The Prisoner

There is a rumour going around on the net that Christopher Eccelston is slated to play the lead role of a new version of The Prisoner.

For me, The Prisoner is one of the seminal television shows that is timeless. Originally aired in 1967, The Prisoner is one of the most unusual and challenging series ever filmed for TV. I believe there has never been anything like it before.

This is a show that has action and adventure, but of a highly unconventional type for TV in the 60s and even now. What also makes the show unique is that some of Britain’s most talented and attractive actresses were on the show but not for the standard romantic role. And it had only one leading character, while only one other running role was of a diminutive butler who never spoke.

The show was originated by Patrick McGoohan himself. He deliberately set out to create a very different image from the one he had in his successful show Danger Man or Secret Agent.

The premise is simple. The opening episode, The Arrival sets the scene. It starts with a character played by Patrick McGoohan resigning from a highly confidential job. The scene shows, without dialogue, an angry man who is determined. When he leaves, he looks relieved, happy with his decision.

Yet as he drives away, a black hearse starts to follow him. As McGoohan parks in front of his place, the hearse parks behind him. And a man dressed in black, looking like an undertaker, follows him.

The character, in his home, starts to pack his stuff. He is placing what look like holiday brochures into a bag when a jet of vapour hisses through the keyhole and he loses consciousness. When he awakes, he is still in his own house. But when he looks out the window, he does not see the skyline of London, but a new world. The Village. Almost subsequent episodes of The Prisoner starts the same way.

The character rushes out of his place, confused. He finds himself in the Village, a gorgeous resort set on the edge of the sea, surrounded by mountains. The Village seems to be cut off from the rest of the world. As the character goes around the Village, he find the people living there represent no particular nationality but every nationality. It is very cosmopolitan. And every one seems to be resigned at being there.

The Village is complete in every way. It has its own shops, cafes, newspaper, recreation centre, you name it, they have it. They even have their own cemetery. The Village is so self-contained, the initial reaction is that the character has found a haven, a place where a man or woman can live contently for the rest of their life. As the character finds with some of the people he speaks with. But all too quickly we, as he, find out you have to be willing to sacrifice your individuality and the will to think.

What makes the Village more sinister is that no one has a name. Everyone has a number. All are watched, continually by unseen eyes, both in and out of the homes that were given to them. Escape is regarded as impossible by those who have come to accept their captivity; those who have acquiesced to the ones running the Village.

The Prisoner meets Number 2, who is the person in charge of the Village. The Prisoner is given a number: 6. When he asks who is Number 1, the question is ignored. And those in charge have no known governmental or political affiliations. The Prisoner nor us know who is running the Village.

And all too quickly, the Prisoner discovers that no one can be trusted. Not even one of his oldest and closest friend who he finds in the Village. And even the women he meets.

From then onwards, we are captivated with his attempts to escape and his rebellion against the efforts to make him conform. It is with the constant demands why he resigned from his job and why should he, of all people, dare challenge authority.

There is no knowing who are friends and who are enemies; who are fellow Prisoners and who are spies. Each episode deserves close examination. And an open mind.

Many of the 17 episodes revolves on the aspect of trying to break Number 6. Each episode has a different Number 2, but a couple do recur. The only recurring character is a diminutive butler who is the right hand man to Number 2.

The Prisoner offers more than a tremendous pictorial appeal and intriguing stories. Many of the stories provides the viewer an opportunity to think and not merely observe. The viewer has an active role in the show.

This is not a simple series. It raises many questions which do not have answers. It makes scathing comments on society and the people in it. And that is reflected in what McGoohan wanted. He said that it is up to each individual viewer to interpret the series in their own way. And to use their imagination. He said:

I believe passionately in the freedom of the individual

He also adds The Prisoner is basically about the dehumanizing, the loss of individuality that is happening to us all in society. Every person is a prisoner to the society they are in, there is no escape. Even if you move to another country. In the end, the series is a comment on life.

But the beauty of the series is that it had generated interesting debate. Be it a scene, a line or image, the viewer can pull out when they want. Some of the points I believe The Prisoner was saying will differ from others. The series is unusual and challenging. Which is original, not only for the 1960’s but also in 2006.

As one website dedicated to The Prisoner brings up that the show provides many questions. Who is the Prisoner? Could it be the viewer him/herself? The Prisoner is kept in a strange but lovely village. Where is it? Who runs it? The answers are open to a myriad of interpretations. Could the village symbolize the prison that is one’s own mind? Could the unseen Number one, the man ruling the village be the symbol of every man’s desire to be the top dog? An evil which must be removed if we are to be free?

And it is just not the aspect of the Village or Number 6. There are so many other details that add to the discussion. Rover, the menacing guardian, is a white balloon-like creature which brings back people who are trying to escape. But it can also kill. Does it symbolize repression and the guardianship of corrupt authority?

Then there is the main Village symbol, the penny-farthing bicycle. It is anachronistic in our current society, a novelty. But could it represent the slowness of progress in our modern civilization?

Then there is the little butler who never once speaks in all of the 17 episodes. He serves without question each number 2 that comes along. Could he represent the little man of every community who is prepared to follow, without question, any established leader? And switch his loyalties as the occasion demands?

The tons of questions is what makes The Prisoner such a provocative show. But McGoohan made sure the show was not just a modern morality play. Each episode is gripping, fascinating and tense. Each story is complete unto itself, save the last two episodes. And the constant theme is showing one man’s fight for freedom. And it is just not physical freedom but also freedom of mind.

Also by using a complete village, with every amenity possible, we don’t feel like we are in a prison yet we are. Number 6 is constantly trying to escape and we know, in the end, he will not be able to. But many of the episodes give small victories to the Prisoner. And a few episodes use highly imaginative techniques so the show does not become claustrophobic or dull.

One story is set in Paris. Some of the action takes place in the Village but there are cuts to sequences in Paris. One episode has Number 6’s mind transferred into another person’s body and this person is sent to London to find a specific person. Which leads to Switzerland.

The Prisoner pushed the envelope. One episode was a Western drama. Another was a comedy where Number 6 is a secret agent trying to stop a madman who thinks he is Napoleon. You never knew what to expect from the next episode.

This is a show that looks at times dated while other times is looks futuristic. And this is a show that is almost 30 years old. They have cordless phones, the speakers have no wires yet receive radio waves. They can transfer the mind of one person to another. A computer, using sublimable suggestion can help in teaching. The Prisoner has science fiction aspects but it looks like something that is ordinary in the Village.

So now they are talking about a remake. The current information is that Sky One is planning a six-part “thrilling reinvention” of The Prisoner. The director of programmes Richard Woolfe describes the project will be a

sophisticated, high-concept drama to rival anything on the terrestrials and the best of the U.S. It's our biggest drama commission ever and every penny will be evident on screen. We want to capture the imagination of a new generation of viewers.

Also, it is reported the mini-series will be more of a “ultimate conspiracy thriller,” than the sixties fantasy pyscho-drama, executive producer Damien Timmer states.

The new series will entrap you from the opening scene. We hope it will tap into this iconic show's existing cult following, whilst creating a whole new generation of fans.

He also says:

The series is like Pandora's box. Like 24, the new series will entrap you from the opening scene.

I have mixed feeling about a remake. It can be done and done properly. I had my doubts about Battlestar Galatica but they pulled it off. The worries are even heightened by the studio, Granada promising a “radical reinvention” and a plot that will make sense to viewers who the six-episode series.

Originally McGoohan envisions 24 episodes. But because of cost and other things, it was cut to 17. Which is one reason the last two episodes feel rushed and open ended. But at the same time, the show was out to challenge the viewer. When I read things like “make sense” it sends up alarm bells. Make sense to who? The general, mass population so doesn’t want to think?

I suppose I will have to wait before rendering a judgement. Until then, I can curl up with the original episodes and enjoy a thoroughly unique and timeless TV show. And in a day or so, I’ll post a synopsis of each episode for those who are interested.