I feel so blessed that in my lifetime Lew Grade saw fit to listen to Patrick McGoohan, who was becoming tired of his role in Danger Man (Secret Agent for US viewers), and give Patrick the complete freedom to do whatever he wanted as a new series. That freedom resulted in this iconic and legendary series. The Prisoner was far ahead of its time, iconic, and brilliant in every way.
I've always been in the group that thought he was playing the same character in the Prisoner as he was in Secret Agent and he had been captured by the enemy and they whole setup was them attempting to brainwash him into being a double agent..
15 of them were amazing, 1 was a Goohan experiment that didn't quite land and one was a script that was rejected for The Avengers so they made it on the quick and cheap and it showed. But at it's best, there was nothing like it.
I can still remember taking tests with multiple choice, and you needed to darken in tiny ovals with only a # 2 pencil ✏️ so the test score reader could automatically tally your test paper and score. Those old analog computers that were hardwired, long before even a 8 bit processor or a 16 bit 286 processor.
This drama is a legendary show for me. It was broadcast only once in Japan, so at the time I could not record it, I was never able to know the detailed episodes again. I am very happy to be able to watch it now.
If this was made today, you would think that it is right on message for today. But when you realize that the series was made back in 1966 (I know it was aired in the UK in 67, but it was shot in 66), you have to admire the vision of McGoohan. This is what raises the best from the rest. They can see beyond what is, they can see what could be. Brilliant.
It was first seen in America in 1968 on CBS as a summer replacement for, of all things,Jackie Gleason. In the U.S., "The Prisoner" was popular enough that the entire series was rerun by CBS the next summer.
Or showing, what is to become! Vietnam was happening or just about. Woodstock & that Freedom was a diversion. Charlie Manson put an end to ☮️ as did shocker Alice Cooper. This Show, reminds me of the , Bilderberg Group; that Alex Jones; exposed! Missing children's mass burial grounds must be on that property! The movie is, more Reality, than anyone could imagine! 🐸 Has many videos, exposing this Dastardly Underworld! The Fall Of The Cabal & The Royal Family, to start! Imagine, being anyone, of those children! 🚫👶🧬💉✓
The interesting part is that this was supposed to have been the sequel series to “Secret Agent”, and I believe that in both series it’s the same character, oh FYI he was American and lived in Queens NY,….Patrick Joseph McGoohan was a British-Irish-American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born in the U.S. to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and England. He began his career in England in the 1950s and moved back to the U.S. in the 1970s. Wikipedia Born: March 19, 1928, Astoria, New York, NY Died: January 13, 2009, Providence Saint John's Health Center - Santa Monica Emergency Room, Santa Monica, CA Height: 6′ 2″ Spouse: Joan Drummond McGoohan (m. 1951-2009) Children: Catherine McGoohan, Frances McGoohan, Anne McGoohan
This was notice to the free world what was in store for them. They had just perfected their securities scheme in 1968 and implemented "legal' in 1969 in the free world. You no longer held your property in allodial, only by entitlement. So by now everyone held an entitlement certificate called a birth certificate, and if you did not redeem it for your birthright security, you only had use of your property for a public purpose and had to pay the extortion fees to keep it. This is what the series is really about. YOU are the secret agent that must resign from the public. When he did this each agency of the government tested him. That is what we find in the last episode, he passes and is recognized as a sovereign man, but then everything goes crazy as they leave the village to return to England.
I loved this show since the 60s. I was a teen and really enjoyed seeing TV written that good. It always puzzled me when they cancelled it because "Nobody understood it.". Watching "them" trying to break his will, and the psychological methods they used in an attempt to test his loyalties, is still some of the most mind-bending TV one could ever see.
It wasn't cancelled. It had reached the end of what Patrick McGoohan wanted to say, and so it ended. Some of the people working with him wanted to continue, but he would not agree.
@@catrionam.mackirnan6646 Well, I remember the announcement in 1968, it was cancelled, there may be stories to the contrary, but the news at the time was that ITV and CBS both cancelled it due to lagging viewership. It was acclaimed in its own time, but TV audiences in the 60s just did not understand it. I was the only kid in my high school that watched it, others said they could not get into it. They liked "The Man From U.N.C.LE." and "The Avengers", but "The Prisoner" was just too psychological more most of them. It should not surprise that the network that was showing "Lost in Space" and "Gilligan's Island" found "The Prisoner" out of place. "The Prisoner" really made it's mark a few years later when PBS picked it up on Sunday Nights. It fit in well with Masterpiece and Mystery, and was a big hit in the 70s.
This was a really incredible show. Was decades ahead of its time. Patrick McGoohan was the creative force behind this series. He understood how mass media was being used to form our outlook, he didn't let his children watch the telly. Very smart man. We will miss you Patrick!!!😘🤗
@@pleasantvalleypickerca7681 Yes its clearly a unique series that we will never see any thing like again. I still recall the awful remake that failed terribly.
When I was a young child. One night... I snuck into the living room while my parents were asleep and turned on the tv. We were not allowed to watch tv as kids in my house. The prisoner is what came on the screen. I had never experienced anything like this. I was confused and entranced. For years I had never heard or seen again of it and became convinced it was a dream. True story...
OMG! I had a very similar experience. I think it was literally when a Simpson’s episode had the giant white ball at sea that I realized it was real and not a dream!
Similar experience as a young lad, what struck me most about it at the time was that they were a fan of using knockout gas on him quite a lot to keep him under control. Now (as an adult) it seems like such a minor plot point.
@@thevintagehifiambassador8524 ...... I am the Vintage Hifi Emissary !! Sir, we are in Competion for the Same Audience ...and I challenge you to a Hifi Knowledge Face Off at High Noon !! Winner Take Nothing . Still running HARMON KARDON CITATION.
I just noticed after all these years, after he resigns and he is in his flat packing for his dream vacation or dream retirement destination, the pamphlets he packs are ironically all of a beautiful island, then he is kidnapped and exiled to a beautiful island as a PRISONER. What a brilliant series, way ahead of its time, I remember it fondly. RIP Patrick McGoohan.
@Giovanni Pincoletti the show was ahead of it's time. Most shows and films still can't tackle this subject with integrity. I don't think it's about the show not being popular, which many of us would have no idea if it was or not, but more that compared to other shows and films of the time and since, nothing compares.
It was ahead of his time, in the sense that only a few people really understood it then. Who would think that John Drake ( of Danger Man ) had resigned, then turned into Number Six, just to learn that he was number One in the end??
@@menacelurkingyet8345 Good thought, or perhaps that’s why he was kidnapped to the island, instead of the ski resort, dessert, urban art gallery, or other destination
I’m a big fan. I can literally recite the dialogue, I watched it countless time...Sad thing now, is it really does portray the life we live in today with the restrictions we have. ‘We are all pawns ma dear!!’
I just struck me now, after all these years, that the Village 'announcer' might be Fenella Fielding, but the end credits did not have a listing. And so it turns out to be! She recalled, 'It was only a few hours work and Patrick said 'don't make it too sexy' ' !
@@mikehudson8884 I agree, Mike, it was brilliantly done ! Without one word spoken, just a few written hints and excellent acting, one was immediately put in the picture - they made good television in those days, without a doubt. Look at what is produced nowadays....! 😵
Nobody ever gives props to the theme music. Pity -- it's brilliant, perfect, instantly recognizable. There's one Simpson's episode that references The Prisoner, complete with the theme music. Wonder how many people even recognize it?
I remember seeing this very first episode of The Prisoner in 1988, when I was only 20 years old. I just wanted to be exactly like him. I just loved his mimicks, his sniffles, his accent and the way he stared at you with such a blue ironed viril look in his eyes. He had such an impact over my life. No matter how creative and ingenious he was, throughout his whole entire career, Sir Patrick McGoohan was a well renowned theatrical actor, from the Actors Studios, but he could be yet very enigmatic and mystical, in some form of ways. For this legendary monument had styled, class, character and he also had the looks of a promising artist who grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, back in the heydays of his youth, during the Depression era. He was so cool! and he set a real male pattern example to me, as an adolescent growing up in the 1980s. He had such a controversial persona mixed with charisma and yet he was an underrated individual, especially during his Hollywood period with Peter Falk and the Columbos series. Hence, He was a scholar and a gentleman. Tribute to Sir Patrick McGoohan! Thanks for the memories!👍💖🌹Johnny from Montreal, Canada.
He had irish background, but was born in Queens, NYC. He was not Sir, but that's no problem. He had a very distrinctive voice. Love the series, of course!
The balloon show! I remember this as a child. I only remember frustration and a constant sort of claustrophobia when I watched it. It is a profound psychological dystopian deep dive for a TV series.
This is the most innovative and most unusual show I ever seen. I like the way how it was set up. A prison disguised as a village. Patrick Magoohan dominates the whole series. The way he carries himself,the way he thinks, he's not a man to be played with. If he's not trying to find a way out, he's plotting against his captors. That's what I find interesting.
In New Zealand this series was shown in black and white as we didn't have colour for years to come. So to watch this now in colour it is surprising to see that the photography is of a quality and standard on a par with any 21st century production. Impressive.
I just wanted to say hello to a Kiwi from the United States. My best wishes for you, and I'm absolutely being sincere. Quite an amazing time to live in.
In America as a kid my parents didn't get a color TV until really late in the game I think sometime around 1979 ... so I never saw it as a color show back when it first came out when I was a kid .
@@fifthof9501 I See . Thanks. So my black face and African name means I am on the public dole. I get it now. It;s amazing (Not directed at you ) How hatful people are. Even when sharing memories of a great, dare I say profond show, instead of rising to the level of sophisticated thought that the discussion would call for they opt for slander of people they know nothing of. These are sad times indeed. Thanks for clearing that up. Peace..
@@jakuho4984 The Lotus Super 7 was the ultimate "rebel" car. To avoid some new British car tax, you had to buy this car, unassembled and build it yourself. To avoid the tax, there could not be an assembly manual (somebody did publish a "disassembly" manual... which you could read backwards). McGoohan puts his card into the slot to open the parking garage gate, and then drives under it before it opens. Lots more meaning in this opening than I can remember from my college english teacher.
von sauerkraut Maybe but I think he created a role that he seemed to have a love/ hate vibe with and maybe his contract with -§The Professionals - didn’t allow him time or even to accept the role...
In the US, I recall when CBS aired this as a Summer series in the 1960s when I was a kid. My Mom and I found it captivating. What made this TV series unique when first-aired in the US: It ran in the Summer months; an era when network TV shows were usually reruns during the Summers; so there was a freshness to this limited series.
I was about 10 or 12 1975 or 1977 in school some how are teacher had this whole show we watched it was awesome and I think I do not know for sure if we were tested on it laiter with qs on paper for an assignment
Their is a modern verson of this series as well that very good (and actually has an end) It stars that very religious/pro fredom actor who played Jesus in the "Pasion of the Christ" ..
J'ai 61 ans et je vis avec cette série depuis sa diffusion en Belgique dans les années '60... C'est dire que Patrick McGoohan est une référence pour moi, à tous points de vue. Le temps a un peu émoussé mes émotions, mais l'ambiance est toujours là.
This was a wonderful series and I remember watching when it was first released in the summer of '67 I think. I didn't fathom the many symbolisms at the time and only when it played on PBS with a sociologist commentator did I realize it was more than just a quirky TV show. A classic for sure.
You know, that balloon watchdog is still very convincing and kind of scary. They used to show this and The Avengers(Diana Rigg ones) back to back when I was a kid. My favorite two hours of TV.
That thing (Rover) scared the bejeebus out of me when I was a kid. I read that initially it was going to be some sort of hovering robot craft type of thing.
@@melaniec1074 Same, I remember watching it back in the early seventies along with The Avengers. Colour TV wasn't mainstream back then and I originally saw them in B&W.
(Logan-5) Dear Stephen Willetts: Hello! I'm going on 64. I didn't understand it when I was watching it when I was younger, but now I think that it is totally "COOL" !! What's happening with Patrick McGoohan's character is that he probably belonged to British Intelligence and in the lead in when he's talking to that man at the desk and pounds an envelope down and leaves, he's probably resigned. When he drives to his flat (apartment in Britain) and starts packing to leave, that gentleman in the limo comes up and injects "knock out gas" in through the keyhole. Patrick's character wakes up in "The Village". They're keeping him there until he tells them why he resigned, and he totally refuses to tell them. That's the series in a nutshell! I hope that helped! Please don't think that I am talking down to you! Take care and Stay Safe !!
@@signal2noize (Logan-5) Dear Signal. I totally understood what Stephen was saying😧! I was giving him a simple explanation of the main plot of the entire series!! I don't know where you got the idea that I was "Trolling" ! If I understand the term correctly, that I was trying to start an argument with Stephen!! I think that you misunderstood my message to Stephen! I don't appreciate being accused of something that I was not doing in the first place 😧!! Okay? See you on down the road 😐!
@@dannyrand1733 We should have seen this day coming. And it should scare us. We think we only give those companies breadcrumbs... But they have learned to reconstruct the entire bakery from the crumbs we gave them.
Ahh yes, but is google watching us? Who is to say? The camera and mike may be on but no indication....................... lol Paranoid much but love the irony of your comment.
I remember watching "The Prisoner" when it first came out. I got scared every time that a "prisoner" disobeyed the authorities and he had to face the gigantic white balloon that suffocated him because it was as tall and wide as the man was. Several prisoners died. Each prisoner was assigned a number instead of a name. None of the prisoners was allowed to have a name. Patrick McGoohan's character's number was 6. It was a fascinating show! Big Brother had definitely taken over in this show. I was only 9 years old in 1966 when this episode was broadcast.
I remember watching this outstanding & prolific show, & now im highly shocked & slightly distured by this TV series futuristic concepts in comparison to today's as was conceptualized from that time era, here's some examples; robotics. mobile phones. artificial intelligences such as the rover security bubble. 24/7 visual & sound privacy violations via sound mic & cam violations on your privacy, because lets face it, while living in the village your constantly being watched & heard 24/7, even while taking a natural dump in the bathrom toilet in the comforts of your own home. instant service for whatever you want or need even before you can think of it. hell its virtually a SECURITY STATE 4 x spies to be imprisoned in, & they all there seems to live a HELLA much better life with loads of prestige than your avg joe/Jane, that's working 3 jobs just to meagerly survive from, but with their FREEDOMS that I can only think of, except one catch, the villagers there LOSS ALL THERE G.o.D given FREEDOMS, & I don't care how well there living there, Uc those people are still RESTRICTED to only that resort town, & with no outside communications just local, & with no where else to go to hear from the outside, but being stuck in highly pleasant HELL 24/7 to live & die in it seems. But all In all, this was very fascinating series for its time & is still a international TV legend imo. 👍⭕
An icon show from a icon actor. Patrick McGoohan. Brilliant human being. Nobody can do better than this type of TV show. I do have this show on dvd and have both soundtracks from this show (from 976-CREOLEMAN).
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, de-briefed, or numbered"! Any of us have any hope of living like that now? Sadly we are all numbers in someones data base now.
I saw Dark, Fringe, Chernobyl, Sherlock and other great shows, but this still somehow stands out for me. I'm watching it probably for the 10th time. The setting, soundtrack, ideas and overall mood are just special. Kafka, Orwell and Flemming in one package. It has some plot development inconsistencies and production glitches, but nothing is perfect.
One of the best Science Fiction series ever produced in Britain - visionary to a degree I bet none of the producers even dreamt of, or had nightmares about in those days. This was the next stage of "1984", which has evolved into the "Big Brother" we have today. Great series, I loved it from the first episode and thanks for uploading it ! Oh, that "Bubble Chair" number 2 sat in was all the rage in those days - as were the mini cars they used as taxis ! Everybody wanted one but I never knew anybody that ever did.
At some point I'll get one. After years -- decades! -- of wanting a lava-lamp, I finally gave in and got one. Works perfectly -- very hypnotic & relaxing. Highly recommended. (They're on Amazon. No, I do not get a commission.)
I was between 7 and 8 years old when this show aired. I absolutely immersed myself in each show. I suppose as a child I wanted to help him escape. I felt as though I was right there. I'm glad I found the series again. It's strange that I made a comment today about Cells Without Doors. That's what some societies resemble as The Prisoner's did. Coincidence?
This tv series is so we'll done and intelligent.A wonderful timeless classic.the show is a cross between 1984 and the fugitive.Patrick McGowan is a genius.
Excellent actor. Showing us the FUTURE 55 years ago....We could only HOPE IT WOULD "NEVER REALLY HAPPEN" but, it did. Sadly. Patrick McGoohan. One of the finest actors ever . He was on COLUMBO TV episode and it was one f=of the BEST EVER. Very complicated but, he knew how to help us follow the story line. RIP
Patrick actually co-starred in four episodes of Columbo, which I am sure is a record. As he ripped the oppressive and the powerful in The Prisoner he must have enjoyed knocking those characters down in his Columbo appearances playing politicians and military officers. He was even scary in Walt Disney - check him out in The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh
I recall seeing that Scarecrow film by Disney when I was ten years old or so. Great, but definitely scary. Combo of adventure, thriller, and ghost story vibe. Patrick always brought an intensity and intelligence to his roles. His Columbo villians had the same sort of gravitas and smartness. Saw The Prisoner during its initial run in the U.S. Didn't understand it all, but knew it was out of the ordinary for American TV. Just quite special. Not dated at all. Makes more sense now than it did then, now that I'm a senior and retired. World has gotten wilder in the meantime, but that's humanity for you. Carry on...
The greatest Tv show of all time. Nuff said. A prophecy of the age we all now live in, and a scream of defiance against senseless tyranny that resonates with those still awake enough to know they are slaves.
You're all frigging self-centered spoiled egotistic whiny children. You do not know what tyranny is. You love your manipulators in chief a lot while living a movie in your head. and yet the power is already in your hands since you were born. You're all haunted by drama and tales. Imbeciles.
Of course we must not forget that Ron Grainer did the fabulous theme. He's also known for creating the Doctor Who theme. Not too shabby. Either one of these iconic scores would be a career milestone. But having written both? That's incredible.
I remember this on TV when I was about 8 or 9. I couldn't appreciate it like I can now. This sure beats the crap out of shows today with the sex, cursing & placating to special groups. The producers & writers proved you can have a great series without all the obligatory BS!
The picture quality is amazing!! It looks better than the Region 2 DVD I bought a few months ago!! I love this show!! I remember watching reruns with my father as a kid!
houstonduckman1... It is amazing. I have the blu ray and it is incredible. If you haven't seen that yet you will be floored by the quality. Those older shows that were shot on film absolutely blow away stuff shot on videotape.
Used to watch this show with my family as a kid, my dad had the first episode on video cassette, then years ago I had it on my laptop, one of my all time favorite shows
Interesting how it has so much MK Ultra stuff in it... Before any of it was made public. That's down not to McGoohan but his co-writer and co-producer who was revealing extremely classified information in this series, about the Scottish Village and the American equivalent The Farm, outside Washington DC. Gary Powers was a real-life No. 6 at The Farm.
What I love about this the most is it's utter ambiguity. Nothing is explained clearly, you're left to decide what the hells going on. Don't get much of that these days.
Oh God. I'm so bored of fucking "ambiguity". It's so rancidly post-modern/relativist, it makes me queasy. These days, subjectivity is objectively fucking evil.
@@blackmore4 I knew a guy that said he only liked things to be black and white so he went into Science. I think he said he got a Doctorate in Chemistry. But then got involved in Quantum Mechanics. So much for black and white. When I met him he was our branch office accountant CPA. I felt his pain. We were a publicly traded company on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. SO basically three sets of accounting rules. The Canadian Revenue Agency would have rules to make sure that profit was not under reported. And the Stock Exchanges would have rules to make sure that profit was not over reported. So he still did not have a career working with a black and white subject.
Clough Williams-Ellis was one of my father's lecturers when he (my father) was an architectural student. From time to time Williams-Ellis would take some of his students to Portmeirion, which he'd started building sometime in the 1920s. I remember, as a small lad, possibly around 1966, going along with my dad to see Portmerion. Apparently I even met Williams-Ellis, though my abiding memory is of 'the village'. It was like a fantasy land. I think Williams-Ellis kept on adding to Portmerion for years afterwards. I've never been back since my first visit - been tempted to many times, but I'm almost afraid of finding the place no longer lives up to those childhood memories.
Can’t believe I’m getting to watch this spellbinding show again. First time round I found it fascinating and Patrick McGoohan was the most mesmerising man ever. Watching it this time around I realise I should have been scared shitless!
I remember when I was younger and worked for a game company where all we did was sort through the logs of the game and mediate problems between players. My friend and I who worked with the same company used to muse "What if we had the logs of the world?" That was a fantasy we enjoyed because we didn't think it was truly possible. But twenty years later it is, and that reality is terrifying.
I remember watching this show as a kid and it made absolutely ZERO sense to me. But us kids all loved the giant white bubble ball when it would smother people's faces!! LOL.
When I saw this as a kid in the 80’s I was hesitant to watch it because I was expecting a show like the Avengers or Get Smart. Boy, I was Hooked after watching one episode! So much depth and thought provoking. Be seeing You..
Even though I didn’t understand much about the series when I watched it with my sister, it was fascinating and addictive. Unfortunately, today (2024) I understand it a whole lot better.
Iconic. Made a major impact on me as a small boy, already a fan of McGoohan's character in the "Secret Agent" series which is the prequel to "The Prisoner". Still find it interesting and not very dated today. Way ahead of its time, and possibly ahead of ours.
I don't think it's John drake. John is always well composed and never acts out. He also knows how to get important information and infiltrate. I believe it's a different character.
This was way ahead of its time (cordless phones, CCTV and drones). The production is a testament to the late great Patrick McGoohan who created and starred in it. No. 2 was Guy Doleman who was Colonel Ross in The Iprcess File (think of it as James Bond without the glamour). The Village is Portmerion in North Wales and it looks pretty much the same as it did in 1967 when the show was being filmed. It is a beautiful place and should be on everyone's bucket list of places to visit. A scene from The Tripods was also filmed there.
Came across this in 1968. It mesmerized me. I couldn't wait for the next weeks episode. I may have missed a few episodes, but I think I watched the majority. At the time it was more like a fantasy than it could ever be a reality, and yet here we are definitely living in The Village (brought to everyone compliments of Silicon Valley). This TV series had a huge impact on me growing up. In more ways than I realized it at the time. It contributed a lot to the way I view society and other personal values and beliefs. I adopted a lot of Number 6's attitudes. I became Number 6, in certain ways. His attitudes reflected a lot of the turbulent 1960's, which definitely left it's imprint on me. Even today it's still very much there.
And even that's only part of the reality that awaits us. The Sheeple have sealed the Devil's Pact. If voting made any difference it would be made illegal.
A new global order awaits us all, ran by billionaires. We ain't seen nothing yet. Democracy is dead and buried. George Orwell and Patrick McGoohan were absolutely bang on the money.
All true. Coronavirus lockdown and draconian police action against citizens and protestors. Roadblocks, rings of steel, border closures. Who would have thought?
I love this opening episode,and the first time I saw this episode was on Monday night at 10:00 pm on Channel 4 in 1983,especially I love the music throughout as well as the acting and in case you want to know who actually did the voiceover on the tannoy is of course the late Fenella Fielding [best remembered in the 1966 film Carry on Screaming,but sadly missed this year],and I think it`s a great show and not only that my mum`s brother played a stand-in for Patrick McGoohan`s character as well as he also played a stand-in for Patrick McGoohan in the TV series Danger Man,as far as I remember,according to my mother.
I was in high school when this aired on TV in 1967 or 1968 and really liked watching it every week, even though I was puzzled by the surrealistic settings and enigmatic plot. I was a fan of Patrick McGoohan since watching his earlier series "Danger Man" in the early 60s. He was also great in one of my favorite films, "Ice Station Zebra", in the late 60s.
I first watched this around 1968-69,It was on pbs here in St Louis.I was hooked from the start.For only running one season it covered a lot of ground.This was TV at its finest from the BBC. I still watch it today,and the Columbo episodes that he is in. Pure gold
I wonder if Detective Colombo could have located Number 6 (or John Drake?) in that village in Portmeirion, Wales? And, what would the unfailingly unflappable Colombo have made of “Rover”? PS Has there ever been an actor as supercilious and grandiloquent as the late Guy Doleman (Number 2) was?
@@alexmarshall4331 Delia Derbyshire created the electronic realization of the musical notes written by Grainer that was heard right through the Tom Baker years. Broadly speaking, Grainer wrote the part of the theme that you still hear today, regardless of the arrangement and orchestration.
11:39 reminds me of the opticon. with patrick later saying it was a series about the onslaught of technology and peoples privacy, it seems now more poignant than ever.
Only a show as brilliant as The Prisoner could make a big white balloon utterly terrifying! An absolutely astonishing series.
The producers apparently thought of using a driverless Volkswagen as a device to stop people from escaping, but Rover took care of that.
I have to agree! I loved The Prisoner! From week to week it became more and more frustrating for the main character! Astonishing!
was it not a weather balloon?
@@MrBillcale yes, it was. One of the cheapest "special effects" ever. Yet amazingly effective, very well used.
@@MrBillcale watch the explanation here from minute 30'20''
th-cam.com/video/k0e4CBA5S0w/w-d-xo.html
I feel so blessed that in my lifetime Lew Grade saw fit to listen to Patrick McGoohan, who was becoming tired of his role in Danger Man (Secret Agent for US viewers), and give Patrick the complete freedom to do whatever he wanted as a new series. That freedom resulted in this iconic and legendary series. The Prisoner was far ahead of its time, iconic, and brilliant in every way.
I remember the adverts all summer long. Couldn't wait to see "Rover in action". Was just about to look up this series; ALGO's to the rescue!
Danger Man's "Colony Three" is an unnerving episode that has overtones of The Prisoner.
Danger Man was a separate show. It was shown in the US and it was a half hour long and B&W. The hero was introduced each week as a spy for NATO.
@@dhm7815 Correct. In the US it was called Secret Agent.
I've always been in the group that thought he was playing the same character in the Prisoner as he was in Secret Agent and he had been captured by the enemy and they whole setup was them attempting to brainwash him into being a double agent..
One part Ian Fleming, two parts George Orwell, a pinch of Arthur C. Clarke - mix well, and you have a story that's both exciting and eerily prescient.
...not to mention Franz Kafka...
Without saying too much, the way he escapes is fantastic!
This isn't right. Something is wrong with this timeline and needs to be corrected or we are all in deep sh...
Gotta love the EGG chairs too!
@@barrettwbenton
One half originality, one half avant-garde,
one half iconoclastic, one half maverick.
That's FOUR halves!!!!
It's utterly amazing that The Prisoner is still so iconic in 2020 . 17 episodes are all we got and they are incredible.
17 episodes... Really?
Yup! Fabulous show!
Quality over quantity.
a little better than secret agent man.......17 episodes?
15 of them were amazing, 1 was a Goohan experiment that didn't quite land and one was a script that was rejected for The Avengers so they made it on the quick and cheap and it showed. But at it's best, there was nothing like it.
I loved this show growing up and amazed how cool it still looks and sounds today. Pure cold war entertainment with a big dash of psychedelia.
It was like "Nowhere Man." Check out that series. Some shows are so horrible that they are actually "good." Its a cult following thing, I suppose...
I can still remember taking tests with multiple choice, and you needed to darken in tiny ovals with only a # 2 pencil ✏️ so the test score reader could automatically tally your test paper and score.
Those old analog computers that were hardwired, long before even a 8 bit processor or a 16 bit 286 processor.
The concrete boat is still there.
A very big dash...great show to watch when you're tripping...
This drama is a legendary show for me. It was broadcast only once in Japan, so at the time I could not record it, I was never able to know the detailed episodes again. I am very happy to be able to watch it now.
Glad you found this memory.
We weren't allowed a TV for the first 10 years of my life. When we finally were, this came on.
I was never the same again.
The same here, no TV until 10, I was 12 when this was aired and I was hooked on from the very beginning.
If this was made today, you would think that it is right on message for today. But when you realize that the series was made back in 1966 (I know it was aired in the UK in 67, but it was shot in 66), you have to admire the vision of McGoohan. This is what raises the best from the rest. They can see beyond what is, they can see what could be. Brilliant.
#20 is Facebook today
It was first seen in America in 1968 on CBS as a summer replacement for, of all things,Jackie Gleason.
In the U.S., "The Prisoner" was popular enough that the entire series was rerun by CBS the next summer.
Or showing, what is to become! Vietnam was happening or just about. Woodstock & that Freedom was a diversion. Charlie Manson put an end to ☮️ as did shocker Alice Cooper. This Show, reminds me of the , Bilderberg Group; that Alex Jones; exposed! Missing children's mass burial grounds must be on that property! The movie is, more Reality, than anyone could imagine! 🐸 Has many videos, exposing this Dastardly Underworld! The Fall Of The Cabal & The Royal Family, to start! Imagine, being anyone, of those children! 🚫👶🧬💉✓
The interesting part is that this was supposed to have been the sequel series to “Secret Agent”, and I believe that in both series it’s the same character, oh FYI he was American and lived in Queens NY,….Patrick Joseph McGoohan was a British-Irish-American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born in the U.S. to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and England. He began his career in England in the 1950s and moved back to the U.S. in the 1970s. Wikipedia
Born: March 19, 1928, Astoria, New York, NY
Died: January 13, 2009, Providence Saint John's Health Center - Santa Monica Emergency Room, Santa Monica, CA
Height: 6′ 2″
Spouse: Joan Drummond McGoohan (m. 1951-2009)
Children: Catherine McGoohan, Frances McGoohan, Anne McGoohan
This was notice to the free world what was in store for them. They had just perfected their securities scheme in 1968 and implemented "legal' in 1969 in the free world. You no longer held your property in allodial, only by entitlement. So by now everyone held an entitlement certificate called a birth certificate, and if you did not redeem it for your birthright security, you only had use of your property for a public purpose and had to pay the extortion fees to keep it. This is what the series is really about. YOU are the secret agent that must resign from the public. When he did this each agency of the government tested him. That is what we find in the last episode, he passes and is recognized as a sovereign man, but then everything goes crazy as they leave the village to return to England.
I loved this show since the 60s. I was a teen and really enjoyed seeing TV written that good. It always puzzled me when they cancelled it because "Nobody understood it.". Watching "them" trying to break his will, and the psychological methods they used in an attempt to test his loyalties, is still some of the most mind-bending TV one could ever see.
It wasn't cancelled. It had reached the end of what Patrick McGoohan wanted to say, and so it ended. Some of the people working with him wanted to continue, but he would not agree.
@@catrionam.mackirnan6646 Well, I remember the announcement in 1968, it was cancelled, there may be stories to the contrary, but the news at the time was that ITV and CBS both cancelled it due to lagging viewership. It was acclaimed in its own time, but TV audiences in the 60s just did not understand it. I was the only kid in my high school that watched it, others said they could not get into it. They liked "The Man From U.N.C.LE." and "The Avengers", but "The Prisoner" was just too psychological more most of them. It should not surprise that the network that was showing "Lost in Space" and "Gilligan's Island" found "The Prisoner" out of place. "The Prisoner" really made it's mark a few years later when PBS picked it up on Sunday Nights. It fit in well with Masterpiece and Mystery, and was a big hit in the 70s.
I understand it.
This was a really incredible show. Was decades ahead of its time. Patrick McGoohan was the creative force behind this series. He understood how mass media was being used to form our outlook, he didn't let his children watch the telly. Very smart man. We will miss you Patrick!!!😘🤗
Perdition Comic Agreed
The best show until "Breaking Bad" showed up.
Dan Tyler It was Intelligent
Not many shows in 2018 are
A few but not many
Quite possibly the best series ever on television.
@@pleasantvalleypickerca7681 Yes its clearly a unique series that we will never see any thing like again. I still recall the awful remake that failed terribly.
The Prisoner was, and still is, the greatest piece of Television in history. A masterpiece ahead of its time.
So true . People should watch it now,. See how many people have the brains to get it.
Twlight zone
I loved The Avengers too.
I think so.
Have to watch it then!
When I was a young child. One night... I snuck into the living room while my parents were asleep and turned on the tv. We were not allowed to watch tv as kids in my house. The prisoner is what came on the screen. I had never experienced anything like this. I was confused and entranced. For years I had never heard or seen again of it and became convinced it was a dream.
True story...
OMG! I had a very similar experience. I think it was literally when a Simpson’s episode had the giant white ball at sea that I realized it was real and not a dream!
Similar experience as a young lad, what struck me most about it at the time was that they were a fan of using knockout gas on him quite a lot to keep him under control. Now (as an adult) it seems like such a minor plot point.
Iron Maiden is a dream
@@thevintagehifiambassador8524 ......
I am the Vintage Hifi Emissary !!
Sir, we are in Competion for the Same
Audience ...and I challenge you to a
Hifi Knowledge Face Off at High Noon !!
Winner Take Nothing .
Still running HARMON KARDON CITATION.
@@michaelcelani8325 I so damn take this bet. Hifi forever.
I just noticed after all these years, after he resigns and he is in his flat packing for his dream vacation or dream retirement destination, the pamphlets he packs are ironically all of a beautiful island, then he is kidnapped and exiled to a beautiful island as a PRISONER. What a brilliant series, way ahead of its time, I remember it fondly. RIP Patrick McGoohan.
@Hobarth McShane - good point! Take care and.... be seeing you.
@Giovanni Pincoletti the show was ahead of it's time. Most shows and films still can't tackle this subject with integrity. I don't think it's about the show not being popular, which many of us would have no idea if it was or not, but more that compared to other shows and films of the time and since, nothing compares.
It was ahead of his time, in the sense that only a few people really understood it then. Who would think that John Drake ( of Danger Man ) had resigned, then turned into Number Six, just to learn that he was number One in the end??
Perhaps they attempted to get him to go there on his own before kidnapping ?
@@menacelurkingyet8345 Good thought, or perhaps that’s why he was kidnapped to the island, instead of the ski resort, dessert, urban art gallery, or other destination
back in the day, this show, the wild wild west and 60 minutes were the only tv shows that i ran home to watch every week!
Prisoner is beyond awesome and Wild Wild West was seriously fun!!!
I’m a big fan. I can literally recite the dialogue, I watched it countless time...Sad thing now, is it really does portray the life we live in today with the restrictions we have. ‘We are all pawns ma dear!!’
Be seeing you !
@@triciasomogyi5431 …and you!
You are in the Village! We want Information, information, information!
@@aramboodakian9554 I look forward to the pleasure of your custom. Be seeing you…..
I just struck me now, after all these years, that the Village 'announcer' might be Fenella Fielding, but the end credits did not have a listing.
And so it turns out to be! She recalled, 'It was only a few hours work and Patrick said 'don't make it too sexy' ' !
The opening three minutes is utterly brilliant. It is like a movie unto itself. They must have worked on editing that endlessly to get it just right.
Yes, that's what I thought. It tells the story EXACTLY.
@@mikehudson8884
I agree, Mike, it was brilliantly done ! Without one word spoken, just a few written hints and excellent acting, one was immediately put in the picture - they made good television in those days, without a doubt. Look at what is produced nowadays....! 😵
Well said! That is almost exactly what I was thinking.
You guys are ABSOLUTELY correct!!!
Yes, my friend, look at what's on TV NOW!!!
Nobody ever gives props to the theme music.
Pity -- it's brilliant, perfect, instantly recognizable.
There's one Simpson's episode that references The Prisoner, complete with the theme music. Wonder how many people even recognize it?
I remember seeing this very first episode of The Prisoner in 1988, when I was only 20 years old. I just wanted to be exactly like him. I just loved his mimicks, his sniffles, his accent and the way he stared at you with such a blue ironed viril look in his eyes. He had such an impact over my life. No matter how creative and ingenious he was, throughout his whole entire career, Sir Patrick McGoohan was a well renowned theatrical actor, from the Actors Studios, but he could be yet very enigmatic and mystical, in some form of ways. For this legendary monument had styled, class, character and he also had the looks of a promising artist who grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, back in the heydays of his youth, during the Depression era. He was so cool! and he set a real male pattern example to me, as an adolescent growing up in the 1980s. He had such a controversial persona mixed with charisma and yet he was an underrated individual, especially during his Hollywood period with Peter Falk and the Columbos series. Hence, He was a scholar and a gentleman. Tribute to Sir Patrick McGoohan! Thanks for the memories!👍💖🌹Johnny from Montreal, Canada.
Lovely tribute to a very good and charismatic actor.....
I think I saw it at the same time as you in Montreal, in 1988 on the CBC
He had irish background, but was born in Queens, NYC. He was not Sir, but that's no problem. He had a very distrinctive voice. Love the series, of course!
He wasn't Knighted,why did you write Sir ?
This series is incredible, so strange it actually activates your imagination instead of deadening it like most TV / Movies do.
The balloon show! I remember this as a child. I only remember frustration and a constant sort of claustrophobia when I watched it. It is a profound psychological dystopian deep dive for a TV series.
This is the most innovative and most unusual show I ever seen. I like the way how it was set up. A prison disguised as a village. Patrick Magoohan dominates the whole series. The way he carries himself,the way he thinks, he's not a man to be played with. If he's not trying to find a way out, he's plotting against his captors. That's what I find interesting.
55 years later...we have a complete surveillance system in place....in 2019...we are all living in the village now!!
@Redblade ...your not gonna believe it...but I'm also 62...
we should start a club..dob 6th July 1957💎🆘️!
@@alexmarshall4331 27th April 1957 lol
True. Be seeing you.
@Redblade In 1967 I was 6. Now I'm 58.
In New Zealand this series was shown in black and white as we didn't have colour for years to come. So to watch this now in colour it is surprising to see that the photography is of a quality and standard on a par with any 21st century production. Impressive.
My brother at one stage had the colour book of it, beautiful
I just wanted to say hello to a Kiwi from the United States. My best wishes for you, and I'm absolutely being sincere.
Quite an amazing time to live in.
In America as a kid my parents didn't get a color TV until really late in the game I think sometime around 1979 ... so I never saw it as a color show back when it first came out when I was a kid .
Many Years ago I adopted his mantra as my own. " I will not be pushed , filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered; my life is my own.
@King Brilliant DSS Offices? Don't know what that is.
@@fifthof9501 I See . Thanks. So my black face and African name means I am on the public dole. I get it now. It;s amazing (Not directed at you ) How hatful people are. Even when sharing memories of a great, dare I say profond show, instead of rising to the level of sophisticated thought that the discussion would call for they opt for slander of people they know nothing of.
These are sad times indeed. Thanks for clearing that up. Peace..
@Projekt:Kobra Thank you for those kind words.
Brother Nkosi are you saying that you're better than people on food stamps?
So how is that direct deposit Social Security working out for you??
Finally - a mainstream current affairs programme I can believe.
you can go anywhere you want as long as where you want to go is in the village
@@nowthenzenyep. Kind of sounds like a fifteen minute city.
@@MusicByAllonaMayost Both the Village and 15 minute cities are open air prisons.
One of the greatest opening sequences and theme songs of all time
Absolutely the greatest theme song!
GJe un
And the Lotus Super 7 isn’t bad either!
@@jakuho4984 The Lotus Super 7 was the ultimate "rebel" car. To avoid some new British car tax, you had to buy this car, unassembled and build it yourself. To avoid the tax, there could not be an assembly manual (somebody did publish a "disassembly" manual... which you could read backwards). McGoohan puts his card into the slot to open the parking garage gate, and then drives under it before it opens.
Lots more meaning in this opening than I can remember from my college english teacher.
#Timo’s Dinky
The best James Bond we never had
lewis collins was the bond that never was
Agreed !
von sauerkraut Maybe but I think he created a role that he seemed to have a love/ hate vibe with and maybe his contract with -§The Professionals - didn’t allow him time or even to accept the role...
go see whose the new bond ROFL a black women NO SHIT
Fun Fact Patrick almost played James Bond Before Sean Connery was cast
Wonderfully bizarre, thoroughly addictive show. McGoohan's greatest work -- and that's saying something.
In the US, I recall when CBS aired this as a Summer series in the 1960s when I was a kid. My Mom and I found it captivating.
What made this TV series unique when first-aired in the US: It ran in the Summer months; an era when network TV shows were usually reruns during the Summers; so there was a freshness to this limited series.
Still the best first/pilot of any TV show ever made. Fantastic and still looks sort of fresh.
Be seeing you.
Damn good show back then wish that they would show Rerun's Of It.
@@robertrutherford2307 TH-cam is your friend.
thanks TH-cam
@@grobbler1 BCNU
Lesson learned from The Prisoner: always have your bags packed before you resign.
Or if you are the always late sort, at least wear a gasmask.
Nowadays they use mosquito drones that inject a person.
"The Prisoner" is SO RELEVANT today in 2021 and the Admiral is right: "We're all pawns."
I was about 10 or 12 1975 or 1977 in school some how are teacher had this whole show we watched it was awesome and I think I do not know for sure if we were tested on it laiter with qs on paper for an assignment
Their is a modern verson of this series as well that very good (and actually has an end)
It stars that very religious/pro fredom actor who played Jesus in the "Pasion of the Christ" ..
If ever a tv show had a "look" - it's this one.
His flat is what I would want if I won the lottery.
J'ai 61 ans et je vis avec cette série depuis sa diffusion en Belgique dans les années '60... C'est dire que Patrick McGoohan est une référence pour moi, à tous points de vue. Le temps a un peu émoussé mes émotions, mais l'ambiance est toujours là.
Well-Said, I agree.
I don't know what the FUCK you just said Little Kid, but you're special man, you reached out and you touch a brother's heart.
I'm 63 and my parents came from Belgium. 😊
This was a wonderful series and I remember watching when it was first released in the summer of '67 I think. I didn't fathom the many symbolisms at the time and only when it played on PBS with a sociologist commentator did I realize it was more than just a quirky TV show. A classic for sure.
This is beautiful restored, and with 720p HD it looks brand new.
You mean that snowy effect wasn't really part of it I'm so disappointed
@JS 09
It would be 540 I think.
The digital scan is probably 800 or 900.
To say this the greatest show EVER is an understatement. Every person on Earth... I can only hope... Watches with Open eyes.
You know, that balloon watchdog is still very convincing and kind of scary. They used to show this and The Avengers(Diana Rigg ones) back to back when I was a kid. My favorite two hours of TV.
That thing (Rover) scared the bejeebus out of me when I was a kid. I read that initially it was going to be some sort of hovering robot craft type of thing.
@@melaniec1074 Same, I remember watching it back in the early seventies along with The Avengers. Colour TV wasn't mainstream back then and I originally saw them in B&W.
@@secondchance6603 Loved the Avengers, too! You could only catch The Prisoner on the educational channel where I'm from.
convincing ? They were nonsensical then, today's drones are totally different.
@@menacelurkingyet8345 Huh? It's a balloon.
I'm 62 watched every episode and the repeats and still havn't got a bloody clue what went on.
(Logan-5) Dear Stephen Willetts: Hello! I'm going on 64. I didn't understand it when I was watching it when I was younger, but now I think that it is totally "COOL" !! What's happening with Patrick McGoohan's character is that he probably belonged to British Intelligence and in the lead in when he's talking to that man at the desk and pounds an envelope down and leaves, he's probably resigned. When he drives to his flat (apartment in Britain) and starts packing to leave, that gentleman in the limo comes up and injects "knock out gas" in through the keyhole. Patrick's character wakes up in "The Village". They're keeping him there until he tells them why he resigned, and he totally refuses to tell them. That's the series in a nutshell! I hope that helped! Please don't think that I am talking down to you! Take care and Stay Safe !!
@@signal2noize (Logan-5) Dear Signal. I totally understood what Stephen was saying😧! I was giving him a simple explanation of the main plot of the entire series!! I don't know where you got the idea that I was "Trolling" ! If I understand the term correctly, that I was trying to start an argument with Stephen!! I think that you misunderstood my message to Stephen! I don't appreciate being accused of something that I was not doing in the first place 😧!! Okay? See you on down the road 😐!
@@markpayton2800 great show!! Love Patrick mcgoohan
( ......exactly its charm....subversive. )
im 67 i loved every minute of it and im right with you brother.i dont have a clue either
The Prisoner - on my TH-cam feed - Google knows me better than I know myself - the irony! 🤔
Scary huh? lol
@@dannyrand1733 We should have seen this day coming.
And it should scare us.
We think we only give those companies breadcrumbs...
But they have learned to reconstruct the entire bakery from the crumbs we gave them.
Ahh yes, but is google watching us? Who is to say? The camera and mike may be on but no indication....................... lol Paranoid much but love the irony of your comment.
Possibly Google knows me, too! I had to search for it!
*I find it a bit creepy....* ☜💀
I remember watching "The Prisoner" when it first came out. I got scared every time that a "prisoner" disobeyed the authorities and he had to face the gigantic white balloon that suffocated him because it was as tall and wide as the man was. Several prisoners died. Each prisoner was assigned a number instead of a name. None of the prisoners was allowed to have a name. Patrick McGoohan's character's number was 6. It was a fascinating show! Big Brother had definitely taken over in this show. I was only 9 years old in 1966 when this episode was broadcast.
And I think that Leo McKern was Number Two. 👍
I think I was 11 years old, when the show reached New Zealand in 1968.
The “NEW “ number 2!
I remember when it was first shown on TV. I was hooked in the first 30 seconds. I could feel that The Prisoner was something special.
More relevant today than when it was filmed.
I remember watching this outstanding & prolific show, & now im highly shocked & slightly distured by this TV series futuristic concepts in comparison to today's as was conceptualized from that time era, here's some examples; robotics. mobile phones. artificial intelligences such as the rover security bubble. 24/7 visual & sound privacy violations via sound mic & cam violations on your privacy, because lets face it, while living in the village your constantly being watched & heard 24/7, even while taking a natural dump in the bathrom toilet in the comforts of your own home. instant service for whatever you want or need even before you can think of it. hell its virtually a SECURITY STATE 4 x spies to be imprisoned in, & they all there seems to live a HELLA much better life with loads of prestige than your avg joe/Jane, that's working 3 jobs just to meagerly survive from, but with their FREEDOMS that I can only think of, except one catch, the villagers there LOSS ALL THERE G.o.D given FREEDOMS, & I don't care how well there living there, Uc those people are still RESTRICTED to only that resort town, & with no outside communications just local, & with no where else to go to hear from the outside, but being stuck in highly pleasant HELL 24/7 to live & die in it seems. But all In all, this was very fascinating series for its time & is still a international TV legend imo. 👍⭕
Ya want a used Guard Bubble to love & hold.???
I don't know about more relevant, I'd say as relevant.......how 2 be more relevant when we are in the neverending story?
1966
Correction, more relevant today than when you commented
An icon show from a icon actor. Patrick McGoohan. Brilliant human being. Nobody can do better than this type of TV show. I do have this show on dvd and have both soundtracks from this show (from 976-CREOLEMAN).
Still one of the best television shows ever made. As fascinating today as it was when first made.
I hadn't seen these episodes since 1968 or so when they were first broadcast in The United States. What an eye-opener watching them now.
“👌 be seeing you”!
Got to be the greatest tv theme tune ever, when ever I hear this cant get it out of my head, now there's a song there somewhere.
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, de-briefed, or numbered"! Any of us have any hope of living like that now? Sadly we are all numbers in someones data base now.
This is your world. I am your world. If you insist on living a dream you may be taken for mad.
absolutely
Easy fix! Just become Bobby Drop Tables and you will solve that problem, the moment they type you in the database, the database is wiped :D
You forgot " Spindled ".
But they give us so many shiny things to look at and take up our time, our overlords are wonderful ,all hail google
Keith Richards to Mick Taylor: "Why did you resign?"
One of the best series ever made.
Be seeing you, Mr. McGoohan.
Thought you were in prison for killing your wife...
I saw Dark, Fringe, Chernobyl, Sherlock and other great shows, but this still somehow stands out for me. I'm watching it probably for the 10th time. The setting, soundtrack, ideas and overall mood are just special. Kafka, Orwell and Flemming in one package. It has some plot development inconsistencies and production glitches, but nothing is perfect.
Story line and characters so real. Never to be duplicated. The great Sixties of television!
Background music adds to the surrealism of each situation the prisoner encounters.
Easily perhaps the most bizarre if not brilliant television show, and so prophetic.
One of the best Science Fiction series ever produced in Britain - visionary to a degree I bet none of the producers even dreamt of, or had nightmares about in those days. This was the next stage of "1984", which has evolved into the "Big Brother" we have today. Great series, I loved it from the first episode and thanks for uploading it ! Oh, that "Bubble Chair" number 2 sat in was all the rage in those days - as were the mini cars they used as taxis ! Everybody wanted one but I never knew anybody that ever did.
I had one.
At some point I'll get one.
After years -- decades! -- of wanting a lava-lamp, I finally gave in and got one.
Works perfectly -- very hypnotic & relaxing.
Highly recommended. (They're on Amazon. No, I do not get a commission.)
I was between 7 and 8 years old when this show aired. I absolutely immersed myself in each show. I suppose as a child I wanted to help him escape. I felt as though I was right there. I'm glad I found the series again. It's strange that I made a comment today about Cells Without Doors. That's what some societies resemble as The Prisoner's did. Coincidence?
Watching number 6 make a fool of all the number 2s that couldn't break him was great television.. especially with the great Leo McKern.
Mr. McKern's laugh was eerie.
This tv series is so we'll done and intelligent.A wonderful timeless classic.the show is a cross between 1984 and the fugitive.Patrick McGowan is a genius.
Excellent actor. Showing us the FUTURE 55 years ago....We could only HOPE IT WOULD "NEVER REALLY HAPPEN" but, it did. Sadly. Patrick McGoohan. One of the finest actors ever . He was on COLUMBO TV episode and it was one f=of the BEST EVER. Very complicated but, he knew how to help us follow the story line. RIP
I never bot gired of watching Patrick McGoohan in this and other shows! Marvelous actor!
Patrick actually co-starred in four episodes of Columbo, which I am sure is a record. As he ripped the oppressive and the powerful in The Prisoner he must have enjoyed knocking those characters down in his Columbo appearances playing politicians and military officers. He was even scary in Walt Disney - check him out in The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh
Thanks for the reminder about the Scarecrow role. He was an incredible actor.@@Vlad65WFPReviews
I recall seeing that Scarecrow film by Disney when I was ten years old or so. Great, but definitely scary. Combo of adventure, thriller, and ghost story vibe. Patrick always brought an intensity and intelligence to his roles. His Columbo villians had the same sort of gravitas and smartness. Saw The Prisoner during its initial run in the U.S. Didn't understand it all, but knew it was out of the ordinary for American TV. Just quite special. Not dated at all. Makes more sense now than it did then, now that I'm a senior and retired. World has gotten wilder in the meantime, but that's humanity for you. Carry on...
Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, wasn't it?
The greatest Tv show of all time. Nuff said. A prophecy of the age we all now live in, and a scream of defiance against senseless tyranny that resonates with those still awake enough to know they are slaves.
THIS.
My heart jumped a beat at this, ty for writing it.
Very good Jeff. That's exactly what's going on. Jan. 6, 2021, was just a taste. We need to wake up. It's happened before, in the 20th Century.
You're all frigging self-centered spoiled egotistic whiny children. You do not know what tyranny is. You love your manipulators in chief a lot while living a movie in your head. and yet the power is already in your hands since you were born. You're all haunted by drama and tales. Imbeciles.
@@ogungou9 ok cupcake
Of course we must not forget that Ron Grainer did the fabulous theme. He's also known for creating the Doctor Who theme. Not too shabby. Either one of these iconic scores would be a career milestone. But having written both? That's incredible.
The greatest programme that ever appeared on a television set, full stop. Incredible, a masterpiece!
that's what I usually type in
It is like Orwell’s 1984’s with the office statements:”Questions are a burden to others.Answers a prison to oneself.”
Wow, Orwell would be an understatement, and so appropriate for the way things are going now in the world. Orwell would blush
I remember this on TV when I was about 8 or 9. I couldn't appreciate it like I can now. This sure beats the crap out of shows today with the sex, cursing & placating to special groups. The producers & writers proved you can have a great series without all the obligatory BS!
The picture quality is amazing!! It looks better than the Region 2 DVD I bought a few months ago!!
I love this show!! I remember watching reruns with my father as a kid!
houstonduckman1... It is amazing. I have the blu ray and it is incredible. If you haven't seen that yet you will be floored by the quality. Those older shows that were shot on film absolutely blow away stuff shot on videotape.
Used to watch this show with my family as a kid, my dad had the first episode on video cassette, then years ago I had it on my laptop, one of my all time favorite shows
So far ahead of its time. From the theme music to the actual show theme makes this one of the best of all time...
Interesting how it has so much MK Ultra stuff in it... Before any of it was made public. That's down not to McGoohan but his co-writer and co-producer who was revealing extremely classified information in this series, about the Scottish Village and the American equivalent The Farm, outside Washington DC. Gary Powers was a real-life No. 6 at The Farm.
What I love about this the most is it's utter ambiguity. Nothing is explained clearly, you're left to decide what the hells going on. Don't get much of that these days.
if you had any exposure to actual security clearances? it makes this FAR more creepy.
What do you mean? You don’t get ANY of that today. Nothing makes sense.
EVILSPEAK !!! ..bit like Brexit then.
Oh God. I'm so bored of fucking "ambiguity". It's so rancidly post-modern/relativist, it makes me queasy.
These days, subjectivity is objectively fucking evil.
@@blackmore4
I knew a guy that said he only liked things to be black and white so he went into Science.
I think he said he got a Doctorate in Chemistry. But then got involved in Quantum Mechanics.
So much for black and white.
When I met him he was our branch office accountant CPA.
I felt his pain. We were a publicly traded company on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
SO basically three sets of accounting rules.
The Canadian Revenue Agency would have rules to make sure that profit was not under reported.
And the Stock Exchanges would have rules to make sure that profit was not over reported.
So he still did not have a career working with a black and white subject.
My 7th grade English teacher said this was the most literary show she'd seen. Still is amazing as is Patrick Mcgoohan.
Was filmed in Portmeiron, Wales. McGoohan went to my school.
Been there, thanks to my sister 😃
Was there a couple of weeks ago. What a marvellous place !! Going to go back there
You mean this place isn't a studio?
It is really beautiful! I wouldn't want to leave right away even if I was a prisoner. In a couple of years perhaps.
Clough Williams-Ellis was one of my father's lecturers when he (my father) was an architectural student. From time to time Williams-Ellis would take some of his students to Portmeirion, which he'd started building sometime in the 1920s. I remember, as a small lad, possibly around 1966, going along with my dad to see Portmerion. Apparently I even met Williams-Ellis, though my abiding memory is of 'the village'. It was like a fantasy land. I think Williams-Ellis kept on adding to Portmerion for years afterwards. I've never been back since my first visit - been tempted to many times, but I'm almost afraid of finding the place no longer lives up to those childhood memories.
Can’t believe I’m getting to watch this spellbinding show again. First time round I found it fascinating and Patrick McGoohan was the most mesmerising man ever. Watching it this time around I realise I should have been scared shitless!
Christopher Nolan’s going to have a blast with this
He signed a leading role Tom Cruise and Jenifer Lawrence BBC report
@@Narendersingh-id5ngthen it has already been ruined. Sad.
Oh no.
Please tell me this is a joke...
I remember when I was younger and worked for a game company where all we did was sort through the logs of the game and mediate problems between players. My friend and I who worked with the same company used to muse "What if we had the logs of the world?" That was a fantasy we enjoyed because we didn't think it was truly possible. But twenty years later it is, and that reality is terrifying.
So weird and full of great ideas, it’s sad this series didn’t last longer. Love it.
Extraordinary. As poignant today, as it was half a century ago, probably more so.
more so since 3 generations or more have passed that have forgotten WHY a show like this HAS the message it has.
I’ve got the complete Prisoner boxed set series on Blu-Ray.
It’s timeless and even more relevant than ever in 2019.
British sci-fi is the best, I hope to find the DVD set of Season 1 & 2 of Space: 1999.
I’ve got the 1988 comic book sequel Shattered Visage.
Finally - a mainstream current affairs programme I can believe.
" Be Seeing You ! "
2021
This program in 1967 predicted the Bluetooth Speaker, the Cordless Phone, and I'm sure a few other items.
A remotely controlled drone (Rover) that eliminates enemies of the state and 24/7 surveillance more oppressive than East Germany under the Stasi.
Alexa.
Apparently, despite the development of the gadgets, humans still want to do exactly the same things.
canturgan 😆😆😆
The taxis are better than those we have nowadays too...!
I remember watching this show as a kid and it made absolutely ZERO sense to me. But us kids all loved the giant white bubble ball when it would smother people's faces!! LOL.
When I saw this as a kid in the 80’s I was hesitant to watch it because I was expecting a show like the Avengers or Get Smart. Boy, I was Hooked after watching one episode! So much depth and thought provoking. Be seeing You..
Oh my goodness … memories of the series and the opening shots of London streets in the 1960s ...
Even though I didn’t understand much about the series when I watched it with my sister, it was fascinating and addictive. Unfortunately, today (2024) I understand it a whole lot better.
I've always was struct from the beginning title to where at the end he says; I'm not a number, I'm a freeman! That put chills up my spine!
We will all be vaccinated chipped and tagged numbers soon.
This program was ahead of it's time and truly one of a kind
Iconic. Made a major impact on me as a small boy, already a fan of McGoohan's character in the "Secret Agent" series which is the prequel to "The Prisoner". Still find it interesting and not very dated today. Way ahead of its time, and possibly ahead of ours.
yes ' Brian....we all know......May 19, 2021.
Has McGoohan always denied "Secret Agent" was prequel to "The Prisoner" ?
I don't think it's John drake. John is always well composed and never acts out. He also knows how to get important information and infiltrate. I believe it's a different character.
I remember some of the dialogue, so distinctive. “I will not be…”😊
This was way ahead of its time (cordless phones, CCTV and drones). The production is a testament to the late great Patrick McGoohan who created and starred in it. No. 2 was Guy Doleman who was Colonel Ross in The Iprcess File (think of it as James Bond without the glamour). The Village is Portmerion in North Wales and it looks pretty much the same as it did in 1967 when the show was being filmed. It is a beautiful place and should be on everyone's bucket list of places to visit. A scene from The Tripods was also filmed there.
Visited Portmeiron some years ago and I was amazed at how beautiful the Village was, for such a frightening story as Prisoner
“...,I am not a number! Who is number one?” “You are number 6!”😂😂😂
More like "Who is Number 1?" "You are, Number 6!"
@@masterskrain2630 Or "You are Number 6" as most viewers took it until the nonsensical final where there were two McGoohans for an instant.
"I AM NOT A NUMBER I AM A FREE MAN"!
Came across this in 1968. It mesmerized me. I couldn't wait for the next weeks episode. I may have missed a few episodes, but I think I watched the majority. At the time it was more like a fantasy than it could ever be a reality, and yet here we are definitely living in The Village (brought to everyone compliments of Silicon Valley).
This TV series had a huge impact on me growing up. In more ways than I realized it at the time. It contributed a lot to the way I view society and other personal values and beliefs.
I adopted a lot of Number 6's attitudes. I became Number 6, in certain ways. His attitudes reflected a lot of the turbulent 1960's, which definitely left it's imprint on me. Even today it's still very much there.
38 years of listening to it and only recently learned the Iron Maiden song was somewhat about this show.
Ahead of its time... We are already there and what's to come will make this TV series look like a Sunday picnic.
Unless God decides to punch the Earth a few times or an ET Alien invasion of GOOD Aliens happens (The Watchers)
John Jones So very very true man
And even that's only part of the reality that awaits us. The Sheeple have sealed the Devil's Pact. If voting made any difference it would be made illegal.
A new global order awaits us all, ran by billionaires. We ain't seen nothing yet. Democracy is dead and buried. George Orwell and Patrick McGoohan were absolutely bang on the money.
All true. Coronavirus lockdown and draconian police action against citizens and protestors. Roadblocks, rings of steel, border closures. Who would have thought?
I watched this series when it first aired in Canada waaay back decades ago. Even more relevant in this millenium.
I love this opening episode,and the first time I saw this episode was on Monday night at 10:00 pm on Channel 4 in 1983,especially I love the music throughout as well as the acting and in case you want to know who actually did the voiceover on the tannoy is of course the late Fenella Fielding [best remembered in the 1966 film Carry on Screaming,but sadly missed this year],and I think it`s a great show and not only that my mum`s brother played a stand-in for Patrick McGoohan`s character as well as he also played a stand-in for Patrick McGoohan in the TV series Danger Man,as far as I remember,according to my mother.
Sadly I never got to see the 1983 run, I had to wait until 1992 Channel 4 showing. I don't recall a prop showing since!
Ron grainer also composed the music to the Omega Man movie.
Saw the first channel 4 screening in 1983, unique, nothing quite like it
My sister liked the show,and,showed it to us in 1985.I certainly “got hooked” on it!This,and the Ufo show!(from;1969-1970).
I loved the ever-increasing surrealism of the show. Patrick McGoohan was terrific. The last few eps were proto-David Lynch.
not my generation, believe me. But this show is genius and legendary.
For those who have never seen it, don't try to understand it, just enjoy it.
I was in high school when this aired on TV in 1967 or 1968 and really liked watching it every week, even though I was puzzled by the surrealistic settings and enigmatic plot. I was a fan of Patrick McGoohan since watching his earlier series "Danger Man" in the early 60s. He was also great in one of my favorite films, "Ice Station Zebra", in the late 60s.
I first watched this around 1968-69,It was on pbs here in St Louis.I was hooked from the start.For only running one season it covered a lot of ground.This was TV at its finest from the BBC. I still watch it today,and the Columbo episodes that he is in. Pure gold
ATV, not BBC.
This is an excellent quality copy of this unforgettable show.
Once this was a just tv show but 50 years after reality.
I also remember watching Patrick McGoohan in an episode of "Columbo" where he played a very corrupt officer. He was brilliant!
I wonder if Detective Colombo could have located Number 6 (or John Drake?) in that village in Portmeirion, Wales?
And, what would the unfailingly unflappable Colombo have made of “Rover”?
PS Has there ever been an actor as supercilious and grandiloquent as the late Guy Doleman (Number 2) was?
By Dawn's Early Light. Patrick won an Emmy for the role.
Theme music by Ron Grainer, almost certainly best known in geek circles for the theme for Doctor Who.
did grainer write the score for doctor who? what was Delia Derbyshire input?
@@alexmarshall4331 Delia Derbyshire created the electronic realization of the musical notes written by Grainer that was heard right through the Tom Baker years. Broadly speaking, Grainer wrote the part of the theme that you still hear today, regardless of the arrangement and orchestration.
.. and Steptoe and Son
And Tales of the Unexpected with its creepy fairground theme.
11:39 reminds me of the opticon. with patrick later saying it was a series about the onslaught of technology and peoples privacy, it seems now more poignant than ever.
This is my reply,FUCK YOU TH-cam...