Re: The Prisoner - TG - Films/DVD Asylum

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Re: The Prisoner

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In Reply to: The Prisoner posted by Dan G. on June 30, 2000 at 08:15:14:

Yes! You're talking about one of my all-time favourite shows.
A terrific series which was pretty much all Patrick McGoohan's work. He developed the idea whilst working on his previous series "Dangerman" (which was a sort of James Bond series). The Prisoner kicked off with the main character (who is never named) being a government agent who for some reason or other decides to resign. Before he can leave the country he is gassed, abducted & sentenced to imprisonment in "The Village", whose inhabitants are either other "retired" agents or guards.
McGoohan originally had seven scripts more or less complete when filming began, and these are usually considered to be the best episodes. Another 5 were written during filming and are a bit weaker. After the initial 12 episodes the series faltered a bit. What I always felt really spoilt it was the double episode finale, which was virtually demanded by the producers to tie everything up and give the series a traditional "ending". It is all very deep and meaningless in a 60s psychedelic manner, but really I'd rather have seen no "ending" at all.
I always felt that the true magic of the series was due to The Village itself - the series exteriors were mostly shot at Portmeirion, on the Welsh coast. It's a bizarre Italianate folly built by an eccentric Welsh architect over a period of 50 years or so, and the whole place is a four star hotel. I stayed there for a couple of days five years ago, and it is magical to visit - particularly after all the day tourists leave and it is left to the handful of paying guests in the evening. There is a web site with a virtial tour of Portmeirion at:
http://www.virtualportmeirion.com/
Cheers
TG

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Fantastic Television - AudioHead 08:00:43 06/30/00 (14)

TV series question for AudioHead. - TAFKA Steve 15:05:59 06/30/00 (7)

"Fantastic Television" says that.... - AudioHead 12:41:02 07/02/00 (0)

Yes ... - TG 09:12:40 07/01/00 (1)

Thanks a bunch! (nt) - TAFKA Steve 13:37:18 07/01/00 (0)

don't know the answer--weird British Sci Fi - petew 19:20:48 06/30/00 (3)

Mono or Epstein Barr? - Dr.Bombay 05:23:03 07/03/00 (2)

same thing, same symptoms, no cure, no treatment (nt) - petew 08:31:09 07/04/00 (1)

Sorry to hear that - Dr.Bombay 09:50:54 07/04/00 (0)

The Prisoner - Dan G. 08:15:14 06/30/00 (5)

Re: The Prisoner - TG 08:55:09 07/01/00 (1)

Thanks for the info- I think I have every episode on tape - Dan g. 07:02:04 07/03/00 (0)

Re: The Prisoner - AudioHead 08:50:05 06/30/00 (2)

Re: The Prisoner - Scott 12:55:59 06/30/00 (1)

Re: The Prisoner - AudioHead 08:45:49 07/01/00 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: The Prisoner - TG 08:55:09 07/01/00 (1)

Thanks for the info- I think I have every episode on tape - Dan g. 07:02:04 07/03/00 (0)

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