"The Prisoner" was a 17-episode British TV series which aired from September 1967 to February 1968. It starred and was co-created by the late Patrick McGoohan, combining science fiction and psychological drama with spy fiction.
Patrick McGoohan died earlier this year. Although never made clear, it's believed by many that John Drake, the protagonist of McGoohan's Danger Man series (Secret Agent in the U.S.) is "The Prisoner," the unnamed British agent (shown above) who abruptly resigns, and then finds himself held captive in a mysterious seaside "Village" that is isolated from the mainland by mountains and sea.
The fact that The show was co-created by Patrick McGoohan and George Markstein further enhances that belief. Markstein was script editor of Danger Man.
In this retelling of the series, spread over three nights and six hours from Sunday through Tuesday, Jim Caviezel stars as Michael (yes, he has a name in this version), the detainee who finds hismelf in the Village. There, like all the other residents, he is designated by a number, not a name. He is now Six, just as McGoohan was.
Ian McKellen ("X-Men," "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy"), who lords over The Village and its huge white beach ball (Rover, from the original series) with an oily, though suave, manner.
As with many sweeping stories, one has to wonder if six hours is enough to comtain the full scope of "The Prisoner." As it was, 17 episodes or the original series still left you wondering. What will happen with only six hours?
Depending on who you ask, the re-imagined Prisoner is either brilliant or visually stunning, but dissatisfying.
In fact, such was the conundrum of the original series. Some see the original "Prisoner" as a classic show, the first "Lost" some called it. Others were lost in the depth and confusion and simply never understood it.
The biggest difference between the two series is the protagonist's profession as it relates to the fantasy world he is trapped in. As we said, the original Six was a spy, in a Cold War fantasy. In the new "Prisoner," Michael is actually a consumer-trends tracker. He tries to escape the corporation he works for and is trapped in a prison of global marketing.
Confusing? Yes. But as McKellan says, "Capitalism offers you freedom, but far from giving people freedom, it enslaves them. That's part of the show's message." Many who took this recent survey would agree.
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