Who remembers the television series "The Prisoner?"

[KatyaR]

A secret agent resigns, is abducted and then awakens in a strange town known simply as The Village. He's been assigned a new name -- No. 6. The man-in-charge of the place seems to be someone called No. 2. Why No. 6 has been brought to The Village is never made clear -- except for No. 2's vague demand for "information." Which side No. 2 represents is also unclear, especially since the person holding the position is constantly changing. And who and where exactly is the omnipotent No. 1?

Created by star Patrick McGoohan and head writer George Markstein, The Prisoner ran for 17 episodes from 1967 to 1968. Whereas most TV series advance a linear storyline over the course of a season, The Prisoner took a different strategy by employing a uniquely elliptical narrative. In each episode, one of two plotlines occur: No. 6 tries to escape (but fails) or he's subjected to some kind of torture/interrogation. Either way, the status quo remains the same by the closing credits: No. 6 is still imprisoned in The Village; No. 2 is still in control. The fact that the episode order is often in dispute -- since episodes were sometimes broadcast out of sequence -- only underscores the unimportance of a conventional through line.

AMC now has all 17 episodes online for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner-1960s-series/?loc=interstitialskip">AMC>> The Prisoner Classic Series 1967-68

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Loved it. n/t

[Deja Q]

2. I do. Have it on DVD.

I hope they don't remake it...

[Newsjock]

7. Too late

http://www.portmeirion-village.com/content.php?nID=8;ID=88;lID=1

In 2009, AMC and ITV will present The Prisoner miniseries, a reinterpretation of the 1960s cult hit series starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan.

... Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ , The Thin Red Line) will play the role of "Number Six" and two-time Oscar Winner, Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, The Da Vinci Code) will co-star as "Number Two."

[Donnachaidh]

12. Great -- let's make another crappy re-make of a classic

After all, that re-make of Psycho with Vince Vaughn and Ann Heche did SOOOOOO well. :eyes:

Patrick McGoohan will ALWAYS be Number Six. ALWAYS!

[Deja Q]

13. McKellen as #2 - it might be good after all.

I will have to check it out...

[Donnachaidh]

21. I may check it out

But I had such a HUGE crush on McGoohan growing up, first in Disney movies, and then, in the Prisoner. He was just too damned cool to be real.

I *hope* it's okay, especially with McKellen. I'd sit still just to hear him read the phone book.

[poiuytsister]

55. The Scarecrow?

He was so good in that, as a kid that laugh scared me stiff. Poiuyt has the DVD of that.

[Richard D]

3. Number 9, number 9 . . .

[elocs]

Loved it too. My library has had all the episodes for years. n/t

[ananda]

4. Brilliant show!

This could arguably be the greatest
series ever created.

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. Yes! that and star trek.

[Taverner]

5. Not first run, but in the 80's on Bay Area PBS 54 - yes I do!

Show was CLASSIC!!!

[JuniperLea]

6. OMG!!!

I was just telling my b/f about this the other night, but couldn't remember the name of the show! Thanks for posting!! Now gotta go link the dude to it... awesome!

[machI]

8. Meet the new #2

<>

...you will be absorbed...

[YOY]

10. He's a number 2 alright...

n.t.

[machI]

16. He needs to be a prisoner

[SpiralHawk]

39. May the farts be with him!

[Lochloosa]

45. Delete

posted in wrong place

[leveymg]

51. No. 2 was always replaced after he failed.

His mission was to trick No. 6 into revealing why he had resigned. That information was never obtained.

No. 2 failed. In the last episode, No. 2 was an all-knowing computer that ran The Village and was programmed by a bunch of gov't sociologists to create predictive profiles of dissidents and defectors. Doesn't that sound familiar? No. 6 destroyed the data processor by asking the single question, "Why?". That scene was scored to the Beatles original recording of "All You Need is Love" -- the only TV or movie to be granted rights to their original recordings. It seems that someone in the Beatles was also a Prisoner fan.

In the chaos that ensued the self-destruction of No. 2, No. 6 commandeered The Village's helicoptor and made it back to his London flat, where he is recaptured in the original title scene. The series starts over again. Watch the final episode as a double-feature with "The Wicker Man", another British Production made on the Isle of Man about the same time.

No. 2 always fails to find out why No. 6 resigned MI6, and No. 6 always fails to escape MI6. Perfect Boolean loop.

[machI]

54. I thought he left the village in a semi-trailer with the side missing

Like a truck pulling a room of furniture into town with people on the street looking inside.

[leveymg]

56. interesting. I remember his getting into that loud French jet helicopter.

Come to think of it, that was a different episode. It's been a decade since I saw it last. Existential spy satire has never been better.

[machI]

57. Decade? I watched it on a Black 'n White TV

Changing channels required getting up and walking over to the TV and turning a knob.

I think I will make it a point to watch it again, just to see how my old memories line up with what I really saw.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Wow thanks......

I cut my cable and rely on the net for my TV fix


Love the show.

[timtom]

11. I saw it in rerun on PBS in 1978 or 1979

It had post-show commentary by a Canadian, Warner Troyer and it was called "The Prisoner Puzzle".

I now have the DVD set.

[ogneopasno]

14. We have the DVDs.

[DearAbby]

15. I vaguely remember it....must of came on opposite of

some western...Dad was totally hooked on Westerns, and we only had the one B&W TV.

[truedelphi]

36. We had two TV's but my mom had us in bed

Like at Nine o'clock every night.

It doesn't surprise me at all that I am a night owl. And I still have not caught up to the level of friends who watched all the classic late night horror movies back when they were eleven or twelve. I never saw those till I was an adult.

So question for you - do you like Westerns yourself? Or did the inner rebel take over once you were out on your own??

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. "I'll be seeing You"

that was the greeting in the strange village. Watched the series about 2 years ago. LOVED IT.

[Greyskye]

19. The evil Psicop character Bester in Babylon 5 used that phrase constantly.

Definitely an homage to The Prisoner. :thumbsup:

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. Interesting. I hadn't yet seen 'The Prisoner" when I was watching B5.

[Greyskye]

20. Q: "Who is Number 1?"

A: "You are Number 6."


Part of the fun of the show was the multiple ways you can interpret that exchange. :D

[Jack Rabbit]

26. Bwahahahaha!

[Jack Rabbit]

27. OK, Prisoners, here you go . . .

Please click here.

[Liberal_in_LA]

35. Yep.

[immoderate]

48. Right. I got a strong impression from the last episode...

That Number 6 was Number 1. I'll have to watch them again.

--IMM

[leveymg]

52. Bingo. Perfectly circular. Please see my comment above.

The whole village seemed to be set up just to get information from No. 6. "What do you want?" "Information" "What sort of information?"

How far would the Firm go to find out why the head of the CIA or MI6 suddenly resigns? Look at what they did to Yuri Nosenko, who was just a common Soviet defector suspected of being a double-agent.

[madrchsod]

22. i never missed an episode..

light up a joint and watch the prisoner...those were the days

[ConsAreLiars]

23. I STRONGLY advise that any who do not know this unique series use this chance

to view it. It is excellent, provocative, innovative. and unique in too many ways to begin to describe. Just watch.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. I bought the DVD set

One of my favorites of all times.

First shown on U.S. TV in the 1960s, when the networks still showed the best of British television in the original versions.

[Historic NY]

25. I was at the fictional Village of Portmeiron...where the series is set.

http://www.portmeirion-village.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmeirion

[BrklynLiberal]

28. Great show. Thanks for the heads up.. The theme song was fantastic..

[Pithlet]

29. Great show. I have a few episodes on DVD.

:thumbsup:

[Blue_Tires]

30. i'll take a look

i never even knew of the show until that "simpsons" spoof a few years back

[quiet.american]

31. Thanks for the alert! Remember it? I've got the whole DVD collection! :) nt

[RufusTFirefly]

32. Best TV series ever

I taped all the episodes off the air during the VHS era and have owned the DVDs for years now.
I was only 8 when it was originally broadcast in the US, but it left a lasting impression.
(I even saved up my allowance and bought a lava lamp.)

Forty years later, whenever I see something in the Albertus font, I still think of "The Prisoner" immediately.



Be seeing you!!

[Gregorian]

33. I am not a number! I am a free man!

You, are Number Six.

My original DU username was Number Six.


The other great series was The Young Ones.

[autorank]

37. Thats "mutual" of you;) k*r

Eye, eye, eye

[Bluenorthwest]

38. Withou a doubt

one of the best TV series in the English language. It is a must watch.

[a kennedy]

40. OMG.......loved this series....

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[baldguy]

41. COOL! Thanks!

[PCIntern]

42. Sarah Palin: The Girl Who Was Death n/t

[pink-o]

43. I was 12 years old in 1967

...and you youngies gotta understand that us Boomers had a HUGE counter-culture back then, a subtext that no one over a certain age could sucessfully interpret. "The Prisoner" was shown on PBS (probably because of the British Accents it was immediately assumed to be highbrow) and we Boomers glommed onto it, recognizing it as one of our own. Just like Star Trek, we were not meant to be its original audience, and I'm sure the older generation was flumoxed when we took to it so quickly. Of course, the Prisoner is much more subtle than Star Trek, the symbolism doesn't beat you over the head. And it's non-linear format was really perfect for a generation experimenting with (ahem!) "alternative" ways of thinking! At 12 I was a little young to understand all its nuanced glory, but in one episode they played the Beatles "All you Need is Love" in the days when MSM barely acknowledged the greatest band of the 60s. That kind of thing was enough for me to love "The Prisoner".

To me, the best Sci Fi or fantasy not only has a great storyline, but it also must accurately reflect its present culture and time. I haven't seen "The Prisoner" in years, and I'm glad that it holds up so well, but for those of us who remember how the world was in the 60s, the meaning is even deeper.

[AspenRose]

44. I watched it in the 80s on CBS Late Night

I think I was a little too young to understand it at the time.

[Lochloosa]

46. That white ball gave me nightmares when I was a kid.

[slackmaster]

47. Excellent! I have all 17 episodes on VHS but no working VHS player

Thanks!

K&R

:kick:

[eowyn_of_rohan]

49. I can't count the times I've flashed on The Prisoner these past 8 years

and referred to it in conversation... I watched it after school in the late 60s, early 70s. Sometimes the surrreality was too disturbing and annoying to me. I never DREAMED we'd live to see the day when it would be reality (or on the verge)

adding- I have always wanted to visit Portmeirion, Wales, where the series was filmed. HEre's a site that shows filming locations in that quirky town "Prisoner fans can actually walk where Number Two walked, and run along the beach where Number Six ran"


http://www.virtualportmeirion.com/prisoner/prisoner0.htm

[QueenOfCalifornia]

50. If anyone

reading this has not seen The Prisoner, click on the link provided by the OP and watch the first 3 episodes. You will be hooked. It was way ahead of its time and was by far one of the most creative series ever. It lasted far too short a time but the impact was undeniable.

K&R

[KamaAina]

53. At Yale, we had a "Prisoner Film Society"

we'd go once a week into the engineering auditorium and pay two bucks to watch an episode, like other film societies that showed feature flims (at the time there was one actual theater in New Haven!). The rest of the week we'd spend trading "Prisoner" references and saying 'Be seeing you!... And you!".