The Prisoner #015

Published in

· 12 Jul 2023

Date: Tuesday, 26 April 1988 13:13 mst
From: dji at SBCS.SUNYSB.EDU (the dirty vicar)
Subject: Prisoner #015
To: lippard at BCO-MULTICS

The Prisoner #015 05/07/1986 Moderator: Dave Iannucci (iannucci@sjuvax.UUCP)

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From: princeton!seismo!tove.umd.edu!umcp-cs!callahan

Maryland Public Television has been showing McGoohan's Secret Agent Man weeknights in addition to The Prisoner on Sunday nights. I watched an episode entitled "Colony Three" the other night that I had seen before but before I joined this newsgroup.

Secret Agent is great to watch since McGoohan is his typical detached paranoid self. Watched in context with his later series, The Prisoner, one can see many stylistic as well as plot similarities. Everyone has, of course, heard of Jonny Rivers' theme song with the words "givin' you a number and takin' away your name..." in it.

Anyway, "Colony Three" is one episode that is a dead ringer for being the seed show for The Prisoner. McGoohan, as John Drake, is assigned to take the place of an English communist party member on his way to Russia for job assignment. Typical of stereotypical Russians, the dupe has no idea what he is going to do once there, only that he can trust his fellow comrades. The man Drake is posing as is a nerdy looking English Advice Office director. An advice office, suposedly, is a set up by the English government to aid their citizens in all sorts of matters (taxes, citizenship, etc.).

Drake, taking his place, flys from London to an unknown European city (I think they said but I missed it) where he boards a train with no windows. Aboard the train already are 2 others, a girl named Miss Wells (I think) and a man called Randal. Miss Wells has come on invitation from her fiance, Alan Bates, who left for Comradship service only months before. Randal is an electrical engineer who is looking forward to doing some real work and not being an electrician like he was in Britian anymore. Randal says he boarded in Chekoslovakia. I forget where the girl said she boarded.

After a long train ride, they arrive at only what I surmise is a location in Central Russia (trans-Siberian, long train ride, etc.) an are met by an English doubledecker bus (I know they have a name) of all things! Randal remarks "What is that doing here?"

The three "friends" are taken by the bus to a city called "Camden New Town" which is a replica of a typical English village. In fact, the directors continually refer to it as "The Village" throughout the show. It is a training school for Russian spies to acclamate themselves to the British environment. The three new arrivals are new residents. Residents are essentialy the teachers - real Britons who have "volunteered" themselves to their comrades. They are told that they must never leave the confines of the Village and implicitly that thay are residents for life. The Village is a big secret and must remain one.

The director takes Miss Wells to the village cemetery to see Alan Bates' grave. She is crushed not only by the death but also by the trickery of the directors. Randal feels sympathetic and comforts her and rebels against the system. Drake, as Mr. Fuller, kisses ass to the director.

Drake sets up his office in the Village advice office and soon trainee spies are lined up to be greeted. He rigs his spy camera in his typewriter and photographs each interviewee unknowingly. That was pretty neat.

There's more to the story, Randal tries to escape but is followed by Drake and both are finally caught by a helicopter; Randal finds blank film inside of Drake's pencils, etc.

In the end, Drake radios London with his shaver/radio and asks them to pull him out through their Kremlin connections. The village directors are amazed that any resident is allowed to leave but they must obey orders. By the way, the name of the organization above the Village is "Section One" (interesting?!?).

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Does anyone else know of the "Colony Three" episode? Did I miss something? Like did they all wear pins or buttons? Did the food come in cans and say "Village Food" on the container?

In summary, I think that the Prisoner is much more down to earth than many think because of McGoohan's other works as an actor/director. Overall, I partly prescribe to Scott Apel's attitude which I picked up from living in Palo Alto this summer and watching KTEH: the show is a mirror, think of it as you like.

I hope this submission gets some discussion going about Secret Agent - I like the series.

-- Jack Callahan, University of Maryland Hetreogeneous Systems Lab

[ed. - Just a reminder to those in range of Phila. tv: Secret Agent and Prisoner are scheduled to be shown late this summer on WHYY. ]

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From: burdvax!sdcrdcf!trwrb!trwspp!spp2!urban (Mike Urban)

Don't get me wrong- I do like looking at social commentary or whatnot- I just wonder how much of the mysterious aura surrounding the prisoner is justifyied.
The only REALLY weird episodes were Fallout and Dance of the Dead. (I want this statement to be challanged by someone out there)

OK:
A, B & C. Intrinsically surrealistic (best moment is when the dream-version #6 enters the lab and #2 and the doctor involuntarily turn around to look at the closed door). Nothing unexplainable, though.

Free For All. The newspaper being printed while the reporters are still heading for the newspaper office (tee hee). How much (if at all) was #6 in control of himself or anything else at any point in the show? What is that room he breaks into with the group of people sitting around a docile Rover? Very weird episode, and certainly dovetails with the theme of "The Village is a Microcosm for Society".

Many Happy Returns: Any show with no dialogue for 30 minutes is pretty weird by series television standards.

Ongoing weirdnesses: the Butler, the penny-farthing bicycle, the silent guys with the top hats, Rover. All these things add up to the feeling that something Strange and Mysterious is going on.

BCNU
Mike

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From: burdvax!sdcrdcf!smeagol!earle (Greg Earle)

Yesterday, whilst roaming through the bins of my local Hip Record Emporium, I came upon the following, of major league interest to all Prisoner freaks:

The Prisoner - Music From The Television Series
Original Soundtrack Music

This amazing little package contains:

Fully Illustrated 24 page booklet - "The Making Of The Prisoner"
Free Membership in the Six Of One society
LP containing 14 tracks on side 1, 12 tracks on side two; taken from different episodes
Map of The Village
Full Colour Poster

cost: $19.95 (OUCH!) According to my employee-friend, they aren't making much profit from this (the record store, that is)! I guess most of the cost must be tied up in the booklet. It was sealed, so I didn't see the poster, but the cover is GREAT. If you cannot get your local hip music emporium to scare this up for you, the relevant catalogue number is:

BAM CARUSO Records
Cat. # WEBA 066
9 Ridgmont Road
St. Albans, Herts, UK

Six Of One is the (only?) Official Prisoner Appreciation Society. If you would like information from them (if you don't buy the LP), then here is the address (as listed on the record):

Six Of One
Prisoner Appreciation Society
P.O. Box 66
Ipswich, Suffolk, England UK
IP2 9TZ

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The people who put out all the episodes on video go under the monniker MJP (for MalJack Productions); I still can't find an address ...

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Lastly, in one of the British classic car magazines (March?), either Thoroughbred and Classic Car or Classic and Sportscar, has a picture of the famous Lotus Super 7, KAR 120C, with Our Man Patrick alongside. I think the reader question concerned where is its present location ...

Greg Earle
sdcrdcf!smeagol!earle (UUCP)
elroy!smeagol!earle@csvax.caltech.edu (ARPA)

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From: the moderator

As was requested a while back, here is a film/tv bio of Patrick McGoohan that I have in my issue (so far the only one to be released) of _The_Prisoner_Files_. As I told you when I first got it, it really isn't worth the 5 bucks they charge for it, so don't run right out and get it.

Copied and paraphrased, of course, without permission:

Patrick McGoohan was born in New York City on March 19, 1928 (the same date No.6 gives as his birthdate) to Thomas and Rose McGoohan. It was at the age of 20 that he entered acting, appearing in the Playhouse, Sheffield, in _The_Brontes_. It was because of his performance in Ibsen's _Brand_ in 1959, that he was offered the role of John Drake in _Danger_Man_ (_Secret_Agent_ in US). In 1970, after _The_Prisoner_, he moved to Switzerland, and then to California in 1972. Here he directed and guest-starred in 2 episodes of _Columbo_. In 1977 he tried his hand at a new weekly tv show, _Rafferty_, but it was not a success.

          Danger Man/Secret Agent                 (1960-61, 65-66) 
          The Prisoner                            (1967) 
          Rafferty                      (1977) 
          Columbo - By Dawn's Early Light (10/27/74) and 
                      Identity Crisis   (11/2/75) 
                      (this latter contains numerous references to The 
                       Prisoner)

Films

          The Dam Buster                          (1954) 
          Passage Home                            (1955) 
          Zarak                                   (1957) 
          Dark Avenger                            (1957) 
          I am a Camera                           (1957) 
          High Tide at Noon                       (1957) 
          Hell Drivers                            (1958) 
          The Gypsy and the Gentleman             (1958) 
          Nor the Moon by Night                   (1958) 
          All Night Long                          (1962) 
          The Quare Fellow                        (1962) 
          No Life for Ruth                        (1962) 
          Doctor Syn/ 
            The Scarecrow of Rommey Marsh         (1963) 
          The Three Lives of Thomasina            (1964) 
          Two Living, One Dead                    (1965) 
          Ice Station Zebra                       (1968) 
          The Moonshine War                       (1971) 
          Isabella of Spain                       (1971) 
          Mary, Queen of Scots                    (1972) 
          The Genius                              (1973) 
          Catch My Soul (director)                (1974) 
          Silver Streak                           (1976) 
          The Man in the Iron Mask                (1976 tv) 
          Escape From Alcatraz    ly              (1979) 
          Scanners                                (1980) 
          Kings and Deperate Men                  (1982 - release date only, 
                              actually filmed before, and never released 
                              outside Canada due to Margaret Trudeaux 
                              appearing in this odd film from Alexis Kanner, 
                              who appeared twice in The Prisoner.) 
          Baby - The Lost Legend                  (1985)