News

Year: 2009

Directors: Patrick McGoohan / Pat Jackson / Don Chaffey / David Tomblin

Writers: Patrick McGoohan / David Tomblin / Anthony Skene / Terence Feely

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Amazon: link

Review by: agentorange

Series Rating: 9 out of 10

DVD Rating: 7 out of 10

In episode six of the 1968 version of The Prisoner, our hero, Number 6, wakes up to find "the Village" completely deserted. No cheery "good morning" greets him from the shrill local radio girl. No running water awaits him for his shower and shave and no other prisoners are out walking the streets. "This is it," we think. This is his chance to make a get away.

For the next 30 minutes (a lifetime in TV terms) we watch a dead-silent Six plan and execute an elaborate, daring and sometimes dangerous escape. Not one word is uttered, yet we're completely riveted. We know what's coming. We know Six will get the rug pulled out from under him...

Chicago – Patrick McGoohan was ready to quit. After playing secret agent John Drake in over eighty episodes of the British TV show “Danger Man” (known in the Us as “Secret Agent”), McGoohan was clearly in need of a change. Luckily, his script editor George Markstein had a great idea up his sleeve. What if Drake suddenly resigned, and his employers wouldn’t let him go? What if they kidnapped Drake and sent him to a secret location where he couldn’t escape? Markstein was clearly inspired by the actual incidents during WWII where people were incarcerated and under constant surveillance in resort-like prisons. McGoohan loved the idea, and together they created one of the most astoundingly original and richly entertaining programs in television history in “The Prisoner,” recently released on Blu-Ray to coincide with the AMC remake starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

“The Prisoner” debuted in...