the prisoner

quote:

is there a naim connection?

I do not think a snaic was used in 'the Prisoner'

I haven't seen it since the late 70's, when they did reruns on PBS. I think the parallels were interesting in retrospect. The Village representing some sort of futuristic Big Brother or at the time it was made, communist totalitarianism. The McGoohan character representing the plight of the individual at odds with the state.

These days I find that dichotomy/duality a little trite. Though my sympathies for socialistic or even communistic buggerboo's are not as conflicted as they were. Call me a sentimental Trotskyite.

Not really sure what all that drivel means but, seeing as hardly anyone else has posted, I felt I should butt in.



Cheers

BB

quote:

Call me a sentimental Trotskyite.

You are a sentimental Trotskyite.

Sorry.

Feeling literal tonight.

Hey, don't worry about it, I've been called worse.

Portmeirion is well worth a visit if you are ever in North Wales. It's exactly like it was in the series. Contrary to expectations, it isn't flooded with Prisoner ephemera, just one small shop. At least it was when I visited about 6 or seven years ago.
Be seeing you.

c'mon, guys - wouldn't drake have had a nait and a set of kanns?? he stipulated "no kissing" in his scripts, so he had to get his entertainment somewhere.

bb - i'm not going to call you a "sentimental trotskyite." i'm calling you late for dinner...

As The prisoner was first shot in 1966 and Naim didn't sell domestic kit until the 1970s and Linn were formed in 1973 it seems highly unlikely that No.6 would have had any of the kit you mention.

Hi all,

I'm a big Prisoner fan and have been a member of the appreciation society since the mid 70's. I still get a thrill from hearing the intro music and seeing McGoohan striding purposefully along the corridor towards his boss' office to slam down his resignation. In fact, I have practiced that gait and scowl for about 30 years now and have become quite good at it.

On a couple of the motorcycle forums I visit my moniker is Number 6, and my sign off is "Be seeing you".

Fidelio, - the Beatles song was "All You Need Is Love".

Big Brother, - I think you may be a little off-base with the communist allegory as one of the main difficulties for Number 6 was that he did not know which side (if any) ran the village.

Questions are a prison for oneself and a burden to others.
Mark Dunn

Portmeirion is a really great place to visit. Noel Coward stayed there often and in June 1941 he wrote Blythe Spirit while staying there.

And then came John Drake Every country has it's secret service ..... a messy job that's when they call for me, the name's Drake, John Drake. Best episode is Colony Three where Drake is sent to a self-contained village where agents are being trained for infiltrating the UK - it is a blueprint for The Prisoner

While filming the Danger Man episode View From A Villa in Portmeirion, Patrick McGoohan felt it would be a good place to film again one day. The rest as they say is history - The Prisoner was one of the most innovative and interesting programmes every made for British TV.



Number 6: Where am I?
Number 2: In the Village.
Number 6: What do you want?
Number 2: We want information.
Number 6: Whose side are you on?
Number 2: That would be telling. We want information... information... information.
Number 6: You won't get it.
Number 2: By hook or by crook, we will.
Number 6: Who are you?
Number 2: The new Number 2.
Number 6: Who is Number 1?
Number 2: You are Number 6.
Number 6: I am not a number, I am a free man.

Another superb film with Pat McGoohan is Scanners.

From a time when it was worth having a TV.

See Six of One for loads of stuff about The Prisoner

Any one got Corgi 'The Prisoner' Mini Moke? That may be a Dinkey one of course.
Personally I'd rather have the Lotus 7 car or should that be KAR (120C).

Howard

bob m, i understood the date problem w/ the linn/naim gear. but this is "padded cell." so i suppose it would have to have been leak or quad, ok.

i had a friend who had a super 7 kit. never got it put together right as i recall. sooo long ago ....

Be seeing you

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Portmeirion is a really great place to visit.

The Prisoner was one of the most innovative and interesting programmes every made for British TV.

Yup, pity about the ending though.
I believe you can rent some of the houses for holiday breaks.

I had some of the episodes on VHS, but not any longer. I came to conclude that rather than being a deep democracy vs communism comment, it was actually just a load of old bollocks and PMcG probably didn't have a plot in the first place. I think he just got lucky with an idea and ran with it without knowing what it was about himself. A product of the times and the products of the times, if you get my drift.
I don't think it's watchable now, unfortunately. I think it took itself too seriously.
Give me Department S anyday.

quote:

Originally posted by bob mccluckie:
As The prisoner was first shot in 1966 and Naim didn't sell domestic kit until the 1970s and Linn were formed in 1973 it seems highly unlikely that No.6 would have had any of the kit you mention.

Quite right, But out of interest in the episode - Hammer into Anvil - No2 is seen playing LPs on a Garrard Lab80.
A tt that i also owned in the middle/late 60s

"I'm not a number, i'm a free man"

Regards
Chris N

quote:

Originally posted by Rasher. PMcG probably didn't have a plot in the first place. I think he just got lucky with an idea and ran with it without knowing what it was about himself.
I don't think it's watchable now, unfortunately. I think it took itself too seriously.

He did admit that he ran out of time before he could think of a plausible ending. A product of its time most definitely, but that is why I think it retains its charm and watchability (is that a word?).

quote:

Originally posted by Malky:
I believe you can rent some of the houses for holiday breaks.

Yes - I have done. They are excellent VFM.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Yes - I have done. They are excellent VFM.

So, you escaped from the village without any problems then?

quote:

Originally posted by Malky:

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Yes - I have done. They are excellent VFM.

So, you escaped from the village without any problems then?

Nope, I'm still there - are you the new number 2?

Nope, I'm not a number. I'm a free man.

Well, I'm something of a fan. At it's best, it was quite wonderful and thought provoking television (and streets ahead of much of what is on today).

Favourite episodes for me include Checkmate (where his escape plan in undermined by the very idea that made it possible), Hammer into Anvil (where he decides to turn the tables and 'break' number 2), Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling (where his mind is swapped into someone else's body, yet he is unable to convince his former employers who he is) and Living in Harmony (the western-set anti-Vietnam war episode, which I believe wasn't shown in the states).

I also love the theme tune (and the credits of McGoohan resigning angrily and then storming off in his Lotus).


However, I think, even for its most diehard fans, the final episode must be tougher to defend. I think the story, as I recall, is that the cancellation of the show was announced and so McGoohan wrote the episode in something of a rush - there have been suggestions that he went out of his way to make it even less explicable than the rest of the series.


There have been rumours floating around of remakes, but I can't help thinking that would be a shame as I can't imagine it being anything but inferior.

regards, Tam

I agree with rasher. Twins Peaks was the same.

quote:

Originally posted by acad tsunami:
I agree with rasher. Twins Peaks was the same.

And 'Lost'.

I heard the writers of "Smallville" talking a couple of weeks ago about how long the programme will run, and they said that it wouldn't go further than series 8 as an absolute maximum, as they didn't want it to go "Lost". They then explained that Lost was written for 3 series, but when it took off so well in the USA, the studio asked the writers to pad it out for 13 series instead, and boy...does it show or what!!