'The Prisoner' set to return?

[adav]

I wonder if I am the only 16 year-old who knows about / loves The Prisoner? It was my dad's favourite programme

NEW VERSION MUST HAVE:

• The Lotus
• The same beginning sequence, inc. same underground carpark
• Must remain oddly British like original
• an episode like where he finds nobody in the village and escapes on a raft, to be dropped back - the best original one i think
• the crazy map with just Mountains and the Beech
• Penny-farthings

I think a new village would be interesting though.

(I seem to be even more geekish than i previously thought - OH NOES!!! )

 

[darkwing]

I wonder if I am the only 16 year-old who knows about / loves The Prisoner? It was my dad's favourite programme

NEW VERSION MUST HAVE:

• The Lotus
• The same beginning sequence, inc. same underground carpark
• Must remain oddly British like original
• an episode like where he finds nobody in the village and escapes on a raft, to be dropped back - the best original one i think
• the crazy map with just Mountains and the Beech
• Penny-farthings

I think a new village would be interesting though.

(I seem to be even more geekish than i previously thought - OH NOES!!! )

I knew about it since I was like 13. Of course that was 15 years ago.

Nice spelling of "beach".

 

[FrankBlack]

One of my faves is the one called "Hammer into Anvil". In this one, Number 6 simply uses the paranoid, "who is watching whom?" nature of the Village, to drive the new number two to the point of a break down.

I also enjoy the one called "The General".

Man, it has been almost forty years since this first aired on American television.

 

[adav]

Nice spelling of "beach".

lol didnt notice that

 

[Doctor Q]

Patrick McGoohan died Tuesday.

About his role in The Prisoner:

He was heroic in a way that mixed the self-reliance of the classic secret agent with the comedy of the new age's anti-authoritarian tricksters. Good-looking, in an Everyman sort of way, he had a musical voice, a light step, a twinkling eye -- he was a bit of a John Lennon, come to think of it -- that in itself bespoke a kind of freedom. There was always humor in his contrariness, and if Number 6 was fated corporeally to remain a prisoner -- caught at the border by Rover, the bouncing ball from hell, or shown that his imagined escape was merely an illusion -- he remained himself.

About him turning down the chance to play James Bond and other roles:

Having early in his career deprived himself of an annuity by passing on Bond (and "The Saint," whose Roger Moore became Bond), he more recently turned down both the roles of Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" and Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films. This might have been for reasons of health, as has been reported, but I prefer to think of him once again exercising his right to be perverse: "I am not a wizard," he might well have said, "I am a free man."

 

[IJ Reilly]

Same article I read today, Q. I was trying not to disclose my source.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Can we assume since we haven't heard of this project since 2007, that it's fallen through like so many other projects?

McGoohan himself being prominent in the news this week, it just reminds me of how hard it would be to do a really good remake. You're five steps behind already considering the fact that it would be hard to find an actor with the quirkiness, the odd delivery, the fire, the very screen presence of Patrick McGoohan.

Same article I read today, Q. I was trying not to disclose my source.

We have many ways and means of making you talk, but we do not wish to damage you permanently....

 

[IJ Reilly]

We have many ways and means of making you talk, but we do not wish to damage you permanently....

Too late.

My fantasy for a sequel was McGoohan as Number One.

 

[JNB]

Too late.

My fantasy for a sequel was McGoohan as Number One.

He was Number 1, remember?

 

[IJ Reilly]

He was Number 1, remember?

Was that in the last episode of the series? Been a long time since I've seen it.

 

[JNB]

Was that in the last episode of the series? Been a long time since I've seen it.

Yeah, the final one didn't make it to the States for quite a while. Turned out it was aliens observing, and he was actually the focal point of the study, or something equally off the wall. He pulls the mask off #1, and he's looking at himself. Or maybe it was a clone. Coulda been a Scientologist. Brit Sci Fi, what can I say?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Yeah, the final one didn't make it to the States for quite a while. Turned out it was aliens observing, and he was actually the focal point of the study, or something equally off the wall. He pulls the mask off #1, and he's looking at himself. Or maybe it was a clone. Coulda been a Scientologist. Brit Sci Fi, what can I say?

That was the "dry bones" episode, right? If so I remembers seeing it in sequence with the rest of the series. But again the last time was eons ago.

 

[JNB]

That was the "dry bones" episode, right? If so I remembers seeing it in sequence with the rest of the series. But again the last time was eons ago.

That rings a bell. It has to be at least ten years since I've seen it myself.

 

[Thomas Veil]

That rings a bell. It has to be at least ten years since I've seen it myself.

I recall that scene clearly. However just in case there's somebody who hasn't seen it, I'll put out a

SPOILER WARNING

Drag across the text below to read.

Number 6 is taken to a control room to meet Number 1. He climbs a winding stair, and finds a hooded, robed figure sitting at the controls. The figure turns around, and it's someone wearing an ape mask. Number 6 rips off the ape mark only to be confronted with...himself, laughing maniacally.

The scene is bizarre, though I'm sure it's meant to be taken symbolically more than literally. Interpretations vary, but this is the one I like:

In any democracy, leaders are a reflection of the citizens that put them in a position of power. If the leaders are oppressors or fools, well, the people made a choice; apparently that's what they wanted. You look into the face of a George Bush or a Barack Obama, and in a way you see your own face back. You voted for him.

This is further reinforced when Number 6 has escaped the Village. At the very end of the episode, he goes home. The door of his home (which creepily opens up automatically, just as the doors in the Village do) is marked with a number 1.

Had nuthin' to do with aliens, however. At least, the way I see it.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I recall that scene clearly. Had nuthin' to do with aliens, however. At least, the way I see it.

The other interpretation is that we're all prisoners of our own minds. It's the one prison from which none of us can ever escape.

 

[RedTomato]

I was splashing out on Amazon last week. Treated myself to the complete Blackadder, the complete Monty Python, the complete Yes Minister, the complete Fawlty Towers. (what can I say - I had a rubbish Xmas).

I nearly bought the complete Prisoner - but it was too expensive, £40 for the box set - all the other box sets were around £10-20.

Was very very tempted, as I've never seen more than a couple of clips of it, but heard so much about it, but no, too expensive.

Then a couple of hours later, I see on the news that McGoohan has died. Sad moment. RIP.

I will NOT be watching the remake. As it stands, it will only be crap. Same as I refuse to watch remakes in general. No to the Birdcage, no to the modern Solaris (the original was best), no to the Dune 'prequels', no to the faux written 'in the style of Ian Flemming' new James Bond books. If you're genuinely good, you'll be making your own original stuff and getting a reputation through that.

Roxanne was good though, it had the courage to be different, to go its own way. To attract me, the new Prisoner would need to be by Kubrick, or Ridley Scott, or David Lynch, or Guillermo Del Toro, someone like that.

There have been a few other quirky indie films recently too, Little Miss Sunshine, A Beautiful Mind etc - these people would do a good job on a new Prisoner.

For Patrick McGoohan, the only replacement is Daniel Day-Lewis. A quirky, reclusive loner who turns down nearly everything, he's a kindred spirit to Patrick.

Realistically, we'll get George Lucas with Will Smith or Vanilla Ice. Or Hugh Grant.