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.
I got my composers mixed up - I meant to say Josephs in terms of the "unused" theme that is heard in the alternate versions and in Arrival.
Elms I agree. The show also made use of lots of excellent stock music (including a number of pieces in Fall Out). We also have to give credit to a certain popular British rock group (the name of which I won't say because it'll spoil Fall Out for Warped9) who allowed one of their songs to be used in Fall Out and, thank heavens, the agreement obviously allowed its use in home video releases (unlike the same group's music in a certain other British SF series).
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.)
Can't argue with that, though with this show is there some debate over whether Gordon is actually playing the same man. (The precedent - and Warped9 has already seen Arrival so I can mention this - is when 6 encounters a Village workman in his home, and then a few moments later runs into an identical man out on a Village pathway; twin? Possibly? Though the infamous Eduware Prisoner computer game of the early 1980s suggests a clone...
I had always heard that The Prisoner was an "unofficial" sequel to Danger Man ...
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.
I tend to agree with those who say it wasn't meant to be John Drake. For one thing, the character in The Prisoner is quite different from that of Drake. I've seen every episode of Danger Man, and while there are similarities, McGoohan's overall portrayal of 6 has a different tone than Drake (also, Drake was Irish-American while 6 is 100% British).
Also, there's never been any indication that Ralph Smart - the man who actually created Danger Man and the character of John Drake - ever had an issue with The Prisoner. If the character had been intended to be Drake and the series a spin-off, he'd have sued McGoohan.
All that said, in the late 1960s three original novels based upon the series were published: one by Thomas Disch, a second by David McDaniel, and a third by Hank Stine. The first line of the second book names No. 6 as Drake.
If you want even more confusion, check out the debate over who created The Prisoner. McGoohan often gets sole credit, but George Markstein also claimed credit, saying he based the show on his knowledge of a Village-like facility established during WWII. Markstein, by the way, is the bald gent No. 6 gives his resignation to in the opening credits...
Alex
So it's all about how the establishment screws with your head: The arbitrariness and abuse of power, the struggle against conformity and mediocrity, the strength of individualism.
Well put.
