Post by Omar on Jun 26, 2006 3:05:34 GMT
The Prisoner is a television show from Great Britain, created by and starring Patrick McGoohan, rumored (but never confirmed) to be loosely based on McGoohan's previous series, "Danger Man".
The plot is about a nameless British Secret Service Agent who abruptly resigns his post, only to be drugged and kidnapped to an island known only as "The Village". There, he is referred to as Number Six, and is constantly being interrogated by a mysterious Number Two (whose identity changes with nearly every episode) as to why he resigned his post. Throughout the 17 episode series, Number Six attempts to escape The Village and outsmart his captors.
The plot description might make it sound like a by-the-numbers show, but it is easily the most ambiguous television program I have ever seen. Many of the episodes became obvious inspirations for films such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "A Clockwork Orange", "Being John Malkovich", "Brazil", and "The Truman Show", among many others.
Some of the episodes dealing only with Number Six's attempts to escape feel repetitive, but luckily, McGoohan got involved behind the camera and made some interesting and provocative episodes, dealing with themes of Cold War paranoia, individualism, the sub-conscience mind, and some Kafkaesque moments of mystery. One episode was completely redone to make The Village appear as an old western frontier town. And the final episode, that raises more questions than it answers, features a gun battle to The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love".
There is no doubt that the show is dated and has the 1960's counterculture look all over it, but it's themes of liberty and individual freedom carry on above it's lesser elements. It was hard to get into at first, but after watching the final episode, I'm convinced that it's one of the best television shows of all time.
The plot is about a nameless British Secret Service Agent who abruptly resigns his post, only to be drugged and kidnapped to an island known only as "The Village". There, he is referred to as Number Six, and is constantly being interrogated by a mysterious Number Two (whose identity changes with nearly every episode) as to why he resigned his post. Throughout the 17 episode series, Number Six attempts to escape The Village and outsmart his captors.
The plot description might make it sound like a by-the-numbers show, but it is easily the most ambiguous television program I have ever seen. Many of the episodes became obvious inspirations for films such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "A Clockwork Orange", "Being John Malkovich", "Brazil", and "The Truman Show", among many others.
Some of the episodes dealing only with Number Six's attempts to escape feel repetitive, but luckily, McGoohan got involved behind the camera and made some interesting and provocative episodes, dealing with themes of Cold War paranoia, individualism, the sub-conscience mind, and some Kafkaesque moments of mystery. One episode was completely redone to make The Village appear as an old western frontier town. And the final episode, that raises more questions than it answers, features a gun battle to The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love".
There is no doubt that the show is dated and has the 1960's counterculture look all over it, but it's themes of liberty and individual freedom carry on above it's lesser elements. It was hard to get into at first, but after watching the final episode, I'm convinced that it's one of the best television shows of all time.
