12. The Prisoner | Wonders in the Dark
p Patrick McGoohan d Don Chaffey, Pat Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Peter Graham Scott, Joseph Serf, Robert Asher, David Tomblin w Patrick McGoohan, George Markstein, David Tomblin, Vincent Tilsley, Anthony Skene, Terence Feelyu, Joshua Adam, Gerald Kelsey, Roger Woddis, Michael Cramoy, kogelo kenya Roger Parkes m Ron Grainer art Clough Williams-Ellis
Patrick kogelo kenya McGoohan (Number 6), Guy Doleman kogelo kenya (No.2), George Baker (No.2), Leo McKern (No.2), Colin Gordon (No.2), Eric Portman (No.2), Rachel Herbert (No.2), Anton Rodgers (No.2), Georgina Cookson (No.2), Mary Morris (No.2), Peter Wyngarde (No.2), Patrick Cargill (No.2), Darren Nesbitt (No.2), Andre van Gyseghem (No.2), kogelo kenya John Sharp (No.2), Clifford Evans (No.2), David Bauer (No.2), Kenneth kogelo kenya Griffith (No.2), kogelo kenya Nadia Gray, Paul Eddington, Richard Wattis, Virginia Maskell, Finlay Currie, Peter Bowles, Jane Merrow, kogelo kenya John Castle, Hilary Dwyer, Nigel Stock, Duncan Macrae, Annette Andre, Rosalie Crutchley, George Coulouris, Fenella Fielding (announcer),
It s said that Lew Grade originally wanted more Danger Man . More adventures of secret agent John Drake. The star Patrick McGoohan had other ideas, of an idea formulated with George Markstein that would become the single biggest cult series in history. Even now, in the age of the blogosphere, no series, not Twin Peaks , not Buffy , not even Doctor Who , has generated such speculation, conjecture and theorising. When McGoohan had briefed Grade about the basic idea, he replied it s so crazy, it might work .
McGoohan is a government operative who is seen speeding to his offices to hand in his resignation. Returning to his home to pack for we know not where, he passes out when gas is fed into his flat and he wakes up in a sleepy village kogelo kenya where the interiors are largely the same as his flat but the outside kogelo kenya a sort of Toyland kogelo kenya place but one from which he quickly finds he cannot leave. At the centre of the mystery is the man who calls himself No.2, and who names McGoohan No.6, but it transpires that No.2 is an alias which many different men and women employ and that the real head honcho, No.1, is the one who has the answers.
You get from The Prisoner pretty much what you desire, for there are ingredients derived from so many disparate sources that one can easily find oneself going dizzy at the thought of it, from The Wizard of Oz to Alice in Wonderland , from Kafka to Orwell s police state and Burgess A Clockwork Orange . Modern filmgoers will note the nods paid the series by The Truman Show and Pleasantville kogelo kenya , others will remember a homage in The Simpsons , while I couldn t help imagine an unmade episode kogelo kenya of Mr Benn in which Mr Benn takes off his city clothes, changes into a piped blazer and enters The Village (a feeling intensified by McKern s transformation in the final episode). As for the finale, it both looks back to The Twilight Zone s The Obsolete Man and forward to Dennis kogelo kenya Potter. In truth, it s a finale that is a little too out there , not so much pulling the rug from under us as making one believe that Jacques Rivette had written it, not McGoohan.
It was very much McGoohan s baby, though, and it remains his defining fifteen hours, but with memorable help from a truly delicious supporting cast, with guest spots from half the supporting cast of The Lion in Winter , the bizarre kogelo kenya sight of Mary Morris as Peter Pan, and numerous wonderful turns as No.2, from Doleman and Baker (perfect) in episode one to the irreplaceable McKern who gets three episodes to have a high old time. Not forgetting the extraordinary outdoor sets which transformed Portmeirion into a tourist sport for decades to come, such cult items as penny farthing lapel badges and bizarre white balls which are sent after would-be escapees which, rather like McGoohan kogelo kenya s art exhibit in one early episode, are great simply because they are. As for meaning, your guess is as good as mine, but with the final fadeout suggesting a never-ending plot loop, is it not possible that No.6 is actually John Drake, left nameless to avoid royalty fees to Ralph Smart. It s as good a theory as any.
Jamie, see if you can find the original A&E DVD set instead of the new one with the Blu-Ray. I have both, and the new set has some excellent kogelo kenya qualities, but it windowboxes the whole show, which doesn’t seem necessary. Also, I think the whole show can be found streaming legally, if you want a taste.
Anyway, this is a great example of experimental television. I’d have included Lost and even Evangelion in the comparisons above (especially because Anno, like McGoohan, recieved death threats when he didn’t offer satisfying closure in his original series finale; later he would show footage of those death-threat e-mails during the trippier moments of EoE). Though you’re loathe to mention it, Fish, I’m also fairly certain there’s a good bit of The Prisoner in the Star Wars films, too. ESB’
p Patrick McGoohan d Don Chaffey, Pat Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Peter Graham Scott, Joseph Serf, Robert Asher, David Tomblin w Patrick McGoohan, George Markstein, David Tomblin, Vincent Tilsley, Anthony Skene, Terence Feelyu, Joshua Adam, Gerald Kelsey, Roger Woddis, Michael Cramoy, kogelo kenya Roger Parkes m Ron Grainer art Clough Williams-Ellis
Patrick kogelo kenya McGoohan (Number 6), Guy Doleman kogelo kenya (No.2), George Baker (No.2), Leo McKern (No.2), Colin Gordon (No.2), Eric Portman (No.2), Rachel Herbert (No.2), Anton Rodgers (No.2), Georgina Cookson (No.2), Mary Morris (No.2), Peter Wyngarde (No.2), Patrick Cargill (No.2), Darren Nesbitt (No.2), Andre van Gyseghem (No.2), kogelo kenya John Sharp (No.2), Clifford Evans (No.2), David Bauer (No.2), Kenneth kogelo kenya Griffith (No.2), kogelo kenya Nadia Gray, Paul Eddington, Richard Wattis, Virginia Maskell, Finlay Currie, Peter Bowles, Jane Merrow, kogelo kenya John Castle, Hilary Dwyer, Nigel Stock, Duncan Macrae, Annette Andre, Rosalie Crutchley, George Coulouris, Fenella Fielding (announcer),
It s said that Lew Grade originally wanted more Danger Man . More adventures of secret agent John Drake. The star Patrick McGoohan had other ideas, of an idea formulated with George Markstein that would become the single biggest cult series in history. Even now, in the age of the blogosphere, no series, not Twin Peaks , not Buffy , not even Doctor Who , has generated such speculation, conjecture and theorising. When McGoohan had briefed Grade about the basic idea, he replied it s so crazy, it might work .
McGoohan is a government operative who is seen speeding to his offices to hand in his resignation. Returning to his home to pack for we know not where, he passes out when gas is fed into his flat and he wakes up in a sleepy village kogelo kenya where the interiors are largely the same as his flat but the outside kogelo kenya a sort of Toyland kogelo kenya place but one from which he quickly finds he cannot leave. At the centre of the mystery is the man who calls himself No.2, and who names McGoohan No.6, but it transpires that No.2 is an alias which many different men and women employ and that the real head honcho, No.1, is the one who has the answers.
You get from The Prisoner pretty much what you desire, for there are ingredients derived from so many disparate sources that one can easily find oneself going dizzy at the thought of it, from The Wizard of Oz to Alice in Wonderland , from Kafka to Orwell s police state and Burgess A Clockwork Orange . Modern filmgoers will note the nods paid the series by The Truman Show and Pleasantville kogelo kenya , others will remember a homage in The Simpsons , while I couldn t help imagine an unmade episode kogelo kenya of Mr Benn in which Mr Benn takes off his city clothes, changes into a piped blazer and enters The Village (a feeling intensified by McKern s transformation in the final episode). As for the finale, it both looks back to The Twilight Zone s The Obsolete Man and forward to Dennis kogelo kenya Potter. In truth, it s a finale that is a little too out there , not so much pulling the rug from under us as making one believe that Jacques Rivette had written it, not McGoohan.
It was very much McGoohan s baby, though, and it remains his defining fifteen hours, but with memorable help from a truly delicious supporting cast, with guest spots from half the supporting cast of The Lion in Winter , the bizarre kogelo kenya sight of Mary Morris as Peter Pan, and numerous wonderful turns as No.2, from Doleman and Baker (perfect) in episode one to the irreplaceable McKern who gets three episodes to have a high old time. Not forgetting the extraordinary outdoor sets which transformed Portmeirion into a tourist sport for decades to come, such cult items as penny farthing lapel badges and bizarre white balls which are sent after would-be escapees which, rather like McGoohan kogelo kenya s art exhibit in one early episode, are great simply because they are. As for meaning, your guess is as good as mine, but with the final fadeout suggesting a never-ending plot loop, is it not possible that No.6 is actually John Drake, left nameless to avoid royalty fees to Ralph Smart. It s as good a theory as any.
Jamie, see if you can find the original A&E DVD set instead of the new one with the Blu-Ray. I have both, and the new set has some excellent kogelo kenya qualities, but it windowboxes the whole show, which doesn’t seem necessary. Also, I think the whole show can be found streaming legally, if you want a taste.
Anyway, this is a great example of experimental television. I’d have included Lost and even Evangelion in the comparisons above (especially because Anno, like McGoohan, recieved death threats when he didn’t offer satisfying closure in his original series finale; later he would show footage of those death-threat e-mails during the trippier moments of EoE). Though you’re loathe to mention it, Fish, I’m also fairly certain there’s a good bit of The Prisoner in the Star Wars films, too. ESB’
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