In My Mind (film)

Last updated
In My Mind
In My Mind.jpg
Blu-ray release cover
Directed by Chris Rodley
Written byChris Rodley
Produced by
  • Tim Beddows
  • Joseph D'Morais
  • Chris Rodley
Starring
Narrated byChris Rodley
CinematographyRoss Tuttle
Edited by
  • Chris Noakes
  • Bradley Richards
Music byTony Burke
Distributed byNetwork
Release date
  • October 30, 2017 (2017-10-30)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

In My Mind is a 2017 British documentary film about Patrick McGoohan and the making of The Prisoner , the late 1960s allegorical science-fiction TV series. The documentary was created and narrated by Chris Rodley for the 50th anniversary of the original airing of the TV series in the UK. The film follows the events surrounding Rodley's visit to interview McGoohan in 1983 for a 1984 documentary about the making of the original series. [1] [2]

Contents

It premiered at 'Fall In', a celebration of the Prisoner TV series held at the original outdoor location of Portmeirion in north Wales and was released on Blu-ray Disc on 30 October 2017. [3]

Summary

In 1983, Channel 4, the newly created fourth television channel in the UK, repeated all 17 episodes of the original series of The Prisoner. Following the airing of the final episode – "Fall Out" – in 1984, the channel had arranged to create a special one-hour programme discussing the making of the series called Six Into One – The Prisoner File. [1]

During the creation of this programme, Chris Rodley flew to California to interview Patrick McGoohan, the co-creator of the TV series as well as acting, writing, directing and producing the series. Since the original UK broadcast of the series during 1967 and early 1968, McGoohan had given very few interviews about what The Prisoner meant. [1]

Rodley had arranged to interview McGoohan in an empty house in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. The recording of this interview was not used and McGoohan requested that they reconvene and re-shoot the interview in Santa Monica. Excerpts from this interview were used in the Channel 4 programme. [1]

It was only after McGoohan's death in 2009 that Rodley revisited the original interview and created the In My Mind documentary about the process of interviewing McGoohan. The documentary includes previously unseen interviews, excerpts from the original series, and portions of McGoohan's 1977 interview in Canada with Warner Troyer. Additionally, interviews recorded in 1983 are included with Lew Grade whose company financed the series, David Tomblin who wrote the first script (with George Markstein) and produced the series, writer Lewis Greifer and art director Jack Shampan. McGoohan's daughter, Catherine, is also interviewed and gives insights into her father's time on the series. [4]

McGoohan later saw the cut of the Channel 4 documentary and hated it. He then produced his own interview documentary, known as the L.A. Tape, excerpts of which are shown in the Rodley documentary. [1] The Channel 4 programme Six Into One – The Prisoner File has never been repeated since first broadcast.

Appearances

Release

The documentary was premiered at the 50th anniversary gathering at Portmeirion, the village in mid-Wales that was used to portray The Village (the prison 'resort' where McGoohan's character Number Six was incarcerated). It was subsequently released by the Network imprint.

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The Prisoner is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job. Patrick McGoohan played the lead role as Number Six. The series was created by McGoohan with possible contributions from George Markstein. Episode plots have elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama, as well as spy fiction. It was produced by Everyman Films for distribution by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Michael Coldwelll (29 September 2017). "IN MY MIND". starburstmagazine.com. Starburst . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. David Bedwell (31 October 2017). "IS THIS REALLY PATRICK MCGOOHAN WE'RE SEEING? – THE PRISONER – IN MY MIND (DVD REVIEW)". ulturehound.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. Greg Jameson (28 November 2017). "In My Mind – Blu-ray review". entertainment-focus.com. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  4. Mark Braxton (13 October 2017). "50 years on, secrets of The Prisoner are finally revealed". radiotimes.com. RadioTimes . Retrieved 2 April 2019.