Loved The Prisoner growing up, early '70s reruns. Took my daughter to ComicCon in Calgary back in '21 and a young lad was dressed as No. 6. He was just leaving as we entered and I said "Be seeing you." complete with hand gesture. He stopped, lit up and cried out "you're the first person to get it." He was despondent no one recognized his character, but I made his day.
I haven't seen The Prisoner yet (I think, though clearly knew of it, one influenced by it without watching it) but I would guess that it's kind of perfect that the first person to say anything was you saying that right as he *left* - in terms of metaphor! .... Everyone else was pretending not to notice him maybe 🤔.....
My Nephew Freddie and I went all Cosplayed up to a London Comic Con, he went as the 2nd Doctor and I went as a New Number 2. It wasn't until we got there I spotted the link, we were both Number 2, of course he got his picture taken and when I was asked if they could take mine I had to do a double take as this was the most comfortable Cosplay outfit I had ever worn, consequently I forgot I was wearing it. People started talking with me about the show, I have to admit I was surprised and it made for a really fun day. 👌
I knew Patrick he lived in the street behind mine and when he was at home there we used to have a drink in The Bell In at Hythe Kent, when he started the Prisoner we helped with the weather ballons that were towed behind his speedboat at Dymchurch, the Bell Inn was also linked to the story that Patrick did about the Scarecrow and the smugglers, l think there is still a secret tunnel under the pub running toward the sea. He was a large character just over 6 feet tall, a deep thinker but a very honest speaking man.
@@PeteOtton Loved all of his Colombo episodes. And he directed some as well. I was happy to have also seen him on stage as an 'agent' looking for sleeper spies in "Pack of Lies." On Broadway, with the lovely Rosemary Harris. I was a fan since "Secret Agent."
@@RichardHomolka I think it was the episode where Homer was "Mr. X". An internet muckraker who would make news up for clicks. One of the crazy stories he made up was true so he was sent to "the island" where he meets "The Prisoner". One of the best episodes in my mind.
I watched 'The Prisoner' for the first time this year. I'm a millennial baby - born 1988, so the Cold War is just history to me. You're dead right about the show feeling both ahead of its time and wholly 1967. Watching it today, I found a lot of parallels with the digital age. Not just government surveillance and data mining operations but the way social media encourages its own kind of conformity, whether it's through Instagram beauty standards or mass harassment to punish perceived wrongthink on Twitter.
I watched it as a 14-15 year old and now I can see the show was utterly prophetic, Video surveillance, thought conformity, credits, as now we are headed for a cashless society, it was always necessary viewing, I think the last episode was pretty weird. It was an amazing series even in it's day, I loved number 6's car, and I liked his electric door.!
@@robinhood2980 same here! It was one of the first shows on channel 4, when it started up. I actually rushed home from school to see C4 broadcast begin (if only I knew what neo-liberal, thought police-channelling bed wetters channel 4's executive would turn out to be, in the years following). When the trailer came on for what would be the first re-run of The Prisoner since 1967, I was all over it. Never missed an episode. Sorry, got a bit off track there. You're right about it being prophetic. And thought provoking (emphasis on "provoking"). Actually, I'd say that if I hadn't seen The Prisoner as a naive teenager, I would not have truly woken up to reality, from that time on, as I got older, and would possibly have missed the realization of the immense privilege it is to be alive at this time in history. The irony (or deliberate obfuscation by the admitting of the blatant, impalatable truth to a gullible public) of television being made up of things called "programmes" would have been lost on me, had I missed this gem of a series! Nothing can stop what's coming...
you are so right in your observation that "social media encourages its own kind of conformity" people have been given it so they can regulate them self's, it's like. . . OK this is me am I doing things the correct way, if not tell the world and I will conform to the accepted standards, and the best of it is people willing sign up to it, people think social media is giving them FREEDOM when it is actually tracking and monitoring them as well as changing them, the farcical debate about advertising and data is nothing but a whitewash, the data is used for controlling society and shaping how we are policed. . some freedom,
Hard to recapture, now, the strange spookiness of The Village with its hidden cameras and its self-opening doors. In 1967 those were truly futuristic. Now, CCTV is everywhere and last week I banged into a shop door because it *didn't* open for me. But still, it holds up.
That made me smile - because today I had to walk to the door control button to press it to open a door..... a door that also had 'PUSH' on it..... but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to.
I watched The Prisoner when it first aired in the U. S. around 1967-1968. I was only seven or eight then but it's stuck with me since as one of the most intriguing series ever.
I love Columbo as well, and Patrick is my favorite villain in the series. He was in Columbo *four* times as villain: An army colonel, a CIA operative, a corrupt lawyer and finally an undertaker. I think he made *all* his characters in Columbo use the phrase "Be Seeing You!" , actually. 😎
I saw it as a kid and thought it was cooler than "Mission Impossible" that my parents were hooked on. I also watched The Avengers, and The Champions. And now the whole world is "The Village". Also a Blake's 7 fan.
I was simply mad about The Avengers, loved The Champions too (someone just made a copy of that series for me) but The Prisoner deeply affected me like nothing else I ever saw on u.s. tv. I'm 70 now. I remember it vividly. Most unusual (other than The Outer Limits perhaps) show ever to air on prime time u.s. tv. Couldn't believe CBS was showing it. It was so...intelligent. Definitely way cooler than Mission Impossible.
My favourite all time series. Credit must go to the various No 2 actors who were all big stars in their own right. Fabulous stars who helped cement the brilliance of it all .
'The Truman show' was the proper updating of the concept heralding celebrity/ reality TV culture of 21st century. I have to say tho , I am at the time of life were if someone stuck me in Portmerion to read books and play chess all day for the rest of my life....I don't think I would be troubling the big rubber ball.
Portmeirion is not far from where I live and over the years have visited it a lot. I can confirm to any 'influencer'(whatever that means) that it has been there for a long time, therefore not a 'secret place' The Prisoner was a superb series because it was different. Great video and insight Mitch.
The fact that you englisch never ever use comma(tas?)was the reason why it took mw years to understand what Shine on you crazy diamond actually means. Even the englisch teacher from England told me that it does not make any sense, but then I dicovered Shine On you crazy diamond If only theyd put a comma after the On,Everything would have been so easy.
Patrick McGoohan was in 4 episodes of Colombo, in one of them (possibly Identity Crisis where he plays a rogue FBI agent) he says 'Be seeing you' to Colombo.
Yes, you have the episode correct. Mr. McGoohan also directed that episode, and early in the episode when he's walking through the amusement park, he's wearing a variation of his Prisoner outfit (a dark jacket with white trim).
One other aspect worth mentioning is that the series looks and sounds amazing. The art direction, the incidental music and the unique backdrop combine to create feast of stimulating TV.
When we visited Wales we hired a car to go visit Portmerion. Got into a minor car accident thanks to a truck coming around a bend on a matchbook sized A road. So we are the only people who couldn’t break INTO the Village.
Part of the beauty of The Prisoner's finale is that it not only refused to explain the rest of the series, but it instead made things even more weird and enigmatic than ever, a mike drop of surrealism.
I grew up on a farm way out in the country. We had tv, but it was not exactly dependable and sometimes we would be out doing something else when it was on. I may be wrong, but I think it was broadcast in an early time slot in the evening on Sundays. So we might have gone to town for some reason, be at the church, be out feeding the horses, or doing other farm chores. I saw maybe about half of the episodes. I was always waiting for the episode that explained what was going on, but every show left what we had already seen as being suspect.
I saw The Prisoner when it first aired in the USA. After the final episode I came to the conclusion that it was a psychological story and it was actually explained in the intro to every episode with this dialog: prisoner: “ Who are you?” Voice: “l am number 2.” p: “Who is number 1?” V: “You are, number 6.” Until the end, I thought the last line was “ You are number 6.” Amazing how much meaning can change simply by inserting a comma.
Wow, awesome video! I’m 29 and it’s so hard to find any coverage of this show. My dad and grandad loved it, and it was very interesting hearing about how big it was for them at the time it came out (even though my dad was just a teen himself). You raised some fantastic points! Thanks for giving it the coverage it deserves.
Very good...😊 Everyone will, undoubtedly, have their own stories and recollections of The Prisoner. This is mine. As a little kid, I used to watch it with my older brother and my dad. I was born in 1961, so that indicates how old I was. But, on a family holiday, my dad had obviously done his research and took us to The Village! I didn't have a clue where I was but enjoyed walking around this strangely familiar place. I kind of understood because dad explained it to us, but I remember feeling quite bewildered, knowing that that I was walking through a film set. I then, rediscovered years later, Channel 4 showing it again. I understood things a little more by then. Having seen the original broadcast Live, and visiting the Village, then understanding more about it, I was absolutely gobsmacked! I felt like this phenomenon was part of me, somehow? Over the years, I'm now 62, I've been back a few times. It never changes. It's exactly how I remember it all those years ago. Which is lovely. So many places change, over time. I'm connected to Village now and I have the utmost respect to what these magnificent people did there all those years ago. Patrick McGoohan, you were and are my hero ❤️ I heard that the producers of Coronation Street planned on making a second series of the show... It was shelved though. They had intended it be called The Rovers' Return 😅
I reads somewhere that there have been several different running orders of the show, and some people argue violently about which is the "correct" or "official" one. All I know is, when I taped it off PBS in the early 80s, they'd run it a particular way, and it makes ABSOLUTELY PERFECT sense that way. It breaks down into 3 "acts" of 7, 5 and 5 episodes. Act 1 is "normal", act 2 ends in tragedy, act 3 combines COMEDY and the wrap-up. Also, the last 3 episodes produced were done without Portmerion, and the final episode produced without McGoohan! But, that one was run IN THE EXACT MIDDLE. "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" answers the question "Why did you resign", but not in words. Leo McKerns' Number Two said IF he could get Six to answer that one question, which he didn't even care about the answer to, all the other answers would then follow. Which is the only reason Six refused to ever answer it. EXCEPT when he did... near the end of "Once Upon A Time", at which point McKern's Two had a nervous breakdown and could not understand the answer! "For peace." "What?" "For peace of mind." "WHAT??" "Because TOO MANY people KNOW too much!" If you saw the mind-swap episode, you know what he's referring to. (You had to see both episodes to "get" it.) Something else that got me... McGoohan wanted to do 7 episodes. If you watch the PBS order... the 7th episode is the one where HE ESCAPES. "Many Happy Returns" opens with the Village deserted. Six sets about escaping, and for nearly a half-hour, there's not a single word of dialogue. He makes it back to England, his apartment, he finds a nice middle-aged lady is living there, she helps him get a clean change of clothes, and sends him on his way. He goes back to his office, tells his story, and they decide to investigate. Flying in an airplane, eventually, he FINDS The Village... and his pilot hits the EJECT button, and he winds up parachuting down onto the beach. Devastated, he goes back to his apartment... when the door opens, and that nice lady in London turns out to be NUMBER TWO. She's carrying a birthday cake, and wishes him "MANY HAPPY RETURNS!" Geez, what a horrible, painful, slap-in-the-face that must have been. Imagine if the show had ENDED there. I think it was supposed to. Now, if you watch the PBS order... "Act 2" begins with... "Dance Of The Dead". In that one, Six is REALLY PISSED OFF. Why? See "Many Happy Returns". When asked a question by someone, he angrily yells, "I'M NEW HERE!!!!" Sure. But this is the beginning of his SECOND time being there, not his first. There were 3 female Number Twos, and all 3 of them were FAR MORE DEVIOUS than any of the men. And there's something downright sinister about Mary Morris's Two. Despite this, every time I'd watch her, I had the distinct feeling that, when she was younger, she must have been one hot number. Turns out I was right. Also, when she goes to the costume party, she's dressed as Peter Pan. Morris starred as Peter Pan on stage once, decades before that episode. "Act 2" ends with "Living In Harmony", the darkest episode in the run. I understand CBS in America refused to run it. So I first saw it on a UHF station about 5 years later. Alexis Kanner is in it, and goes insane by the end. He comes back in "Fall Out". Funny thing. "Fall Out" was filmed BEFORE "Living In Harmony".
THIS was my dad's and my show. I was allowed to stay up late on the nights it aired to watch with him after he got home from his late shift. I have the DVD boxed set and this really cool book of the script. I bought the comics sequel, which was not all that memorable. And I totally for got about the re-boot. Yeah, this show lives in my mind and has influenced my own art even when I'm not even conscious of it. Are we the Prisoner? Or are we the Man dutifully serving the Prisoner? Or are we the Village? I've always thought we were Rover; the dogged and die-hard audience demanding of our Prisoners and making sure they never go too far. Be Seeing You 👌
I first saw The Prisoner as a six-year-old in 1968 when it was imported to the United States. It captivated like no other show. As a young child, I could not comprehend everything that was unfolding before me, yet I was spellbound by it (and utterly terrified by Rover). Today, The Prisoner is, for me, the benchmark for all other dramas. It inspired me to become an actor and storyteller. Now, as the co-founder & co-owner of an entertainment production company, Adventurous Ideas, I hold our projects up to the standards of The Prisoner and ask myself, "Are our storylines as compelling? Are our characters as intriguing? Are we're taking our audience on a journey that is as unique?" I keep hoping that one day I will get a chance to visit Portmeirion. I'll be a guest at a comic con in Wales later this year. Perhaps I will be able to take a side trip and finally see the Village in person. Thank you so much for this spot-on analysis of my all-time favorite television drama. Great video. Blessings to you!
I was just ending primary school when it was on. It scared the living daylights out of me, particularly the pervasive atmosphere of hopelessness and powerlessness of No 6. Trapped. No escape. And no reasons given.
I discovered The Prisoner as a teen in the 80s (possibly around the 20 year anniversary) when PBS ran a marathon over a weekend. I wrote an essay about it in my high school English class. I wrote “I am not a number, I am a free man” on my locker over the number plate.
Yes you can certainly relate to how big brother is in control and we as people are not treated as individuals just reduced to numbers a collective ---- trouble is I think the "village " gives more freedom and more protection and respect to it to its people than we get these days . Really great visionary show brilliant .
Definitely one of those moments that melted its way into popular culture. Star Wars, Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy, Prisoner....... We owe so much to them yet they owe so much to us. I just feel blessed to have been and witnessed it at the time.
I watched both when they were first released. Survivors was dreadful. The working-class characters were all portrayed as conniving and thick. The idea of a post apocalyptic world where we would have to rely on the middle classes to save us was traumatic beyond words. Yuck. Did the writers have any idea how bad it was? I did think about that show, particularly the opening montage, when Covid started.
The Prisoner is a terrific, freewheeling, surreal self contained wonder. You, Mitch, are pretty much bang on in your analysis. It has been a good while since I have seen it, but it is a landmark show for the reasons you mentioned ( I absolutely love the fact it didn’t cop out at the end) and nothing has been anything like it before or since.. The last few episodes- the western one, and the trial in episode 16 and 17 are slightly incongruous and raise the surrealist bar by several notches. I understand why, now having heard this. You are still left, even at the end with doubts about his status, and about the whole things purpose and meaning. Which you are supposed to be. It really really is the lack of resolution that makes this so great. It’s a pretty perfect series, when concept , acting, scripting ( and even the “ new number 2) comes together. The location is just the star of the show, and the straw boater/ blazer/badge idea is like much of it, inspired. And a little mad. I love it. And your critique is absolutely correct, and brilliant.
@@mitchbennpatreon3997- hey, you mentioned Wayward Pines - well you need to see the most Prisoner-esque homage from the states, way before WP or Lost - Nowhere Man, from 1994, starring Bruce Greenwood (Pike from the recent Star Trek movies). It's about a war photographer who's identity is erased, he can't find anyone or any record of his existence, due to a photograph he took. Its kind of inverse to Prisoner - he's only 'imprisoned' occasionally, but by erasing his existence and putting him on the run, he's a prisoner of a different sort. The creator was a huge Prisoner fan and made it as an homage, lots of references. In one episode he joins up with a paramilitary group connected to the conspiracy, and they only use numbers - and he's #6. There's also an ep where he visits a secret town full of others like him that have been erased, which was a variation on The Village. There's a few eps that were clunkers, but you can watch it for free on TH-cam! Definitely check out the pilot at least, its really good! Great video by the way, huge Prisoner fan here.
Two shows I always enjoyed watching in the 70’s as a teenager in Toronto, The Prisoner, and The Avengers. And, of course, The New Avengers. After all, who wasn’t in love with Joanna Lumley back then? The prisoner (Number 6) was always trying to find out who was number 1, but never seemed to get beyond number 2. And, as I’m sure most guys know, it’s always a messy situation when you’re standing there waiting for number 1, and unexpectedly number 2 shows up!
In the late 1980s, as a young lad of about 17 (I think), me and a friend spent a week in North Wales walking about and camping. We'd watched some VHSs of The Prisoner and were fans by then, so we decided that we had to visit Portmeirion. But the entry price was costly and we didn't have much money with us. So we decided we would try to get ourselves INTO The Village. I remember we had to scramble up a small cliff, but we somehow did it. I do recall that it seemed like quite an 'ironic' thing to be doing.
I rewatch “The Prisoner” episodes quite often. Despite the Cold War setting, it feels just as fresh now as it did in 1967. The writing is so superior to 99% of everything now on television, that it’s a pleasure to watch, even if I know every word of dialogue and each scene by heart. The idea that they “didn’t explain” the ending isn’t really true. You just have to understand that you’re not going to get a standard explanation. But you can work it out. The Butler goes into Number Six’s house, and the door opens automatically, like the doors in the Village. That’s not exactly subtle…but I’ll leave you to work it out for yourselves, since “I will not be pushed, stamped, filed, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.”
I fortunate enough to see "The Prisoner" when it first aired ins the United States when I was still in High School. Unlike most of my peers I already knew who Patrick McGoohan was because I had already seen him as "Danger Chap", a series which had been aired in the US but which was regarded as somewhat outside the mainstream and a bit of an acquired taste. Oddly enough, "Danger Chap" was originally an American agent working for NATO out of Washington, DC, but who , after the first season, morphed into a British agent working out of London for some sort of "Ministry of Sneaky Bastards". The reason for that was that "Dr. No". the first James Bond movie, was released partway trough the first series so that, suddenly, British secret agents became a more marketable commodity than American ones. In any event I can definitely attest that, although it was not a big hit upon its initial release in the US in 1968, being into "The Prisoner" was a definite indication that one was "hip". All one had to do was say "Be seeing you" or "That would be telling" and people who were "hip" would get it.
Thank you for this, Mitch! I'm a huge fan of The Prisoner (and Patrick, of course), and watched it when it first aired on American tv. I had seen some episodes of Secret Agent Man, so for me it was apparent that Number 6 was Secret Agent Man. I loved your 6 reasons and the explanation for each one. In my view, you're spot on with all of them. Indeed, The Prisoner was very much lightning in a bottle and I doubt we'll see anything like it ever again.
Some of his early stuff is a bit dated now, but I can't think of Patrick Macgoohan in anything bad. He was great in lEscape from Alcatraz and Columbo, but The Prisoner is a timeless masterpiece. Brilliant.
nice summary. when i saw the ending, my interpretation was that we imprison ourselves out of fear of the consequences of doing otherwise. i think McGoohan said "freedom is a myth"
The Prisoner provided a great education in so many ways, I've watched it so many times since 1967 and can always find something relevant to today's world in it, it was a good education / preparation for the psyche. The inner Number Six was most usefully channelled when it came to the recent use of behavioural psychology / gas lighting of the entire population. There was also another interesting and somewhat sinister British series (only 8 episodes) along the lines of The Prisoner from Channel 4 back in 2007... Cape Wrath (also known as Meadowlands) which is well worth a watch for those who like The prisoner.
Always wanted to go to Portmeirion. Maybe I'll do it yet. Never knew the story about the real Rover. And yes, The Prisoner is the greatest TV show ever.
I lived nearby and it is superbly maintained. You can rent the cottages and conferences are held there. The hotel by the estuary is superb. I used to lunch there. GO you will not be disappointed, it has tremendous atmosphere.
According to Patrick McG when he pitched the idea of "The Prisoner" to Lew Grade, Grade replied "I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about. When can you start?"
I stayed in one of The Prisoner houses at PortMeirion a few years ago and loved getting the Prisoner vibe. Wonderful series and you are right ‘of it’s time and ahead of it’s time’
You are so very wrong about The Prisoner. It did tell us, near EVERY single episode! "Who is No.1? You are No.6!" But... "Who is No.1? You are, No.6!" Listen for the timely pause which is the comma in between... we are told but not everyone could see, nor hear it.
I remember watching The Prisoner when it first aired. I was about 5 years old, didn't understand a damned thing about what I was watching (other than that Patrick McGoohan had been "Secret Agent") but thinking that this had to be the coolest thing on TV and that I couldn't wait to be old enough to "get" what the show was really about. That, and every sign in The Village had its own little roof. I loved those little rooves.
A marvellous analysis thank you. I watched The Prisoner when living in Sheffield in 1967 and practically broke my neck each week to get home in time for the latest episode - it was freezing cold and speeding over icy roads could be as surreal as the series! An excellent digitally restored 35th Anniversary Special Edition dvd set was released, here in Australia, by Umbrella, around twenty years ago and it has heaps of extras like alternate endings, deleted scenes, rare footage and more. I plan to watch it all over again starting tomorrow and thank you again - for rekindling lots of wonderful memories! 👍🙏 from a new subscriber.
What was hilarious, I watched that story 3 times without realizing it was filmed in Portmerion. I was so into the story, that took place in Italy, that I somehow NEVER once thought, "Hey, they didn't actually GO to Italy, WHERE did they film this thing?" I found out reading the magazine. 😆
Excellent video Mitch 👍🏻 I adore The Prisoner, was in Poretmeirion the other day and the amount of people there make me think it’s definitely NOT a secret 😀😀😀
I watched it from the beginning, in the UK. Young and clueless enough to think it was a sequel to 'Danger Man' and that the lead character was John Drake. It was the episode in which elections were held and No 6 became (briefly) No 2 that started clueing me into the message. Hey, I was a few years late catching up with the 60s. But, yes, it was an amazing show whose ending still has me going 'What?'.
Just saw your follos up video, so i had to go see this one. Im 55 this year (we have met, briefly) and I've decided to give The Prisoner a go. Wasn't into it as a teen, but im on ep4 and loving it.
Great analysis! I watched the Prisoner when it first aired. I was about 10 years old and it both terrified and fascinated me. (I had nightmares about the Rover.) Even decades later, images and phrases from the series had remained with me. Thanks to DVDs I was finally able to rewatch the series as an adult. I was old enough then to appreciate the dense subtext, as well as McGoohan's mischievous sense of humor. He's still one of the most fascinating actors to watch, one of the few where I can see what's going on in his mind. The final two episodes are just brilliant.
Such a good video. Thanks Mitch. It has always been one of my favourite shows from way back when I was 19. Noted the Leo McKern reference too - didnt he shave his beard off in the last episode? And isn't there some truth in that some of the first and last episodes were actually filmed at the same time? Also remember early appearance of Alexis Kanner ( remember him?) and also I remember the lovely Justine Lord
Watched it the summer it was released in the States. Loved it. Loved McGoohan in it and tried to watch everything he was in after that, and older stuff. I felt the ending was pretty much perfect as it was. Of course, I was also a fan of the Man from UNCLE, The Avengers with Steed and Peel, and Laugh-In. So, I was also 15 and life was really inexplicable at that age.
The plot doesn't need explaining to people who cannot understand themselves! Only people who know themselves, will understand the meaning of The Prisoner.
It wasn't him being pursued by Rover that I remember most from my childhood. What gave me nightmares was when it caught him and stretched across his face as he screamed. Shiver.
I loved The Prisoner! ❤ The Avengers was a great show too. There's no way to duplicate the style, grace, intelligence and Mid-Century ambience of those iconic shows. Every time they try it's a dismal failure.
Very informative and succinct video here! One of my favorites. I'll forever be fascinated with Rover. Remember the first episode where a group is sitting before it like they were worshiping it. Weird stuff. Sticks in my brain, along with the nightmarish image of the suffocating face inside Rover. I've had nightmares like that before I ever saw the Prisoner. If you really like The Prisoner I highly recommend Nowhere Man (1995) one season 25 episodes, starring the great Bruce Greenwood as protagonist Tom Veil. Prisoner was a direct influence on Nowhere Man. There are homages and references as well. Among the differences is that Nowhere Man is very serious, there's no element of camp. The basic episodic setup has more in common with the rumored idea for Prisoner season 2, as mentioned in this video. And it's wonderful little time capsule of the 90s, likewise Prisoner, of the 60s. Both are among the finest that television has ever offered and that partly has to do with them being vitally important in expanding one's own mind, if one is so inclined.
It's not written in stone, but it's fairly obvious that the Prisoner is a spinoff from Patrick McGoohan's earlier series, Danger Man, Which he grew tired of, resigned from and conceived The Prisoner as a sequel to. I remember thinking (as a very young kid) that the village was where secret agents, who knew too much, were 'retired' to.
Funny thing is today we do have a number, even if we are not a number. Our phone number. Most people now will keep their phone number for life because it is a pain to lose it as it is connected to so much of your life.
I've heard a rumor over the years, that the way the series was made, you can watch 'Arrival', then any episodes you like, in any order, just so long as 'Fallout' is the last episode, and it will make just as much sense as you would watching them as listed. 😂
I believe the difference in the endings of the Prisoner and Lost is that every episode of Lost implied that that the world in which it operated had logical, truthful rules that needed only to be discovered. Lost, therefore, led us to believe that it could have a logical, truthful explanation. The reality is that the writers were relying on the "just write" principle and believed story would resolve itself. They were wrong. The Prisoner gave away no such intention. Indeed it went out of its way to show the audience that all involved were unreliable narrators and there was no ending that could ever be trusted. Number 6 was never on a truth quest, nor was it ever implied that he had any life to return to outside his identity as a spy. He didn't want to go "home" or solve a mystery; He just wanted out. That leaves three questions. What does "out" look like? Is "out" really any different than "in"? Could we ever trust any ending we see? I think the psychedelic ending is nearly flawless.
I think it must have been the early eighties, I was twelve or thirteen, when I first saw 'The Prisoner'. It was in that late night slot where the channel shut down directly after it, my mum wanted me to see it, so she let me stay up to watch it. I became fascinated by it and have loved it ever since. I got my son to watch it when he was a teenager and he loved it as well. I think the fact that it isn't explained accounts, in large part, for its continued popularity and relevance, you can interpret it how you want. As you mentioned, the two main people responsible for its existence saw it in two diametrically opposed ways. It's a work of genius.
This is one of the reasons why, at 82 yrs old, I do not possess a so-called smartphone and never use devices like contactless; they are just too Orwellian and put me in mind of goings on in The Prisoner, which I remember well. I AM NOT A NUMBER: I AM A FREE MAN!
I saw The Prisoner on a 70s or 80s re-run (I was a year old on its initial run) and fell in love with it. I have it on VHS & DVD. Your comparison to Wayward Pines is absolutely spot on - it tried SO hard to be weird but accessible, had a terrific central conceit, but the 2nd season just threw it all away. There's a graphic novel continuation of the original series which reunites McGoohan, McKern & Angelo Muscat's characters in a now deserted and decrepit Village with a couple of new faces for modern "relevance". I recommend it.
i loved the prisoner when it came out in 1967 i was 9 years old i wonder if they did a rerun of the original what younger generations would make of it.
Just a brilliant show, but I had to laugh out loud when Homer Simpson popped Rover with a plastic fork and McGoohan said he wished he'd thought of that.
I was too young to watch this in Australia in '67, and it didn't repeat in the 70's or 80's. I only know about it because my folks visited the UK in the 80's and they made a special trip to Wales just to find "The Village." Dad was so happy!
I don't remember ever watching this show but that scene where he gets flattened by that weather balloon has been in my mind/nightmares since I was a kid (born in 69). Incredible that it had such a strong impact.
The trick to recreating the magic of The Prisoner is to not try to recreate the magic of The Prisoner. More than anything else, The Prisoner was imaginative and full of enormous creativity. You can't do that by trying to emulate something. You can only do it by filling your show with as many new ideas as you can find and never settle for doing anything that has been done before. The next The Prisoner won't be anything like The Prisoner.
Nice video. Steely Dan has the same approach to reporters and fans who ask about the meaning of their song lyrics. In essence, these replies are saying: "Art doesn't TELL you what it is; it shows you. Then, you have to do some work yourself."
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Loved The Prisoner growing up, early '70s reruns. Took my daughter to ComicCon in Calgary back in '21 and a young lad was dressed as No. 6. He was just leaving as we entered and I said "Be seeing you." complete with hand gesture. He stopped, lit up and cried out "you're the first person to get it." He was despondent no one recognized his character, but I made his day.
That's awesome! I dressed up as the Ralph Feines version of the Avengers to go to the symphony. One person got it and it made my day.
I haven't seen The Prisoner yet (I think, though clearly knew of it, one influenced by it without watching it) but I would guess that it's kind of perfect that the first person to say anything was you saying that right as he *left* - in terms of metaphor! .... Everyone else was pretending not to notice him maybe 🤔.....
My Nephew Freddie and I went all Cosplayed up to a London Comic Con, he went as the 2nd Doctor and I went as a New Number 2.
It wasn't until we got there I spotted the link, we were both Number 2, of course he got his picture taken and when I was asked if they could take mine I had to do a double take as this was the most comfortable Cosplay outfit I had ever worn, consequently I forgot I was wearing it.
People started talking with me about the show, I have to admit I was surprised and it made for a really fun day.
👌
That sounds like a great time! I enjoyed The Prisoner in several years of 😊syndication.
Dang, I've wanted to be No. Six at a con for years now.
I knew Patrick he lived in the street behind mine and when he was at home there we used to have a drink in The Bell In at Hythe Kent, when he started the Prisoner we helped with the weather ballons that were towed behind his speedboat at Dymchurch, the Bell Inn was also linked to the story that Patrick did about the Scarecrow and the smugglers, l think there is still a secret tunnel under the pub running toward the sea. He was a large character just over 6 feet tall, a deep thinker but a very honest speaking man.
That’s an interesting insight, because he also played Dr Syn, who smuggled around Dungeness and Rye Marshes.
@@josephinebennington7247They are the same characters.
@@mootpointjones8488 Your moot point being?
@@josephinebennington7247 Dr Syn: Alias The Scarecrow is what CarlosAlberto-ii1li is referring to above.
It was a Disney movie, on U.S. tv ("Wonderful World of Disney") is was known as "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh." Set during the american revolution.
I'm so happy that Patrick McGoohan lived long enough and had the sense of humor to participate in The Simpsons' parody.
I'm disappointed that he did, given that "The Simpsons" is a creation of the very Deep State that "The Prisoner" warned about.
In one of his many appearances on Colombo, he played a spy and at least once said "Be seeing you."
@@PeteOtton Loved all of his Colombo episodes. And he directed some as well. I was happy to have also seen him on stage as an 'agent' looking for sleeper spies in "Pack of Lies." On Broadway, with the lovely Rosemary Harris. I was a fan since "Secret Agent."
What was the parody episode?
@@RichardHomolka I think it was the episode where Homer was "Mr. X". An internet muckraker who would make news up for clicks. One of the crazy stories he made up was true so he was sent to "the island" where he meets "The Prisoner". One of the best episodes in my mind.
I watched 'The Prisoner' for the first time this year. I'm a millennial baby - born 1988, so the Cold War is just history to me. You're dead right about the show feeling both ahead of its time and wholly 1967. Watching it today, I found a lot of parallels with the digital age. Not just government surveillance and data mining operations but the way social media encourages its own kind of conformity, whether it's through Instagram beauty standards or mass harassment to punish perceived wrongthink on Twitter.
I think its themes are big & broad enough to apply in any age
I watched it as a 14-15 year old and now I can see the show was utterly prophetic, Video surveillance, thought conformity, credits, as now we are headed for a cashless society, it was always necessary viewing, I think the last episode was pretty weird. It was an amazing series even in it's day, I loved number 6's car, and I liked his electric door.!
@@robinhood2980 same here! It was one of the first shows on channel 4, when it started up. I actually rushed home from school to see C4 broadcast begin (if only I knew what neo-liberal, thought police-channelling bed wetters channel 4's executive would turn out to be, in the years following). When the trailer came on for what would be the first re-run of The Prisoner since 1967, I was all over it. Never missed an episode. Sorry, got a bit off track there. You're right about it being prophetic. And thought provoking (emphasis on "provoking"). Actually, I'd say that if I hadn't seen The Prisoner as a naive teenager, I would not have truly woken up to reality, from that time on, as I got older, and would possibly have missed the realization of the immense privilege it is to be alive at this time in history. The irony (or deliberate obfuscation by the admitting of the blatant, impalatable truth to a gullible public) of television being made up of things called "programmes" would have been lost on me, had I missed this gem of a series! Nothing can stop what's coming...
you are so right in your observation that "social media encourages its own kind of conformity" people have been given it so they can regulate them self's, it's like. . . OK this is me am I doing things the correct way, if not tell the world and I will conform to the accepted standards, and the best of it is people willing sign up to it, people think social media is giving them FREEDOM when it is actually tracking and monitoring them as well as changing them, the farcical debate about advertising and data is nothing but a whitewash, the data is used for controlling society and shaping how we are policed. . some freedom,
@@robair67 Ey Ey! Remember those dodgy "red triangle" films? :)
Hard to recapture, now, the strange spookiness of The Village with its hidden cameras and its self-opening doors. In 1967 those were truly futuristic. Now, CCTV is everywhere and last week I banged into a shop door because it *didn't* open for me. But still, it holds up.
That made me smile - because today I had to walk to the door control button to press it to open a door..... a door that also had 'PUSH' on it..... but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to.
I imagine part of the spookyness is the fact that the Cold War was going on at the time.
I watched The Prisoner when it first aired in the U. S. around 1967-1968. I was only seven or eight then but it's stuck with me since as one of the most intriguing series ever.
Me too!
So you were Number 8?
Nice to know I wasn't the only one back then.
I was 12 when it aired...still don't trust balloons...
@@pirobot668beta Lol.
Patrick was a genius. I love how in one of the Columbos Patrick says “be seeing you”. I absolutely love this show
Also another phrase on Columbo & Prisoner (which began on his previous show Dangerman/Secret Agent): I’m obliged.
In another Columbo with Patrick McGoohan Peter Falk gets the last word which "It's your funeral".
@@daniledrake4137 Peter Falk was awesome as Columbo!
I love Columbo as well, and Patrick is my favorite villain in the series. He was in Columbo *four* times as villain: An army colonel, a CIA operative, a corrupt lawyer and finally an undertaker. I think he made *all* his characters in Columbo use the phrase "Be Seeing You!" , actually. 😎
I saw it as a kid and thought it was cooler than "Mission Impossible" that my parents were hooked on. I also watched The Avengers, and The Champions. And now the whole world is "The Village". Also a Blake's 7 fan.
Blake 7 one of my favorites
I was simply mad about The Avengers, loved The Champions too (someone just made a copy of that series for me) but The Prisoner deeply affected me like nothing else I ever saw on u.s. tv. I'm 70 now. I remember it vividly. Most unusual (other than The Outer Limits perhaps) show ever to air on prime time u.s. tv. Couldn't believe CBS was showing it. It was so...intelligent. Definitely way cooler than Mission Impossible.
My favourite all time series. Credit must go to the various No 2 actors who were all big stars in their own right. Fabulous stars who helped cement the brilliance of it all .
Leo Mckern and "She who must be obeyed."
'The Truman show' was the proper updating of the concept heralding celebrity/ reality TV culture of 21st century. I have to say tho , I am at the time of life were if someone stuck me in Portmerion to read books and play chess all day for the rest of my life....I don't think I would be troubling the big rubber ball.
The village is actually Portmeirion.
The Rubber Ball was a surplus Weather Balloon, kicking its heels on the beaches of Portmerion.
It would be perfect, I'd never want to leave.
...and Reason 7:
It's the only time that a man was filmed having a fist fight with a balloon.
_Comedy genius!_
And losing, every time.
Portmeirion is not far from where I live and over the years have visited it a lot. I can confirm to any 'influencer'(whatever that means) that it has been there for a long time, therefore not a 'secret place' The Prisoner was a superb series because it was different. Great video and insight Mitch.
“Who is Number One?”
“You are, Number Six.”
The power of the comma.
The fact that you englisch never ever use comma(tas?)was the reason why it took mw years to understand what
Shine on you crazy diamond actually means.
Even the englisch teacher from England told me that it does not make any sense,
but then I dicovered
Shine On
you crazy diamond
If only theyd put a comma after the On,Everything would have been so easy.
I like that.
PS, I can't read the other comment. 😞
I do not hear a pause (=comma) when I listen to the re-run.
@@josephinebennington7247 A pause would've been a bit of a giveaway.
@@SurlyInsomniac But Tommy is making an unfounded suggestion. Unless he’s seen the script.
Patrick McGoohan was in 4 episodes of Colombo, in one of them (possibly Identity Crisis where he plays a rogue FBI agent) he says 'Be seeing you' to Colombo.
Yes, you have the episode correct. Mr. McGoohan also directed that episode, and early in the episode when he's walking through the amusement park, he's wearing a variation of his Prisoner outfit (a dark jacket with white trim).
he also wins a panda in a shooting gallery in that episode and names it Archibald.
What a perfect sign-off: "Be seeing you"
Be seeing you👌👁️
B C N U
Even said it with a slight Irish twang
One other aspect worth mentioning is that the series looks and sounds amazing. The art direction, the incidental music and the unique backdrop combine to create feast of stimulating TV.
When we visited Wales we hired a car to go visit Portmerion. Got into a minor car accident thanks to a truck coming around a bend on a matchbook sized A road.
So we are the only people who couldn’t break INTO the Village.
I hope you were all okay, the irony is amusing though 😅
@@Evanz111 yes thanks. Googled public transport and found bus station 100 feet from accident. Called rental car place told where car was and escaped.
Part of the beauty of The Prisoner's finale is that it not only refused to explain the rest of the series, but it instead made things even more weird and enigmatic than ever, a mike drop of surrealism.
It was improvised
@@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491 As is life.
I grew up on a farm way out in the country. We had tv, but it was not exactly dependable and sometimes we would be out doing something else when it was on. I may be wrong, but I think it was broadcast in an early time slot in the evening on Sundays. So we might have gone to town for some reason, be at the church, be out feeding the horses, or doing other farm chores. I saw maybe about half of the episodes.
I was always waiting for the episode that explained what was going on, but every show left what we had already seen as being suspect.
Still my all-time favourite show. Enigmatic, surreal, intelligent and utterly engrossing.
@simoontempest8691 Absolutely!!
I saw The Prisoner when it first aired in the USA. After the final episode I came to the conclusion that it was a psychological story and it was actually explained in the intro to every episode with this dialog:
prisoner: “ Who are you?”
Voice: “l am number 2.”
p: “Who is number 1?”
V: “You are, number 6.”
Until the end, I thought the last line was “ You are number 6.”
Amazing how much meaning can change simply by inserting a comma.
Commas are pesky things! Thanks for noting this.
Wow, awesome video! I’m 29 and it’s so hard to find any coverage of this show. My dad and grandad loved it, and it was very interesting hearing about how big it was for them at the time it came out (even though my dad was just a teen himself). You raised some fantastic points! Thanks for giving it the coverage it deserves.
Very good...😊
Everyone will, undoubtedly, have their own stories and recollections of The Prisoner.
This is mine.
As a little kid, I used to watch it with my older brother and my dad.
I was born in 1961, so that indicates how old I was.
But, on a family holiday, my dad had obviously done his research and took us to The Village!
I didn't have a clue where I was but enjoyed walking around this strangely familiar place.
I kind of understood because dad explained it to us, but I remember feeling quite bewildered, knowing that that I was walking through a film set.
I then, rediscovered years later, Channel 4 showing it again.
I understood things a little more by then.
Having seen the original broadcast Live, and visiting the Village, then understanding more about it, I was absolutely gobsmacked!
I felt like this phenomenon was part of me, somehow?
Over the years, I'm now 62, I've been back a few times.
It never changes.
It's exactly how I remember it all those years ago.
Which is lovely.
So many places change, over time.
I'm connected to Village now and I have the utmost respect to what these magnificent people did there all those years ago.
Patrick McGoohan, you were and are my hero ❤️
I heard that the producers of Coronation Street planned on making a second series of the show...
It was shelved though.
They had intended it be called The Rovers' Return 😅
I reads somewhere that there have been several different running orders of the show, and some people argue violently about which is the "correct" or "official" one. All I know is, when I taped it off PBS in the early 80s, they'd run it a particular way, and it makes ABSOLUTELY PERFECT sense that way. It breaks down into 3 "acts" of 7, 5 and 5 episodes. Act 1 is "normal", act 2 ends in tragedy, act 3 combines COMEDY and the wrap-up. Also, the last 3 episodes produced were done without Portmerion, and the final episode produced without McGoohan! But, that one was run IN THE EXACT MIDDLE. "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" answers the question "Why did you resign", but not in words. Leo McKerns' Number Two said IF he could get Six to answer that one question, which he didn't even care about the answer to, all the other answers would then follow. Which is the only reason Six refused to ever answer it. EXCEPT when he did... near the end of "Once Upon A Time", at which point McKern's Two had a nervous breakdown and could not understand the answer! "For peace." "What?" "For peace of mind." "WHAT??" "Because TOO MANY people KNOW too much!" If you saw the mind-swap episode, you know what he's referring to. (You had to see both episodes to "get" it.)
Something else that got me... McGoohan wanted to do 7 episodes. If you watch the PBS order... the 7th episode is the one where HE ESCAPES. "Many Happy Returns" opens with the Village deserted. Six sets about escaping, and for nearly a half-hour, there's not a single word of dialogue. He makes it back to England, his apartment, he finds a nice middle-aged lady is living there, she helps him get a clean change of clothes, and sends him on his way. He goes back to his office, tells his story, and they decide to investigate. Flying in an airplane, eventually, he FINDS The Village... and his pilot hits the EJECT button, and he winds up parachuting down onto the beach. Devastated, he goes back to his apartment... when the door opens, and that nice lady in London turns out to be NUMBER TWO. She's carrying a birthday cake, and wishes him "MANY HAPPY RETURNS!" Geez, what a horrible, painful, slap-in-the-face that must have been. Imagine if the show had ENDED there. I think it was supposed to.
Now, if you watch the PBS order... "Act 2" begins with... "Dance Of The Dead". In that one, Six is REALLY PISSED OFF. Why? See "Many Happy Returns". When asked a question by someone, he angrily yells, "I'M NEW HERE!!!!" Sure. But this is the beginning of his SECOND time being there, not his first. There were 3 female Number Twos, and all 3 of them were FAR MORE DEVIOUS than any of the men. And there's something downright sinister about Mary Morris's Two. Despite this, every time I'd watch her, I had the distinct feeling that, when she was younger, she must have been one hot number. Turns out I was right. Also, when she goes to the costume party, she's dressed as Peter Pan. Morris starred as Peter Pan on stage once, decades before that episode.
"Act 2" ends with "Living In Harmony", the darkest episode in the run. I understand CBS in America refused to run it. So I first saw it on a UHF station about 5 years later. Alexis Kanner is in it, and goes insane by the end. He comes back in "Fall Out". Funny thing. "Fall Out" was filmed BEFORE "Living In Harmony".
THIS was my dad's and my show. I was allowed to stay up late on the nights it aired to watch with him after he got home from his late shift. I have the DVD boxed set and this really cool book of the script. I bought the comics sequel, which was not all that memorable. And I totally for got about the re-boot. Yeah, this show lives in my mind and has influenced my own art even when I'm not even conscious of it.
Are we the Prisoner? Or are we the Man dutifully serving the Prisoner? Or are we the Village? I've always thought we were Rover; the dogged and die-hard audience demanding of our Prisoners and making sure they never go too far.
Be Seeing You 👌
I first saw The Prisoner as a six-year-old in 1968 when it was imported to the United States. It captivated like no other show. As a young child, I could not comprehend everything that was unfolding before me, yet I was spellbound by it (and utterly terrified by Rover).
Today, The Prisoner is, for me, the benchmark for all other dramas. It inspired me to become an actor and storyteller. Now, as the co-founder & co-owner of an entertainment production company, Adventurous Ideas, I hold our projects up to the standards of The Prisoner and ask myself, "Are our storylines as compelling? Are our characters as intriguing? Are we're taking our audience on a journey that is as unique?"
I keep hoping that one day I will get a chance to visit Portmeirion. I'll be a guest at a comic con in Wales later this year. Perhaps I will be able to take a side trip and finally see the Village in person.
Thank you so much for this spot-on analysis of my all-time favorite television drama. Great video. Blessings to you!
I was just ending primary school when it was on. It scared the living daylights out of me, particularly the pervasive atmosphere of hopelessness and powerlessness of No 6. Trapped. No escape. And no reasons given.
Balloons...f*cking balloons...
I discovered The Prisoner as a teen in the 80s (possibly around the 20 year anniversary) when PBS ran a marathon over a weekend. I wrote an essay about it in my high school English class. I wrote “I am not a number, I am a free man” on my locker over the number plate.
Yes you can certainly relate to how big brother is in control and we as people are not treated as individuals just reduced to numbers a collective ---- trouble is I think the "village " gives more freedom and more protection and respect to it to its people than we get these days . Really great visionary show brilliant .
Definitely one of those moments that melted its way into popular culture. Star Wars, Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy, Prisoner....... We owe so much to them yet they owe so much to us. I just feel blessed to have been and witnessed it at the time.
Facinating it taught me stff I did not know , my first Favourite tv show is the BBc `s 1977 Survivors then the very close second THE Prisoner.
I watched both when they were first released. Survivors was dreadful. The working-class characters were all portrayed as conniving and thick. The idea of a post apocalyptic world where we would have to rely on the middle classes to save us was traumatic beyond words. Yuck. Did the writers have any idea how bad it was? I did think about that show, particularly the opening montage, when Covid started.
The Prisoner is a terrific, freewheeling, surreal self contained wonder. You, Mitch, are pretty much bang on in your analysis. It has been a good while since I have seen it, but it is a landmark show for the reasons you mentioned ( I absolutely love the fact it didn’t cop out at the end) and nothing has been anything like it before or since..
The last few episodes- the western one, and the trial in episode 16 and 17 are slightly incongruous and raise the surrealist bar by several notches. I understand why, now having heard this.
You are still left, even at the end with doubts about his status, and about the whole things purpose and meaning. Which you are supposed to be.
It really really is the lack of resolution that makes this so great.
It’s a pretty perfect series, when concept , acting, scripting ( and even the “ new number 2) comes together. The location is just the star of the show, and the straw boater/ blazer/badge idea is like much of it, inspired. And a little mad.
I love it. And your critique is absolutely correct, and brilliant.
Wow, thanks
@@mitchbennpatreon3997- hey, you mentioned Wayward Pines - well you need to see the most Prisoner-esque homage from the states, way before WP or Lost - Nowhere Man, from 1994, starring Bruce Greenwood (Pike from the recent Star Trek movies). It's about a war photographer who's identity is erased, he can't find anyone or any record of his existence, due to a photograph he took. Its kind of inverse to Prisoner - he's only 'imprisoned' occasionally, but by erasing his existence and putting him on the run, he's a prisoner of a different sort. The creator was a huge Prisoner fan and made it as an homage, lots of references. In one episode he joins up with a paramilitary group connected to the conspiracy, and they only use numbers - and he's #6. There's also an ep where he visits a secret town full of others like him that have been erased, which was a variation on The Village. There's a few eps that were clunkers, but you can watch it for free on TH-cam! Definitely check out the pilot at least, its really good! Great video by the way, huge Prisoner fan here.
Two shows I always enjoyed watching in the 70’s as a teenager in Toronto, The Prisoner, and The Avengers. And, of course, The New Avengers. After all, who wasn’t in love with Joanna Lumley back then? The prisoner (Number 6) was always trying to find out who was number 1, but never seemed to get beyond number 2. And, as I’m sure most guys know, it’s always a messy situation when you’re standing there waiting for number 1, and unexpectedly number 2 shows up!
In the late 1980s, as a young lad of about 17 (I think), me and a friend spent a week in North Wales walking about and camping.
We'd watched some VHSs of The Prisoner and were fans by then, so we decided that we had to visit Portmeirion.
But the entry price was costly and we didn't have much money with us.
So we decided we would try to get ourselves INTO The Village. I remember we had to scramble up a small cliff, but we somehow did it.
I do recall that it seemed like quite an 'ironic' thing to be doing.
I rewatch “The Prisoner” episodes quite often. Despite the Cold War setting, it feels just as fresh now as it did in 1967. The writing is so superior to 99% of everything now on television, that it’s a pleasure to watch, even if I know every word of dialogue and each scene by heart. The idea that they “didn’t explain” the ending isn’t really true. You just have to understand that you’re not going to get a standard explanation. But you can work it out. The Butler goes into Number Six’s house, and the door opens automatically, like the doors in the Village. That’s not exactly subtle…but I’ll leave you to work it out for yourselves, since “I will not be pushed, stamped, filed, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.”
It's fairly clear now - as our Western political class propels us inexorably to a Hot War - that the Cold War never really went away.
I fortunate enough to see "The Prisoner" when it first aired ins the United States when I was still in High School. Unlike most of my peers I already knew who Patrick McGoohan was because I had already seen him as "Danger Chap", a series which had been aired in the US but which was regarded as somewhat outside the mainstream and a bit of an acquired taste. Oddly enough, "Danger Chap" was originally an American agent working for NATO out of Washington, DC, but who , after the first season, morphed into a British agent working out of London for some sort of "Ministry of Sneaky Bastards". The reason for that was that "Dr. No". the first James Bond movie, was released partway trough the first series so that, suddenly, British secret agents became a more marketable commodity than American ones. In any event I can definitely attest that, although it was not a big hit upon its initial release in the US in 1968, being into "The Prisoner" was a definite indication that one was "hip". All one had to do was say "Be seeing you" or "That would be telling" and people who were "hip" would get it.
Danger Man / Secret Agent Man in the U.S. I'm not sure where you got "Danger Chap" from.
Brilliant show, a favourite of mine which I remember watching as a child, and have on DVD. Great commentary on it by MB!
Great video! Off to watch your second one now!! 😁👌🏼
Thank you for this, Mitch! I'm a huge fan of The Prisoner (and Patrick, of course), and watched it when it first aired on American tv. I had seen some episodes of Secret Agent Man, so for me it was apparent that Number 6 was Secret Agent Man. I loved your 6 reasons and the explanation for each one. In my view, you're spot on with all of them. Indeed, The Prisoner was very much lightning in a bottle and I doubt we'll see anything like it ever again.
Some of his early stuff is a bit dated now, but I can't think of Patrick Macgoohan in anything bad. He was great in lEscape from Alcatraz and Columbo, but The Prisoner is a timeless masterpiece. Brilliant.
As young kid I loved Danger Man and thought it was well cool.
Glad he said "be seeing you" I honestly thought it was going to be "like, share and subscribe"
nice summary. when i saw the ending, my interpretation was that we imprison ourselves out of fear of the consequences of doing otherwise. i think McGoohan said "freedom is a myth"
The Prisoner provided a great education in so many ways, I've watched it so many times since 1967 and can always find something relevant to today's world in it, it was a good education / preparation for the psyche. The inner Number Six was most usefully channelled when it came to the recent use of behavioural psychology / gas lighting of the entire population. There was also another interesting and somewhat sinister British series (only 8 episodes) along the lines of The Prisoner from Channel 4 back in 2007... Cape Wrath (also known as Meadowlands) which is well worth a watch for those who like The prisoner.
I salute you, sir. Fantastic comment. (A fellow number six)
Always wanted to go to Portmeirion. Maybe I'll do it yet. Never knew the story about the real Rover. And yes, The Prisoner is the greatest TV show ever.
It’s worth it
Visit Portmeirion - but stay at least one night. Then you have The Village to yourself when all the day visitors go home!
@@JJ1689ZA Yes, and don't forget to walk around the grounds, too.
I lived nearby and it is superbly maintained. You can rent the cottages and conferences are held there. The hotel by the estuary is superb. I used to lunch there. GO you will not be disappointed, it has tremendous atmosphere.
According to Patrick McG when he pitched the idea of "The Prisoner" to Lew Grade, Grade replied "I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about. When can you start?"
I stayed in one of The Prisoner houses at PortMeirion a few years ago and loved getting the Prisoner vibe. Wonderful series and you are right ‘of it’s time and ahead of it’s time’
So did I and we had dinner in the hotel then when we got back to the house you could request the prisoner on the TV. Very surreal 😮
You are so very wrong about The Prisoner. It did tell us, near EVERY single episode! "Who is No.1? You are No.6!" But... "Who is No.1? You are, No.6!" Listen for the timely pause which is the comma in between... we are told but not everyone could see, nor hear it.
That was when The Beeb was king, with every program having an economy of scripting, and equally a wide range of concept.
It wasn’t a BBC show; it was on ITV
@@mitchbennpatreon3997 I never knew that, so thanks. The point still stands, though, the Brits make the best TV and movies for scripting etc.
I remember watching The Prisoner when it first aired.
I was about 5 years old, didn't understand a damned thing about what I was watching (other than that Patrick McGoohan had been "Secret Agent") but thinking that this had to be the coolest thing on TV and that I couldn't wait to be old enough to "get" what the show was really about.
That, and every sign in The Village had its own little roof. I loved those little rooves.
A marvellous analysis thank you. I watched The Prisoner when living in Sheffield in 1967 and practically broke my neck each week to get home in time for the latest episode - it was freezing cold and speeding over icy roads could be as surreal as the series! An excellent digitally restored 35th Anniversary Special Edition dvd set was released, here in Australia, by Umbrella, around twenty years ago and it has heaps of extras like alternate endings, deleted scenes, rare footage and more. I plan to watch it all over again starting tomorrow and thank you again - for rekindling lots of wonderful memories! 👍🙏 from a new subscriber.
Also in 1976 there was a Doctor Who Story Called the Masque of Mandragora was filmed there
What was hilarious, I watched that story 3 times without realizing it was filmed in Portmerion. I was so into the story, that took place in Italy, that I somehow NEVER once thought, "Hey, they didn't actually GO to Italy, WHERE did they film this thing?" I found out reading the magazine. 😆
In my opinion the best TV series ever made.
OMG I found the secret TH-camr about the secret village!
...
Loved this series, “I am not a number “!
777 maybe 😏😏
Excellent video Mitch 👍🏻 I adore The Prisoner, was in Poretmeirion the other day and the amount of people there make me think it’s definitely NOT a secret 😀😀😀
I watched it from the beginning, in the UK.
Young and clueless enough to think it was a sequel to 'Danger Man' and that the lead character was John Drake.
It was the episode in which elections were held and No 6 became (briefly) No 2 that started clueing me into the message.
Hey, I was a few years late catching up with the 60s.
But, yes, it was an amazing show whose ending still has me going 'What?'.
Excellent analysis. Thanks.
I've wondered if David Lynch and Mark Frost of Twin Peaks watched The Prisoner.
Good summary, very good, factual and, which is important, didn’t attempt any interpretation.
Came for the Iron Maiden/Clangers mashup and Gilbert & Sullivan's Dracula, but this video is what causes me to realize this channel is great.
What a great summary of the show! Congratulatons! I hope people will share this video.
I could really see the series continuing, if written by Steven Moffat, of Dr who fame.
I watched Secret Agent Man and The Prisoner... And Loved it!! 💋💖💖💖💖😻🌵👵🐺🖖
I'm 72! I watched it when it was new! 😎😎🌵👵🐺🖖
It was a GREAT show, that's for sure! The scene with All You Need is Love still haunts me.
WORST TV series ever--Patrick McGoohan was only good as a villain in the Columbo tv movies and Silver Streak(1977)
Very interesting points, and I agree fully.
I have a short video on my channel with Patrick talking about The Prisoner.
Just saw your follos up video, so i had to go see this one. Im 55 this year (we have met, briefly) and I've decided to give The Prisoner a go. Wasn't into it as a teen, but im on ep4 and loving it.
In "Babylon 5" Bester always said "Be seeing you" with the hand (6) gesture over his eye.
That episode where its a western... amazing. The original Gainax ending. Oh yes, the Prisoner is an all-time classic for any era.
Great analysis! I watched the Prisoner when it first aired. I was about 10 years old and it both terrified and fascinated me. (I had nightmares about the Rover.) Even decades later, images and phrases from the series had remained with me. Thanks to DVDs I was finally able to rewatch the series as an adult. I was old enough then to appreciate the dense subtext, as well as McGoohan's mischievous sense of humor. He's still one of the most fascinating actors to watch, one of the few where I can see what's going on in his mind. The final two episodes are just brilliant.
Such a good video. Thanks Mitch. It has always been one of my favourite shows from way back when I was 19. Noted the Leo McKern reference too - didnt he shave his beard off in the last episode? And isn't there some truth in that some of the first and last episodes were actually filmed at the same time? Also remember early appearance of Alexis Kanner ( remember him?) and also I remember the lovely Justine Lord
Who?
great serie.....but the ending was really poor
Watched it the summer it was released in the States. Loved it. Loved McGoohan in it and tried to watch everything he was in after that, and older stuff. I felt the ending was pretty much perfect as it was. Of course, I was also a fan of the Man from UNCLE, The Avengers with Steed and Peel, and Laugh-In. So, I was also 15 and life was really inexplicable at that age.
I would of liked to see the compleat Jack Kirby comic of this show, I have only ever seen some copies of the pencil art (looks amazing).
When the plot is never explained….we too are The Prisoner…
The plot doesn't need explaining to people who cannot understand themselves! Only people who know themselves, will understand the meaning of The Prisoner.
It wasn't him being pursued by Rover that I remember most from my childhood. What gave me nightmares was when it caught him and stretched across his face as he screamed. Shiver.
It's about control, think your wrong pal
I loved The Prisoner! ❤
The Avengers was a great show too.
There's no way to duplicate the style, grace, intelligence and Mid-Century ambience of those iconic shows. Every time they try it's a dismal failure.
Very informative and succinct video here! One of my favorites. I'll forever be fascinated with Rover. Remember the first episode where a group is sitting before it like they were worshiping it. Weird stuff. Sticks in my brain, along with the nightmarish image of the suffocating face inside Rover. I've had nightmares like that before I ever saw the Prisoner.
If you really like The Prisoner I highly recommend Nowhere Man (1995) one season 25 episodes, starring the great Bruce Greenwood as protagonist Tom Veil. Prisoner was a direct influence on Nowhere Man. There are homages and references as well. Among the differences is that Nowhere Man is very serious, there's no element of camp. The basic episodic setup has more in common with the rumored idea for Prisoner season 2, as mentioned in this video. And it's wonderful little time capsule of the 90s, likewise Prisoner, of the 60s. Both are among the finest that television has ever offered and that partly has to do with them being vitally important in expanding one's own mind, if one is so inclined.
I loved the Prisoner so much that I took a trip to Wales with my wife. I had to visit The Village, and she had to visit all the woolen mills.
I had a penny farthing (bicycle) stick pin and wore it proudly for years. It was interesting to see who "got" it.
It's not written in stone, but it's fairly obvious that the Prisoner is a spinoff from Patrick McGoohan's earlier series, Danger Man, Which he grew tired of, resigned from and conceived The Prisoner as a sequel to. I remember thinking (as a very young kid) that the village was where secret agents, who knew too much, were 'retired' to.
The why and wherefores of Rover is provided by Patrick in this interview "Was The Village The First 15 Minute City? | The Prisoner Puzzle" on TH-cam"
Algo popped that the other day, been meaning to watch it. Budget and feasibility iirc from forever ago.
I'm not a number, I'm a free man.
Funny thing is today we do have a number, even if we are not a number. Our phone number. Most people now will keep their phone number for life because it is a pain to lose it as it is connected to so much of your life.
Bahahaha
I call the apartment complex I live in Port Merion, no one gets it.
Be seeing you...
I've heard a rumor over the years, that the way the series was made, you can watch 'Arrival', then any episodes you like, in any order, just so long as 'Fallout' is the last episode, and it will make just as much sense as you would watching them as listed. 😂
Need to watch Arrival then any other order but finishing with Once Upon A Time then Fallout as a conclusion ....
On of the best shows ever IMO. I've seen both and like you said the remake tried. Be seeing you.
I believe the difference in the endings of the Prisoner and Lost is that every episode of Lost implied that that the world in which it operated had logical, truthful rules that needed only to be discovered. Lost, therefore, led us to believe that it could have a logical, truthful explanation.
The reality is that the writers were relying on the "just write" principle and believed story would resolve itself. They were wrong.
The Prisoner gave away no such intention. Indeed it went out of its way to show the audience that all involved were unreliable narrators and there was no ending that could ever be trusted.
Number 6 was never on a truth quest, nor was it ever implied that he had any life to return to outside his identity as a spy. He didn't want to go "home" or solve a mystery; He just wanted out.
That leaves three questions. What does "out" look like? Is "out" really any different than "in"? Could we ever trust any ending we see?
I think the psychedelic ending is nearly flawless.
I think it must have been the early eighties, I was twelve or thirteen, when I first saw 'The Prisoner'. It was in that late night slot where the channel shut down directly after it, my mum wanted me to see it, so she let me stay up to watch it. I became fascinated by it and have loved it ever since. I got my son to watch it when he was a teenager and he loved it as well. I think the fact that it isn't explained accounts, in large part, for its continued popularity and relevance, you can interpret it how you want. As you mentioned, the two main people responsible for its existence saw it in two diametrically opposed ways. It's a work of genius.
I'm from N Wales and I love the show. I feel we are actually living in it right now with Google being Rover, our mobiles are watching our moves.
This is one of the reasons why, at 82 yrs old, I do not possess a so-called smartphone and never use devices like contactless; they are just too Orwellian and put me in mind of goings on in The Prisoner, which I remember well. I AM NOT A NUMBER: I AM A FREE MAN!
I saw The Prisoner on a 70s or 80s re-run (I was a year old on its initial run) and fell in love with it. I have it on VHS & DVD. Your comparison to Wayward Pines is absolutely spot on - it tried SO hard to be weird but accessible, had a terrific central conceit, but the 2nd season just threw it all away.
There's a graphic novel continuation of the original series which reunites McGoohan, McKern & Angelo Muscat's characters in a now deserted and decrepit Village with a couple of new faces for modern "relevance". I recommend it.
i loved the prisoner when it came out in 1967 i was 9 years old i wonder if they did a rerun of the original what younger generations would make of it.
Just a brilliant show, but I had to laugh out loud when Homer Simpson popped Rover with a plastic fork and McGoohan said he wished he'd thought of that.
The Prisoner is simply the Best TV series. Be seeing you!
I was too young to watch this in Australia in '67, and it didn't repeat in the 70's or 80's. I only know about it because my folks visited the UK in the 80's and they made a special trip to Wales just to find "The Village." Dad was so happy!
thank you for not making fun of our inability to grasp object permanence.
I don't remember ever watching this show but that scene where he gets flattened by that weather balloon has been in my mind/nightmares since I was a kid (born in 69). Incredible that it had such a strong impact.
The show was a contrived bore.
Please do more on the Prisoner! I loved this show. It was mind blowing to my 14 year old brain when it first aired on PBS.
Enjoyed your video a lot! Well done!
The trick to recreating the magic of The Prisoner is to not try to recreate the magic of The Prisoner. More than anything else, The Prisoner was imaginative and full of enormous creativity. You can't do that by trying to emulate something. You can only do it by filling your show with as many new ideas as you can find and never settle for doing anything that has been done before. The next The Prisoner won't be anything like The Prisoner.
Nice video. Steely Dan has the same approach to reporters and fans who ask about the meaning of their song lyrics. In essence, these replies are saying: "Art doesn't TELL you what it is; it shows you. Then, you have to do some work yourself."