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The Prisoner A former British secret agent is abducted and held prisoner in a mysterious coastal village resort where all Villagers names are replaced with numbers. His captors try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job by using various unique methods like dream manipulation. I want to rewatch The Prisoner and thought I might make it a group effort. The Prisoner is a wonderfully absurd, surreal, sci-fi show that lasted 17 episodes in the late 60's. The show plays with the ideas of identity, torture, mind control, government, and drugs. Part of what I love about this show is that it has a lot of unanswered questions, both intentionally and unintentionally. Patrick McGoohan (the star and creator) was always vague when answering questions about the show. You never really know if a question you have was intentionally created by the show or just a mess up in production. Some actors reappear in later episodes but they may or may not be the character they played previously. It was never even fully stated if Number 6 is actually the same secret agent as Patrick McGoohan's previous show Danger Man. If you know nothing of The Prisoner, I strongly suggest you just start watching it with little to no knowledge of what it is about. You can stream all of the episodes on YouTube. It does not seem available via Netflix but you can buy it on Amazon. Characters: Number 6  The Secret Agent who resigned wakes up to find that his name has been replaced by the number 6. Played by Patrick McGoohan. He is really the only consistent character throughout all 17 episodes. He just wants to go home. Rover  The most reoccurring character after Number 6. It is a giant balloon that acts a prison guard for The Village. You heard me. Number 2  A rotating cast of characters all desperately trying to extract the reason for Number 6’s resignation through various (sometimes ridiculous) methods. The Butler  The silent servant to Number 2. He has no number. Number 28. The Supervisor  He operates the control room and controls the day to day operations of The Village. Prisoner Resources: Wiki IMDB Back In The Village Podcast A decent podcast that goes deep into every episode, hosted by two rather goony guys The Unmutual A Prisoner news site Episode Order: There is no definitive order in which to watch the show. Some episodes were slotted to play earlier but were pushed, other episodes were played much earlier than the narrative structure would warrant. For example, my DVD set has Chimes of Big Ben as the second episodes, but most fans would agree it should be watched later in the run. There are Three Orders that are well thought out and researched; The Onion’s AV Club, The Prisoner Appreciation Society’s, and one arranged by author/critic Scott Apel. My order most closely resembles The Onion’s AV Club. I would suggest we watch them in the following order: 1 Arrival 2 Dance of the Dead 3 Free for All 4 Checkmate 5 The Chimes of Big Ben 6 The Schitzoid Man 7 The General 8 A.B.C. 9 Many Happy Returns 10 It’s Your Funeral 11 A Change of Mind 12 Hammer Into Anvil 13 Living In Harmony 14 Don’t Forsake Me, Oh My Darling 15 The Girl Who Was Death 16 Once Upon A Time 17 Fallout I thought we could set up a day of the week to watch the episode and then post about it over the next week, like a book club. We could even try to set up a time to press play and try to talk about it while we watch it. Comments... suggestions? EDIT: New episode discussed every Monday. York_M_Chan fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Aug 31, 2016 |
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Jun 16, 2016 21:25
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York_M_Chan posted:I thought we could set up a day of the week to watch the episode and then post about it over the next week, like a book club. Sure, I'll watch this with you (although probably not simultaneously). I've never seen it before and know very little about it, though I have heard of it and know little bits about it from references in other media.
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Jun 17, 2016 06:23
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I'll check it out. I'll be coming for you if Rover doesn't deliver. 
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Jun 17, 2016 10:06
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I'll bite
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Jun 18, 2016 20:59
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I'm always down for even the most tenuous of excuses to rewatch this show.
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Jun 19, 2016 01:15
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To my great shame I've never actually watched a full episode of this show, despite people raving about it all my life. Would be really keen to take part in this - probably can't do a simul-watch but I'd be happy to join in any and all discussion on each individual episode once their "airdate" has passed.
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Jun 19, 2016 01:20
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The Prisoner is one of my favourite cultural artefacts of all time. It also somehow serves as the logical conclusion of all those excellent 1960s spy series like The Man From UNCLE, Mission Impossible, The Avengers et al. I think if anything, it's way more accessible to the modern TV viewer than its original audience, as we've become used to post-Twin Peaks/post-Lost high concept shows (which are all indebted to The Prisoner, naturally) It also has one of the best title sequences/theme tunes of all time. I'm going to go and watch some Prisoner.
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Jun 19, 2016 12:37
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I'm still pissed that someone stole my box set of the show and that was over ten years ago. I feel like if we're going to do a group watch that I should watch some of Danger Man/Secret Agent first...
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Jun 19, 2016 15:04
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I'm always up for re-watching The Prisoner. Looking forward to the reactions of some of the first time viewers.
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Jun 19, 2016 16:16
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dem bones dem bones
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Jun 19, 2016 16:19
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The best part of the intro is Patrick McGoohan's absurdly small car. Also of note, McGoohan directed and starred in (and maybe also wrote?) a Columbo episode where he plays basically the same character. It's as amazing as you're imagining. e: he's actually in FOUR great Columbo episodes, but I think only one has him as being "basically Number Six" precision fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Jun 19, 2016 |
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Jun 19, 2016 17:31
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precision posted:The best part of the intro is Patrick McGoohan's absurdly small car. It's a Lotus Seven, and it's awesome. You can still buy one (now badged as a Caterham 7). 0-60 in 3 seconds 150+mph
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Jun 19, 2016 17:43
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precision posted:The best part of the intro is Patrick McGoohan's absurdly small car. Since Columbo takes place in the Tommy Westphall Universe I think we finally have an explanation for the ending of The Prisoner.
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Jun 19, 2016 18:44
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Loved this series. Anyone watch Danger Man, McGoohan's James Bond show before this, and often said to be the pre-cursor to The Prisoner. Want to know if it's worth watching.
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Jun 19, 2016 23:19
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happyhippy posted:Anyone watch Danger Man, McGoohan's James Bond show before this, and often said to be the pre-cursor to The Prisoner. Yes! It's perhaps a little less compelling as a whole than The Prisoner - it's more of a 'case of the week' format in the vein of The Man From UNCLE and The Saint, but McGoohan's performance is pure copper-bottomed suave (you can see why he was approached to play Bond - but he seems if anything, too classy for all that), and each episode is a great little mini-movie with some very, very clever plotting and fun use and sometimes inversion of spy tropes. There's an episode called Colony Three which operates as a more grounded prototype to The Prisoner, set in a Soviet reproduction of a small English town where KGB agents are trained in the British way of life. It is said that it set off some lightbulbs for McGoohan. Again, amazing title sequence, and goddamn could McGoohan wear a tux. As a side note, we really should have a 60s spy TV Megathread.
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Jun 20, 2016 10:22
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Hooray for interest. So, no simul-cast, which is fine. So lets get on to the first episode. Arrival: After resigning, a secret agent finds himself trapped in a bizarre prison known only as The Village. Number 2:  Played by Guy Doleman I love the opening to this show, even though it is rather long I never get tired of it. The music was composed by Ron Grainer who also composed the Doctor Who theme. I took a closer look at The Village directory:  A Fun Palace?! Why would he want to leave? Also, press 5 for 'Old People' York_M_Chan fucked around with this message at 15:02 on Jun 20, 2016 |
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Jun 20, 2016 14:49
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I watched the full series when AMC had it available on their website as part of the promotion for the remake. I'm down for a re-watch.precision posted:Also of note, McGoohan directed and starred in (and maybe also wrote?) a Columbo episode where he plays basically the same character. It's as amazing as you're imagining. The specific Columbo episode is Identity Crisis, from season 5, episode 3.
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Jun 20, 2016 15:06
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Something I found kind of interesting is how in the first episode Number 6 is shown to be confused by a cordless telephone and wireless speakers. The telephone is especially interesting since it ends up looking like a handset from the late 80s/early 90s.
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Jun 20, 2016 15:12
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I liked his little car at the start. And I'm curious to see where this goes, although it's off to a fairly slow start. I was expecting him to check the coffin at Cobb's funeral, so it wasn't surprising when he turned up alive later. Not much else to say about this episode, it was an OK beginning.
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Jun 20, 2016 15:56
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muscles like this? posted:Something I found kind of interesting is how in the first episode Number 6 is shown to be confused by a cordless telephone and wireless speakers. The telephone is especially interesting since it ends up looking like a handset from the late 80s/early 90s. That's one nice thing that the recent audio adaptation by Big Finish did, they kept the idea of 'futuristic' tech in the Village, by having stuff like touch screens and voice interfaces. The thing I always liked about McGoohan's performance is how righteous and, well, dangerous he manages to seem, without being overly brutal. He's clearly a guy you don't want as your enemy, and a man with nigh-unbreakable conviction, which is necessary to sell the basic premise. The whole breakfast scene is one of my favourite moments in television. To the point where I'm frustrated when other things reference it lazily. To me the key line isn't the "I am not a number" part, it's "My life is my own." I suppose this will vary based on what you consider the most important notion the Village challenges, which is independence, freedom, individuality, or the one this line focuses in on, privacy.
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Jun 20, 2016 16:39
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- It can't be overstated how fantastic the place they filmed in is, you would absolutely be forgiven for thinking they had built the entire place just to make this show - Number Six goes from panic to a kind of quiet bemusement (which becomes his default state later on) - I never before really appreciated how much Dark City cribs from this episode in particular. "I meant a larger map" "Take me to the next town" "Oh, we're only the local service" etc. - I always got the feeling that No. 6 has no real ethical or political reason for not disclosing his reason for retiring. At first he doesn't say because he thinks he may be in the hands of "the enemy", but as things go on you get the sense that he's simply a stubborn bastard. e: "In time, you may come to like this place. May even be given a position of authority." Haha. precision fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Jun 20, 2016 |
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Jun 20, 2016 17:07
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Absolutely one of the best TV shows from the 60s, it was always trying to tell stories in new ways. Peter Pan #2 best #2.
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Jun 20, 2016 17:28
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precision posted:- I never before really appreciated how much Dark City cribs from this episode in particular. "I meant a larger map" "Take me to the next town" "Oh, we're only the local service" etc. Goddamn you are right! Tiggum posted:I liked his little car at the start. And I'm curious to see where this goes, although it's off to a fairly slow start. I was expecting him to check the coffin at Cobb's funeral, so it wasn't surprising when he turned up alive later. Not much else to say about this episode, it was an OK beginning. The show can feel slow at times but I think television just used to be slower. The first Number 2 gets replaced rather willingly in this episode. Also, his "friend" says 'Auf Wiedersehen' which is particularly interesting and a clue of sorts to who may or may not run The Village.
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Jun 20, 2016 17:39
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Dudes and ladies who are watching this for the first time: Given that you're in the year 2016 and have been oversaturated with "mindfuck" television and films, what are your crazy predictions for what's gonna happen later?
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Jun 20, 2016 17:51
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York_M_Chan posted:The show can feel slow at times but I think television just used to be slower. precision posted:Dudes and ladies who are watching this for the first time: Given that you're in the year 2016 and have been oversaturated with "mindfuck" television and films, what are your crazy predictions for what's gonna happen later?
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Jun 20, 2016 18:49
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The Prisoner was decades ahead of its time.
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Jun 20, 2016 18:50
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York_M_Chan posted:The show can feel slow at times but I think television just used to be slower. While watching the first episode again, I noticed how often there are quick cuts. It's definitely a slow show compared to now, but more in how slow overall scenes take, and overall episode pacing. I feel I don't have the language to communicate what I mean. The Rover was originally something else entirely. This video has some clips of it being assembled for shooting, and some other details on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDmfjtuwh2s
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Jun 20, 2016 19:42
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thedaian posted:The Rover was originally something else entirely. This video has some clips of it being assembled for shooting, and some other details on it. The weather balloon was much better than the robot version. While it is goofy, it's goofy in the exact right surreal and menacing way that the rest of the show is.
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Jun 20, 2016 20:01
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When I was a kid and caught random glimpses of this on PBS, I remember seeing one of the parts where Rover actually catches someone and they show the whole "face being pressed through fabric while frozen in a scream" and I was terrified of that poo poo for years
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Jun 20, 2016 20:06
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The whole opening is fantastic. Shooting it with no voices until almost five minutes into the episode takes two completely different structures and merges them into one. Initially, there's only the music because we're only getting the emotion of the scene rather than the text of it, placing the viewer in the same role as the Village and wanting to know more about that resignation. Then it bridges smoothly into the eerie stillness of the Village itself. I feel like Arrival mainly exists to answer the, "Well why doesn't he just __________?" questions that are going to come up with the show. York_M_Chan posted:The first Number 2 gets replaced rather willingly in this episode. Also, his "friend" says 'Auf Wiedersehen' which is particularly interesting and a clue of sorts to who may or may not run The Village. Replacing Number 2 mid episode was a nice touch to set the format for the series. I wouldn't read too much into the German. The Village is very cosmopolitan.
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Jun 21, 2016 00:34
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One of my favourite things about the prisoner is how wildly it oscillates between legitimately amazing 60s spy-fi and good-bad garbage, sometimes from episode to episode. There is/ used to be some pretty funny recap blogs on the bbc page for it, gently making fun of how any given episode plot usually involves pumping 6 full of drugs or hooking him up to a "special machine"
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Jun 21, 2016 03:31
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Roach Warehouse posted:One of my favourite things about the prisoner is how wildly it oscillates between legitimately amazing 60s spy-fi and good-bad garbage, sometimes from episode to episode. I'm pretty sure that was pretty much the writer's process for the series.
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Jun 21, 2016 05:07
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Well I absolutely loved this - even with the absorbed basic ideas of the show having sunk into my mind through cultural osmosis over my life I was still (very pleasantly) shocked and surprised at how fresh and "modern" it still feels even all these decades later - I think a large part of that (for this first episode at least) can be credited to:Random Stranger posted:The weather balloon was much better than the robot version. While it is goofy, it's goofy in the exact right surreal and menacing way that the rest of the show is. This for example, the giant balloon SHOULD be utterly laughable, but it's played so seriously by everybody else (and goes so unexplained) that it succeeds in getting across the menace the concept is meant to - it's oft mocked/echoed over the decades, but the shot of the face pressing in horror against the skin of the balloon is still chilling. The use of the balloon lends an air of the surreal that would have been absent if they'd clunked together some kind of clunky looking robot. Count me in as another who appreciates that the lead (I won't call him Number 6, he's not a number, he's a free man!) appears to have shifted from,"I can't give away info these guys could be the enemy" to "I ain't telling these guys anything because gently caress these guys" while also maintaining the poise that he evidently maintained during his actual career - even when he's furious he never comes across as particularly vindictive or cruel, the guy is a professional through and through. Take the scene where he first meets the new Number 2, he wants to know where the other guy is but when told,"I have replaced him" he basically accepts it. Instead of freaking out about all the weirdness, he fumes about it or ponders it carefully but he doesn't disbelieve his own eyes - as bizarre and maddening as everything is, he doesn't question his own mind or breakdown from the horror, he takes it all in stride. I am really eager to see where they go from here. precision posted:Dudes and ladies who are watching this for the first time: Given that you're in the year 2016 and have been oversaturated with "mindfuck" television and films, what are your crazy predictions for what's gonna happen later? I haven't got a clue and I like that. Frequently in modern "mindfuck" television they either telegraph where they're eventually going or they are obviously making it up as they go along - I don't know if the latter is the case for this show but I think it's not the former - the whole basis of the village seems to be,"Nothing is what it seems" so I'm not taking any of the "clues" like Cobb and Number 2's use of French and German at face value.
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Jun 21, 2016 08:43
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happyhippy posted:Loved this series. Echoing the love for Dangerman -- we've been wending out way through it since last Christmas. Colony Three is a prescient sort of Prisoner episode; another one that also very Prisoner-like is 'The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove' which is a bit mental as some of the stranger (!) Prisoner episodes were. If I'm not mistaken, there are at least one or two unused Danger Man's that ended up as Prisoner episodes...there is a pretty thorough fan website for Danger Man that I found, but the guy has done it up with white text on a black page, and I can't read more than bits of it at a time without getting the start of a head-banger headache. Drake gets himself into so much trouble that Mr Boods has remarked that the 'danger' part of the title must refer to him being a danger to himself -- you don't tell the bad guy who you are and what your plan is when he's got a gun on you, six thugs in the room, and your back up has no idea where you are! Drake always wins, but golly does he get knocked up the side of the head a lot. It's also a fantastic show for playing Spot the Star -- Patrick Troughton shows up as a baddie in a couple of the first series' episodes, for example, as does Kate O'Mara and Jacqueline Pearce in small roles. And in series 1, you get to see Portmerion every time the show is set in Rome. And any time an episode takes place in Japan, China, or various East Asian nations, you know the awesome Burt Kwouk is going to show up. Any hat you see Drake wearing is Patrick McGoohan's own hat. Dude loved his hats. And if you like the tiny Lotus 7, Drake drives a number of tiny cars as well, including a bitty Mini and loads of insectile Citroens. The first series is a little jarring as Drake is American, and, at about 28 minutes an episode, they jam so much action and dialogue into it, you come away reeling a bit. Plus, it's got a terrific theme tune! Enjoy some 'High Wire' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u6jYfJgj-o Finally, both of us had seen The Prisoner at various times across our youth, but Mr Boods had never seen Danger Man. I saw it as Secret Agent Man as a kid in the US -- so Mr B was quite surprised when I said, 'Notice how Drake is always trying to go on holiday and getting thwarted? And notice at the start of The Prisoner he's packing holiday brochures? Poor sap didn't resign -- he was just trying to go on holiday.'  Roach Warehouse posted:One of my favourite things about the prisoner is how wildly it oscillates between legitimately amazing 60s spy-fi and good-bad garbage, sometimes from episode to episode. Sure that was the BBC? The Prisoner is an ITV programme....(mainly asking as I'd like to read it!)
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Jun 21, 2016 08:54
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Ms Boods posted:Plus, it's got a terrific theme tune! That wasn't the theme in the US. This was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iaR3WO71j4 ("They've given you a number, and they've taken 'way your name," huh?)
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Jun 21, 2016 12:33
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Random Stranger posted:I wouldn't read too much into the German. The Village is very cosmopolitan. See, I disagree. He was supposed to be a British spy, so for him to talk German makes you think "double agent" but with everyone peppering in foreign languages it plays to the idea that the spy game is a confuddled mess with no idea whose side anyone is on. This show is during the cold war, correct? So, speaking German would be a particularly enigmatic thing for the audience to hear.
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Jun 21, 2016 14:55
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Hell yeah. I haven't rewatched this show in years. I probably haven't seen it since the awful AMC remake. We should watch that one afterwards too to laugh at it
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Jun 21, 2016 15:52
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York_M_Chan posted:
On reviewing this list, I'm a bit confused why you have A, B & C before The General. I would suggest swapping them.
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Jun 21, 2016 16:38
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Tsaedje posted:On reviewing this list, I'm a bit confused why you have A, B & C before The General. I would suggest swapping them. You are right. Agreed. I will update the OP
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Jun 21, 2016 16:58
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Random Stranger posted:That wasn't the theme in the US. This was: Yep -- that's how I saw it as a kid (as in the post above): Ms Boods posted:
That line 'They've given you a number, and they've taken 'way your name' isn't baffling at all -- his name's been replaced by a number. More baffling is why Johnny Rivers insisted that Drake was secretly Asian...  'High Wire' does appear in the US version, but in a cut down version after the credits...the UK Dangerman theme is actually a very short motif, then there's a cold open (don't get attached to any of those characters, cos like in the subsequent Police Squad!, characters in the cold open usually get killed), then 'Hire Wire' plays over the credits (featuring footage of planes landing or shots of Drake driving his tiny Mini like a maniac around London with no regard for lane discipline or other traffic. You half expect him simply to pull up on the pavement at headquarters a la Marc Bolan.) The series 1 Dangerman theme is quite different, but I can't at the moment find a clip on YouTube that's just the theme and not a complete episode. Same composer, though. What's amusing in watching DM after seeing the Prisoner a billion times are various sound effects and things that appear in DM -- Drake uses 'Be seeing you!' as his goodbye throughout the series, and sometimes his bosses have hidden offices (while undercover) with doors that open and shut with the same sound effect as the Village house doors.  All this reminds me that we seriously gotta get our acts together chez Boods and hit up Portmeirion for a mini break.
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Jun 21, 2016 17:47
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