^Wow, that's silly-looking. "Run away! It's a motorised beanie!" For a quick-and-dirty solution, the weather-balloon Rover was vastly more effective and eerie.
The Prisoner (original)...
- Thread starter Warped9
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You'll get some hints, but as noted the actual design was a bit of serendipity. The story goes that the original motorized prop didn't work (it didn't sink into the sea) and looked stupid. Legend has it either McGoohan or the director or the art director was looking up into the sky at Portmeirion and saw a weather balloon and the rest is history.
I hope you have the Blu-ray version. It's spectacular. Also, note that there is an alternate version of Arrival in the set, with some additional scenes and alternate takes. Save it (and the alternate version of Chimes of Big Ben) till after you've seen the full series, though.
Arrival has always been one of my favorite episodes. The sad part is the woman who played, er, "The Woman" (the one who gives 6 the Electropass) was a rising star in film and TV at the time named Virginia Maskell and she committed suicide only a few months after the episode was broadcast.
A piece of happier trivia: I read somewhere that Arrival was filmed in September 1966 - around the time the original Star Trek debuted on US TV.
I envy Warped9. Nothing ever equalled my first exposure to The Prisoner back in the 1980s when it aired at 1 AM on the CBC. It still ranks as the best TV series of all time, in my opinion, and that's after 25 years of added competition. While so many series - even to an extent Trek TOS - have dated over the years, I find relatively little of The Prisoner except for a couple of cold war references and some incidental music has dated very much at all.
And Portmeirion, Wales, the holiday village where much of it was filmed, is virtually unchanged from 45 years ago.
My favorite episode is A, B & C. I won't spoil except to say that when I first saw the episode I actually hated it. But subsequent viewings removed layers of the onion and it shot to the top. I'm also a huge fan of the finale episode, especially given some of the backstory behind it. This won't be a spoiler: according to a book on the making of the series, the show was cancelled and McGoohan was given only a few days to write the finale and had to recruit one of the guest stars to write some of his own dialogue. I won't go into more detail except to say what they came up with was quite remarkable. I wouldn't say it was an intentional "f-you" but I can imagine there had to have been some aspect of that. And there was no Network to say "f-you" to, really, but the show's financiers.
McGoohan's plan was to originally do only 7 episodes (remember this is UK TV so short runs are the norm over there), but Lew Grade, who bankrolled the show, wanted more episodes for US sale. He was also probably pissed that McGoohan cancelled the Grade-financed Danger Man (aka Secret Agent) two episodes into production of its 4th season in order to make The Prisoner. To put that into context, in 1966 that was the equivalent of Mark Harmon filming 2 episodes of NCIS, going into the CBS offices, saying "I'm cancelling the show" and going off to make something esoteric; not only that, but Danger Man production had just converted to color, so add to that Harmon closing the show after the network spends a ton of money on, I don't know, 3-D cameras or HD. It was a huge deal back in the day, and you'd never see anyone get away with doing that now. Danger Man could have run several more years. At least one cancelled Danger Man script (Girl Who Was Death) was used in the latter half of The Prisoner when McGoohan began running out of ideas.
One more bit of trivia: the episode Living in Harmony was actually banned from US TV because CBS refused to show it. When you get there try to figure out why...
Alex
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I inherited my father's beloved 10-volume DVD set from A&E when he passed away a couple of years ago. I wasn't sure I wanted it at first, but it was important to him so I figured I should keep it. It has the alternate "Chimes of Big Ben," but no alternate "Arrival," apparently.
A couple of more direct genre connections: The Prisoner's iconic theme is by Ron Grainer, composer of the even more iconic Doctor Who theme; and its producer/co-creator David Tomblin was later the first assistant director on the first three Indiana Jones films, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
Yep. According to McGoohan, there are seven "core" episodes that really matter (in his preferred order, "Arrival," "Free For All," "Dance of the Dead," "Checkmate," "The Chimes of Big Ben," "Once Upon a Time," and "Fall Out"), and the other ten are nonessential. There are certainly some solid standalone episodes in the "extra" ten, but there are also a few that are pretty blatantly filler.
And I gave my father my 10-disc set when I upgraded to the Blu-ray. The alternate cut of "Arrival" as I understand it hadn't been discovered when A&E put out its set. It got released in the UK first in the equivalent set out there. There was some grumbling about it not being included when A&E issued a "slimline" version of the Prisoner set, but it's now pretty clear they were holding it for the Blu-ray. Unlike the alternate Chimes, which could not be upconverted because of the condition of the original film, they were able to upconvert Arrival 2.0 fully to HD for the Blu-ray.
Oh yeah, Grainer's theme is incredible (though some histories of the show credit McGoohan with elements of the melody). It's interesting to hear the rejected theme music (heard in the Arrival and Chimes of Big Ben alternate versions). The Albert Elms theme can still be heard as incidental music during the broadcast version of Arrival (such as when 6 is making his way towards the helicopter). I only recently discovered there was a third theme considered by another composer. It's on YouTube but I can't remember who did it. It sounded really non-Prisoner to me.
One other genre connection: the alternate version of Chimes of Big Ben (I can't remember if it's in the televised version) includes a brief image of stars in the sky, which had been created by the special effects team working on 2001 A Space Odyssey right next door to the Prisoner sets! It's unclear whether the image was lent to or "borrowed" by the Prisoner SFX team! But it's cool to think that a few feet away from No. 2's chamber or the interior of No. 6's house they were filming 2001 - arguably one of the most Prisoner-like films ever made!
What's great is even the filler is head and shoulders above most other TV. "Hammer Into Anvil" is just excellent, and I already mentioned A, B & C which should have been considered a "core" episode. Presumably "Fall Out" was conceived somewhat differently when McGoohan came up with his initial 7 since he had to compose a finale so quickly.
Reading about the history of the series, I'm fascinated by what was being considered for its SECOND season. I'm trying to write this so as not to spoil Warped9, but apparently the concept behind the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" was supposed to be the template had the series not been cancelled after 17. I've even seen it referred to as a "relaunch pilot". Fortunately they only did the one because I don't think the revised concept would have worked.
I was going to put a "spoiler-protected" explanation, but then I realized that anyone who replies to this post would see the spoiler, so I'll wait till Warped9 gets to Do Not Forsake Me!
Alex
No question virtually everything in this show is symbolism at work.
"Free For All" ****
Number 6 runs for election for the position of Number 2.
Talk about cynicism in regards to politics and elections.
6 is persuaded/manipulated to run for the position of Number 2, but even as he wins he loses. This really illustrates that you can promise the sheep (who'll follow just about anyone) anything you want as long as it's business as usual once you get into office. And beware those being friendly or posing as friends interested in your welfare because they're more likely than not just setting you up to get stabbed in the back. And if you actually try to implement some of your promises roadblocks and having your chain yanked will ensue.
"Free For All" ****
Number 6 runs for election for the position of Number 2.
Talk about cynicism in regards to politics and elections.
6 is persuaded/manipulated to run for the position of Number 2, but even as he wins he loses. This really illustrates that you can promise the sheep (who'll follow just about anyone) anything you want as long as it's business as usual once you get into office. And beware those being friendly or posing as friends interested in your welfare because they're more likely than not just setting you up to get stabbed in the back. And if you actually try to implement some of your promises roadblocks and having your chain yanked will ensue.
No question virtually everything in this show is symbolism at work.
"Free For All" ****
Number 6 runs for election for the position of Number 2.
Talk about cynicism in regards to politics and elections.
I really like Free For All; quite light-hearted in some (admittedly very cynical) ways. Is it really the second episode? I seem to remember it being a bit later in the series? Oh well, it's been a while since I watched it last.
^There are a lot of differing episode orders for the series. Wikipedia has an overview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Prisoner_episodes
"Free For All" was the second episode produced and the fourth one in the original broadcast order.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Prisoner_episodes
"Free For All" was the second episode produced and the fourth one in the original broadcast order.
The episodes should be ranked 1-6 stars. 
But as in tune with the current Zeitgeist as rebellion and nonconformity was in the 60s, unfortunately.
Indeed. I miss that a lot.The word you're looking for is psychedelic colour. Trust me on this.
Bottom line is, though, it doesn't really matter what order they're watched, so long as Arrival comes first, and Once Upon a Time and Fall Out (which form a two-parter) come last. I'd also recommend watching Hammer Into Anvil fairly late in the run.
Alex
The first attempt at a theme was by Robert Farnon, who's a really famous and brilliant composer. Check out his "Experiments in Space" suite - some of which is used in The Prisoner in fact. His theme was not right for the Prisoner though - sounds like a Western. He also wrote an incidental score for Arrival, and much of that survives and is re-used in later episodes. The cues built around the "pop goes the weasel" theme are all his for instance. The second theme attempt was by Wilfred Josephs, which is a really discordant piece which sounds like an orchestra trying to play three different tunes at once - which was something of Josephs's style. He also wrote an incidental score for Arrival, which gets heard here and in later episodes - the helicopter escape as you say, and lots of nursery rhyme sounding pieces. Unlike these two, Grainer only wrote a theme tune (althought there were five variations on it heard at different points in the series). Albert Elms came in to write incidental music for the rest of the series - only a couple of his pieces are tracked into Arrival, but he'll come to be the dominant musical voice of the series. Good thing too, it's one of the best tv scores I've ever heard - he also did the score to Man in a Suitcase, which is equally brilliant. (Though there again, Grainer did the theme tune.)
Well, I think it makes sense to watch "The Chimes of Big Ben" fairly early in the run, since when Leo McKern returns as Number 2, it seems he's been away for a while. Also it makes sense to watch the two Colin Gordon episodes ("The General" and "A, B, and C") next to each other. There seems to be some dissent on which order they should go in, but I think it works better with "The General" first, since Gordon's #2 seems more desperate to break 6 in "A, B, and C," as if it's his last chance after a previous failure. (Although it's been a while since I've watched the series.)
I had always heard that The Prisoner was an "unofficial" sequel to Danger Man - I didn't realize that McGoohan had essentially cancelled it...
Even the creators of the show aren't in agreement about that. IIRC, Tomblin said that Number Six was John Drake, but McGoohan insisted he wasn't, and his biographical info given in "Arrival" doesn't agree with Drake's (it's actually McGoohan's birthdate and such). However, the Prisoner tie-in novel by Thomas M. Disch identifies Six as "Drake" -- though only once, as the very first word of the book.
It's likely that McGoohan avoided identifying Six as Drake because of copyright considerations, as he didn't own that character.
Well, that's the story that's been put about for years, but like a lot of fan wisdom, it may not actually be true. There's some very interesting research to be found here:
http://numbersixwasinnocent.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/mcgoohan-from-his-own-lips-network-must.html
which quotes contemporary accounts that Danger Man was cancelled because the US broadcasters didn't want to buy further episodes. The two colour episodes were specifically shot as an extra to produce a feature film that Lew Grade could market as such (which happened in some markets). I'm not saying that's true - I don't know - but it's an interesting development after all these years, and I know from experience how received wisdom often turns out to be somewhat embroidered, if not just plain wrong. It's certainly true that the Danger Man production team weren't exactly left floored by the cancellation - apart from those who accompanied McGoohan to The Prisoner, the remainder stayed with Sidney Cole to produce Man in a Suitcase.
I'm the opposite: I've *only* seen the remake. Although through spoilers and such, I'm familiar with the gist of the original.
(Side note: For those fans of the remake who are a bit cheesed off that it isn't available on Blu-Ray: you can get it in HD through iTunes.)
"Dance Of The Dead" ****
A new Number 2 tries convince 6 of the futility of his resistance.
6 is obviously stubborn because by now he should be aware that nothing happens by accident in the village. Everything is orchestrated to test and probe his responses. They tolerate certain aspects of his individualism yet they're determined to make him conform eventually.
It's a not so subtle message that isn't really alien to any of us. In many of our own experiences we're faced with the ever present pressure to conform to the majority average and any deviation can be frowned upon. Your eccentricity might be tolerated to a point, but when push comes to shove...
Three episodes in and I'm beginning to get into the rhythm of this series. On some level I wonder if they really do want specific information or they're just telling 6 that. They might just want to know what it takes to break him, or at least bend him.
A new Number 2 tries convince 6 of the futility of his resistance.
6 is obviously stubborn because by now he should be aware that nothing happens by accident in the village. Everything is orchestrated to test and probe his responses. They tolerate certain aspects of his individualism yet they're determined to make him conform eventually.
It's a not so subtle message that isn't really alien to any of us. In many of our own experiences we're faced with the ever present pressure to conform to the majority average and any deviation can be frowned upon. Your eccentricity might be tolerated to a point, but when push comes to shove...
Three episodes in and I'm beginning to get into the rhythm of this series. On some level I wonder if they really do want specific information or they're just telling 6 that. They might just want to know what it takes to break him, or at least bend him.
Saying that Number Six is stubborn is kind of like saying that Batman is concerned about crime.
^ Well put.
One episode that I've always liked is "Hammer Into Anvil." I just think it's brilliant and I LOVE Patrick's performance in it.
Well put.One episode that I've always liked is "Hammer Into Anvil." I just think it's brilliant and I LOVE Patrick's performance in it.
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