The Prisoner in popular culture

Last updated

The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. [1] [2] Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama. Since its debut, the series' enduring popularity has led to its influencing and being referenced in a range of other media, such as the film The Truman Show , [3] [4] and the television shows Lost [4] [5] and The X-Files . The producer of The X-Files called The Prisoner "the Gone with the Wind of its genre." [3] The Guardian wrote that "Without The Prisoner, we'd never have had cryptic, mindbending TV series like Twin Peaks or Lost. It's the Citizen Kane of British TV – a programme that changed the landscape." [6]

Contents

For references to The Prisoner in other media see The Prisoner in other media.

Comics

Books

Computer games

Movies

"Although short-lived, it was credited with setting a thematic, at times surreal template for such films as The Truman Show (1998) with Jim Carrey and the current ABC series Lost." [4]

Music

"The Prisoner's musical shadow stretches further into pop culture... Artists as different as Iron Maiden, Supergrass, Roy Harper, The Clash, Michael Penn, XTC, Dhani Harrison and more have riffed directly or indirectly off of The Prisoner." [11]

Radio

Television

"Continuing interest in The Prisoner can be seen in television shows created long after 1967" [18]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Prisoner</i> British science fiction television show (1967–1968)

The Prisoner is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan, with possible contributions from George Markstein. McGoohan portrays Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village after resigning from his position. The allegorical plotlines of the series contain elements of science fiction, psychological drama, and spy fiction. It was produced by Everyman Films for distribution by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portmeirion</span> Village in Wales

Portmeirion is a folly tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in the community of Penrhyndeudraeth, 2 miles (3.2 km) from Porthmadog and 1 mile (1.6 km) from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the Baroque style and is now owned by a charitable trust. It has served as the location for numerous films and television shows, most famously as "the Village" in the 1960s television show The Prisoner.

Number Six (<i>The Prisoner</i>) Character in The Prisoner

Number Six is the central character in the 1967–1968 television series The Prisoner. The unnamed character in the original TV series was played by series co-creator Patrick McGoohan. For one episode, "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", Number Six was portrayed by Nigel Stock due to McGoohan being away filming the movie Ice Station Zebra.

<i>Danger Man</i> British TV drama series (1960–1962, 1964–1968)

Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jools Holland</span> English musician and television personality (born 1958)

Julian Miles Holland is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Joss Stone, Jayne County, Tom Jones, José Feliciano, Sting, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Ringo Starr, Bono, Rod Stewart and Ruby Turner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick McGoohan</span> American and Irish actor, writer, director and producer (1928–2009)

Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American and Irish actor, director, screenwriter, and producer of film, television, and theatre. Born in New York City to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and England, began his career in England during the 1950s and became well known for the titular role, secret agent John Drake in the ITC espionage programme Danger Man (1960–1968). He then produced and created The Prisoner (1967–1968), a surrealistic television series in which he featured as Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village.

The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" is the sixth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 3, 2000. In the episode, Homer buys a computer and creates his own website to spread gossip and fake news. However, when Homer starts writing conspiracy theories about flu shots, he is sent to an island where people who know too much are imprisoned.

The Village (<i>The Prisoner</i>) Fictional setting of the UK series The Prisoner

The Village is the fictional setting of the 1960s UK television series The Prisoner where the main character, Number Six, is held with other former spies and operatives from various countries. The theme of the series is his captors' attempts to find out why Number Six resigned from his job and his attempts to escape from the Village and learn the identity of Number One. Ostensibly, those running the Village – thought by many to be countries around the world – believe that once Number Six is coerced into explaining the motive(s) behind his resignation, all the state secrets he knows will come tumbling out. However, the ultimate use of these secrets is only intimated, but not overtly explored. Beyond its explicit physical setting, the Village is also viewed as an allegory for humanity and society during the Cold War era. Patrick McGoohan notes in various post-show interviews that the Village is "within all of us ... we all live in a little Village ... Your village may be different from other people's villages but we are all prisoners."

Arrival (<i>The Prisoner</i>) 1st episode of The Prisoner

"Arrival" is the first episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series The Prisoner. It was written by George Markstein and David Tomblin, and directed by Don Chaffey. It was first broadcast in the UK on ITV on Friday 29 September 1967, and first aired in the United States on CBS on Saturday 1 June 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Chimes of Big Ben</span> 2nd episode of The Prisoner

"The Chimes of Big Ben" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, The Prisoner. It was written by Vincent Tilsley and directed by Don Chaffey and fifth to be produced. It was the second episode to be broadcast in the UK on ITV on Friday 6 October 1967 and first aired in the United States on CBS on Saturday 8 June 1968.

Fall Out (<i>The Prisoner</i>) 17th episode of The Prisoner

"Fall Out" is the 17th and final episode of the allegorical British science fiction series The Prisoner. It was written and directed by Patrick McGoohan who also portrayed the incarcerated Number Six. The episode was first broadcast in the UK on ITV on Thursday 1 February 1968 and first aired in the United States on CBS on 21 September 1968.

The Schizoid Man (<i>The Prisoner</i>) 5th episode of The Prisoner

"The Schizoid Man" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, The Prisoner. It was written by Terence Feely, directed by Pat Jackson and was the seventh produced. It was the fifth episode to be broadcast in the UK on ITV on Friday 27 October 1967 and first aired in the United States on CBS on Saturday 6 July 1968.

Living in Harmony (<i>The Prisoner</i>) 14th episode of The Prisoner

"Living in Harmony" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, The Prisoner. It was written by David Tomblin and Ian L. Rakoff and directed by Tomblin and was the fifteenth produced. It was broadcast in the UK on ITV on Friday 29 December 1967 and was not screened in the United States on CBS during the initial network run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammer into Anvil</span> 10th episode of The Prisoner

"Hammer into Anvil" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series The Prisoner. Written by Roger Woddis and directed by Pat Jackson, it was the twelfth episode produced. It was the tenth episode to be broadcast in the UK on ITV on Friday 1 December 1967 and first aired in the United States on CBS on Saturday 31 August 1968.

Rover (<i>The Prisoner</i>) Fictional entity from the 1967 British television programme The Prisoner

Rover is a plot device from the 1967 British television programme The Prisoner, and was a crucial tool used to keep 'prisoners' from escaping the Village. It was depicted as a floating white balloon that could coerce, and, if necessary, incapacitate or kill recalcitrant inhabitants of the Village. It also had the ability to subdivide. Several aspects of the Rover device were left unexplained and to the imagination of the viewer.

<i>Shattered Visage</i>

The Prisoner: Shattered Visage is a four-issue comic book mini-series published by DC Comics in 1988–1989, based on The Prisoner, the 1967 television series created by and starring Patrick McGoohan. The name is a reference to Percy Shelley's famous sonnet Ozymandias, which forms part of the introduction.

<i>The Prisoner</i> (2009 miniseries) American TV series or program

The Prisoner is a 2009 six-part television miniseries based on the 1960s series. The series concerns a man who awakens in a mysterious, picturesque, but escape-proof village, and stars Jim Caviezel, Sir Ian McKellen, Ruth Wilson, and Hayley Atwell. It was co-produced by American cable channel AMC with British channel ITV, whose parent company holds the rights to the original series through ITV Studios. It received mixed reviews, with critics feeling that the remake was not as compelling as the original series.

The Prisoner, a British television series that originally ran from 1967 to 1968, has been represented in several other media.

Opening and closing sequences of <i>The Prisoner</i> Television sequences

The opening and closing sequences of the TV series The Prisoner are considered iconic. The music over the opening and closing credits, as broadcast, was composed by Ron Grainer, a composer whose other credits include the theme music for Doctor Who.

<i>In My Mind</i> (film) Documentary about Patrick McGoohan

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.

References

  1. As noted in Andrew Pixley's 2007 The Prisoner – A Complete Production Guide book, the first UK premiere was 29 September 1967 on ATV Midlands and the last episode first aired on 1 February 1968 on Scottish Television.
  2. The world broadcast premiere was on the CTV Television Network in Canada on 5 September 1967. Toronto Star , 5 September 1967, p. 22
  3. 1 2 Miller, Toby (2003). Spyscreen: espionage on film and TV from the 1930s to the 1960s. Oxford University Press. p. 219. ISBN   0-19-815952-8.
  4. 1 2 3 Bernstein, Adam (15 January 2009). "TV Spy Series Star Brought Complex Programming to U.S." Washington Post. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  5. Thill, Scott (3 June 2008). "Lost Joins Shyamalan's Pixies Lovefest". Listening Post. Wired. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  6. Rose, Steve (14 January 2009). "Be seeing you: remembering Patrick McGoohan". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  7. Hatfield, Charles, "Once Upon a Time: Kirby's Prisoner," The Jack Kirby Collector, #11, August 1996, Two Morrows Publishing.
  8. Kirby also attempted a comic book adaptation of the series in the early 1970s; it was never published, but surviving panels have been reproduced in the magazine The Jack Kirby Collector.
  9. The Invisibles vol. 1 #17 annotations Archived 26 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine , The Bomb, Barbelith
  10. http://archive.sonic-hq.net/newsite/comics/issues/comics.php/series.Fleetway/index.90/index.100
  11. Thill, Scott (11 October 2008). "The Prisoner's Sonic Shadow Looms Large". Listening Post. Wired. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  12. White, Matthew (1988). The Official Prisoner Companion. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. p. 132. ISBN   0-283-99598-X.
  13. "Back in the Village" Lyrics"
  14. "Michael Penn - Try". YouTube. 25 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  15. "Prisoner by Stanton Warriors on Amazon Music". Amazon. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  16. “Ken!” Lyrics
  17. "BBC Radio 4 Extra - Fab TV, I Am Not a Number".
  18. 1 2 3 Britton, Wesley Alan (2004). Spy television. The Praeger television collection. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 280. ISBN   0-275-98163-0.
  19. Chapman, James (2002). Saints and avengers: British adventure series of the 1960s. I.B.Tauris. p. 282. ISBN   1-86064-753-7.
  20. Aldgate, Anthony; James Chapman; Arthur Marwick (2000). Windows on the sixties: exploring key texts of media and culture. I.B.Tauris. p. 194. ISBN   1-86064-383-3.
  21. "BBC Cult—The Simpsons: Season 1 Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. 1 2 Booker, M. Keith (2006). Drawn to television: prime-time animation from the Flintstones to Family guy. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 191. ISBN   0-275-99019-2.
  23. Rizzo III, Francis (14 June 2007). "Pinky and the Brain, Vol. 3". DVD Talk . Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  24. Bassom, David (2005). Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion. Titan Books. ISBN   978-1-84576-097-7.
  25. "Coupling – Night Lines Episode Guide". BBC. 17 May 2004. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  26. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095501/ [ user-generated source ]
  27. Malcom, Shawna (11 August 2006). "Lost Boss Tackles Star Trek Enterprise". TV Guide. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  28. Jensen, Jeff (21 April 2012). "'Fringe' recap: Apocalypse Tomorrow". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  29. "- YouTube". YouTube .
  30. "The Prisoner Quotes Page". Prisoner.gigacorp.net. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  31. "- YouTube". YouTube .
  32. "Talkhouse" (Podcast). 16 November 2017.