prisoner no more

[calimac]

On the passing of Patrick McGoohan, its co-creator and star (and sometime writer and director), a few words on The Prisoner.

I watched a lot of crappy TV in those days, but The Prisoner was the only show that I felt surpassed my childhood ability to understand it. Consequently it was the only one I dearly wished to see again when older, but in those pre-VCR days I didn't get the chance until midnight screenings appeared in the film archive theatre of my college. I attended with alacrity, and so did many others.

Other excellent series dramas have appeared on TV since its time - I agree with Steven Johnson: the best of TV has greatly improved over the years - but the DVD blurb calling it "TV's first masterpiece," at least of its kind, might not be an exaggeration. It wasn't exactly a continuing series: what McGoohan wanted to create was a mini-series, but the form hadn't quite been invented yet. (Rather as the coeval Sgt. Pepper was intended to be a concept album, but that form hadn't quite been invented yet either.)

The unique quality of The Prisoner came from its being both a symbolic allegory of social and political relevance (McGoohan's desire) and an exciting, mysterious spy thriller (the intention of George Markstein, the script editor). Their creative tension - they argued constantly - produced excellence. If either alone had had his way, it would have been a far lesser work.

Comments

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

"The Prisoner" is easy to understand as a series of adventures, at least until you get to the final two episodes. As it happens, I have a silly theory which allows them to be understood as actual occurrences in addition to the generally-accepted symbolism.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Even the episodes readable as simple adventures have more than that going on in them. "Free For All" is one that's just crack-full of symbolism and sub-rosa meanings. And as for "easy to understand," what about "Day of the Dead"?

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

read "Dance of the Dead". Been a while since I've watched these.

[scribblerworks.livejournal.com]

For me, it was like... water to the thirsty, I think. It really stimulated my imagination, and I just went with it. I didn't try to sort out whether it was symbolic or "real". What fascinated me was the endless battle against conformity, the fight to keep one's own sense of identity, and not to be defined by the society around one (hence, the Prisoner's refusal to wear his number badge always made me smile). I don't know why it has had such a powerful resonance for me, but it has.