do I

And I too...

My all time favorite television show.

Me too.  I guess I'm in good company.




-"BB"-

Can't call it my favorite. It is well below Monty Python and the first couple of seasons of SNL, probably in my top ten.The opening alone with the Lotus 7 is enuff to put it in my top 25. But I do have a visit to the Village in my bucket list.

Snail gate

I thought it rather dull; TV for existential foodies. Dixon of Dock Green had more going for it. But the Village is certainly worth a visit.

I thought it rather dull; TV for existential foodies. Dixon of Dock Green had more going for it.

Well that's a relief...

I was afraid you might like it, and I'd have to re-evaluate my assessment...

For those of you unfamiliar with Dixon of Dock Green (which is probably most people here; I had certainly never heard of it) here's the synopsis of this riveting show:

Dixon of Dock Green was a BBC television series about daily life at a London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_of_Dock_Green

Wow, tough to resist watching that...

Just as soon as we finish up the last season of Dexter, I can hardly wait to dive into the exciting tales of shoplifting prevention and the thwarting of bicycle theft...

I'm really disappointed there are only 432 episodes...

Barbarian (sigh)

Never heard of any of these shows.
But that's no surprise.

But that's no surprise.

Actually, I am a little surprised that you never heard of The Prisoner...

MajGenl.Meade wrote:. But the Village is certainly worth a visit.

One of the things that's frequently missed about The Prisoner, is that it was the sequel to The Secret Agent, or Danger Man...

It was the story of what happened to John Drake after he "RESIGNED"....

There's a line in one The Prisoner episode, where The Number 2 says,:

"Here is your passport, here are your papers, you are free to go Drake"...

I can't help but feel that "the Village" is a gigantic set piece meant to extract information ... but from one person, and ONLY that one person — The Prisoner (Number 6).  It is he and he alone that is the reason for the Village's existence; in fact, they even say so in the opening dialogue of every episode:

• Prisoner:  "Where am I?"
  Number Two (not identified as yet):  "In the village."
  Prisoner:  "What do you want?"
  Two:  "Information."
  Prisoner:  "Whose side are you on?"
  Two:  "That would be telling.  We want information ... information ... information ..."
  Prisoner:  "You won't get it!"
  Two:  "By hook or by crook, we will."
  Prisoner:  "Who are you?"
  Two:  "The new Number Two."
  Prisoner:  "Who is Number One?"
  Two:  "You are Number Six."

Look at that last line!  With the addition of a single comma — "You are, Number 6" — it all becomes evident that the 'Prisoner' is the only reason for the existence of the Village, and that he is the single most important person there.

-"BB"-

So do you weenies, like, get together once a like year and like binge watch the entire series, chanting the lines together? Oh? You haven't watched it since 1993? Fancy that!


Edit: girls have been replaced by weenies

That was my conclusion also, BB. As the show went on, it became more and more fantastical and broke my ability to suspend disbelief.

snailgate

MajGenl.Meade wrote:So do you girls, like, get together once a like year and like binge watch the entire series, chanting the lines together? Oh? You haven't watched it since 1993? Fancy that!

No, I don't get together with anyone, but I do have the entire A&E 17-episode set (and extra features) on DVD and will occasionally spend a week or so watching it, a couple episodes per night.

-"BB"-

MajGenl.Meade wrote:So do you girls, like, get together once a like year and like binge watch the entire series, chanting the lines together? Oh? You haven't watched it since 1993? Fancy that!

Is that "girls" as a perjorative???

And haven't you been here long enough to understand that the most active TV and movie watchers are male? Which makes your comment factually erroneous, as well as just plain ridiculous.

My take was this:

The reason that some of the episodes seem more grounded and linear, and others seem much more surreal, and the reason you have so many incongruities, (like the way in which the other residents of The Village sometimes seem to be acting as an organized unit and in other episodes they don't)....

is because none of it actually ever happened...

Drake dreamed or imagined the whole thing, and like most dreams, some bits seem more logical, and others less so...

After he resigned as a secret agent, probably burned out by all the morally ambiguous things he had been called upon to do for "Queen and Country" something happened...

He had a nervous breakdown, he got in car accident and was in a coma, he went on a three day bender...something...

And then fueled by anger, guilt, and paranoia, he imagines the entire Prisoner experience, and what the viewer sees are the delusional dreams that are playing out in his confused and damaged mind...

This isn't a great analogy, (because the emotions that color her imagination are obviously completely different) but sort of like the way Dorothy gets hit on the head and then imagines the whole Oz experience...