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- THE PRISONER
- -----------------
- Cast & Credits
- ---------------
-
- Producer: David Tomblin.
- Executive Producer: Patrick McGoohan.
- Music: Albert Elms.
- (Prisoner Theme: Ron Grainer).
- Script Editor: George Markstein.
- An ITC Production by Everyman Films.
- Made on location at Hotel Portmeirion, Penrhyndeudraeth,
- North Wales and at MGM Studios, Borehamwood.
- 17 colour 60 minute episodes.
- 29 September 1967 - 2 Febuary 1968.
- (USA: CBS 1 June - 21 September 1968).
- The story entitled 'Living in Harmony' was never
- transmitted during the series network schedule, but
- reappeared in syndication.
-
- Regular Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six).
- Angelo Muscat (The Butler).
- Leo McKern
- Colin Gordon
- Peter Wyngarde {Number Two}.
- Mary Morris
- Guy Doleman
- Alexis Kanner (Number Forty-Eight).
-
-
- Premise Of The Show
- --------------------
-
- A man is abducted to a weird, lovely and dangerously
- isolated mini-world known only as "The Village", where he is told that his
- capture was necessitated by his curious resignation from a high-level
- goverment intelligence post. After many attempts made to brainwash him and
- many attempts by him to remain more than just a number (6), the Prisoner
- soon relizes that "The Village" is a prison from which there is no escape.
-
- Background Info
- -------------------
-
- The Prisoner is the series that elevated television adventure
- series to the pinnacle of sucess and aroused so much interest that even
- today, 20 years after its first transmission, it remains one of the oddest
- and most thought-provoking television experiences of all time.
- A series so stunningly different that it became a major cult and spawned a
- worldwide appreciation society (Six of One) which is viewed as the
- frontrunner among the many television-related fan clubs which have sprung up
- to commemorate what many believe to be television's silver years - the
- decade between 1960 and 1970.
- Following closley on the heels of Patrick McGoohan's successful Danger Man
- series, viewers who expected a continuation of the exploits of the super-
- cool agent John Drake were in for a rude awakening. With few exceptions,
- viewers all over the world were totally bemused by what they saw.
- Without debating the longevity of the programme, of trying to qualify it's
- lasting appeal, it's enough to say that this was Patrick McGoohan's
- personal 'tour de force'. He thought up the idea, wrote and directed some of
- the episodes, was executive producer for the entire series - and starred in
- the title role.
- Like it or hate it, the programme was (and remains) a slice of television
- history. There has been nothing like it before or since, and it remains a
- challenging, inventive tribute to its creator.
-
-
- Episodes Listing
- -------------------
-
- 1. ARRIVAL
- ------------
-
- Writers: George Markstein,
- David Tomblin.
- Director: Don Chaffey.
- Guest Cast: Virginia Maskell, Guy Doleman,
- Paul Eddington, George Baker,
- Angelo Muscat, Barbara Yu Ling,
- Stephanie Randall.
-
- This opening episode sets the premise for the
- entire series. After a classic opening sequence, a secret agent, after
- handing in his resignation, in gassed in he's apartment and taken to a
- strange place called "The Village". Although a seemingly idealic place,
- The Village is in fact a prison for people like the Prisoner, people who
- know too much. Everybody in the place are known only as numbers, with the
- latest arrival being Number Six. In this place the order of the day is
- brainwashing and trying to find out why Number Six resigned. But Number Six
- is different to the others in "The Village" and will not conform, and with
- only one thing on his mind "escape".
-
- 2. THE CHIMES OF BIG BEN
- ---------------------------
-
- Writer: Vincent Tilsley.
- Director: Don Chaffey.
- Guest Cast: Leo McKern, Nadia Grey, Finlay Currie,
- Richard Wattis, Angelo Muscat,
- Kevin Stoney, Christopher Benjamin.
-
- The huge London clock tips off the Prisoner that
- his seemingly successful escape attepmt has been used as part of a complex
- scheme to get information from him.
-
- 3. A,B & C
- ------------
-
- Writer: Anthony Skene.
- Director: Pat Jackson.
- Guest Cast: Katherine Kath, Sheila Allen,
- Colin Gordon, Peter Bowles,
- Angelo Muscat, Georgina Cookson,
- Annette Carel.
-
- In the hope that his subconcious holds the key
- to Number 6's mysterious resignation, Number 2 attempts to manipulate his
- dreams, using a process developed by Number 14.
-
- 4. FREE FOR ALL
- -----------------
-
- Writer: Paddy Fitz.
- Director: Patrick McGoohan.
- Guest Cast: Eric Portman, Rachel Herbert,
- George Benson, Harold Berens,
- John Cazabon, Dene Cooper.
-
- The Prisoner becomes a contender for the post of
- "Number 2," the physical leader of The Village, but finds that his rights
- and powers would be just as limited in the new position.
-
- 5. THE SCHIZOID MAN
- ---------------------
-
- Writer: Terence Feeley.
- Director: Pat Jackson.
- Guest Cast: Jane Merrow, Anton Rogers,
- Earl Cameron, David Nettheim,
- Pat Keen, Gerry Crampton.
-
- The leaders of The Village use a double of the
- Prisoner to convince him he's someone else.
-
- 6. THE GENERAL
- --------------------
-
- Writer: Joshua Adam.
- Director: Peter Graham Scott.
- Guest Cast: Colin Gordon, John Castle,
- Peter Howell, Al Mancini,
- Betty McDowall, Peter Swanwick.
-
-
- The Prisoner tries to thwart an "instant knowledge"
- system that would give Village leaders the power to control men's minds.
-
- 7. MANY HAPPY RETURNS
- ----------------------
-
- Writer: Anthony Skene.
- Director: Joseph Serf.
- Guest Cast: Donald Sinden, Patrick Cargill,
- Georgina Cookson, Brian Worth,
- Richard Caldicot, Dennis Chinnery.
-
- When the Village appears abandoned one day, the
- Prisoner attempts to escape back to London.
-
- 8. DANCE OF THE DEAD
- ----------------------
-
- Writer: Anthony Skene.
- Director: Don Chaffey.
- Guest Cast: Mary Morris, Duncan MacRae,
- Norma West, Aubrey Morris,
- Bee Duffell, Camilla Hasse.
-
- The Prisoner's attempt to smuggle out a plea for
- help with a corpse is foiled by Number 2, who then puts him on trial.
-
- 9. DO NOT FORSAKE ME OH MY DARLING
- ------------------------------------
-
- Writer: Vincent Tilsley.
- Director: Pat Jackson.
- Guest Cast: Zena Walker, Clifford Evans,
- Nigel Stock, Hugo Schuster,
- John Wentworth, James Bree.
-
- A starnge procedure puts the Prisoner's
- personality and his mind into the body of another man.
-
- 10. IT'S YOUR FUNERAL
- -----------------------
-
- Writer: Michael Cramoy.
- Director: Robert Asher.
- Guest Cast: Derren Nesbitt, Annette Andre,
- Mark Eden, Andre Van Gyseghem,
- Martin Miller, Wanda Ventham.
-
- Village leaders feed the Prisoner misinformation
- about an assassination attempt in order to prevent him from foiling their
- own plans.
-
- 11. CHECKMATE
- ----------------
-
- Writer: Gerald Kelsey.
- Director: Don Chaffey.
- Guest Cast: Ronald Radd, Patricia Jessel,
- Peter Wyngarde, Rosalie Cruthcley,
- George Coulouris, Bee Duffel.
-
- The Prisoner becomes a pawn in a life-sized chess
- game, where the leaders of The Village try to use his attraction to the Queen
- to destroy him.
-
- 12. A CHANGE OF MIND
- ----------------------
-
- Writer: Roger Parkes.
- Director: Joeseph Serf.
- Guest Cast: Angela Browne, John Sharpe,
- George Pravda, Kathleen Breck,
- Peter Swanwick, Thomas Heathcote.
-
- In another attempt to discover the Prisoner's
- secrets, Village leaders use an electronic method for trasforming human
- mental processes.
-
- 13. HAMMER INTO ANVIL
- -----------------------
-
- Writer: Roger Woddis.
- Director: Pat Jackson.
- Guest Cast: Patrick Cargill, Victor Maddern,
- Basil Hoskins, Norman Scace,
- Derek Aylward, Hilary Dwyer.
-
- To avenge the murder of a young girl, the Prisoner
- tries to trick Number 2 into believing he is a decoy sent to spy on him.
-
- 14. LIVING IN HARMONY
- -----------------------
-
- Writer: David Tomblin.
- Director: David Tomblin.
- Guest Cast: Alexis Kanner, David Bauer,
- Valerie French, Gordon Tanner,
- Michael Balfour, Larry Taylor.
-
- The Prisoner suddenly finds himself in a western
- town where he has been appointed sheriff. He faces mental conflict when he
- must decide whether or not to carry a gun.
-
- 15. THE GIRL WHO WAS DEATH
- ---------------------------
-
- Writer: Terence Feeley.
- Director: David Tomblin.
- Guest Cast: Kenneth Griffith, Justine Lord,
- Christopher Benjamin, Michael Brennen,
- Harold Berens, Sheena Marsh.
-
- The Prisoner faces a lethal struggle with a young
- woman, who introduces herself as "Death." She believe them to be made for
- each other - he, a born survivor, she a born killer.
-
- 16. ONCE UPON A TIME
- -----------------------
-
- Writer: Patrick McGoohan.
- Director: Patrick McGoohan.
- Guest Cast: Leo McKern, Angelo Muscat,
- John Maxim, John Cazabon.
-
- The Prisoner and Number 2 face a deadly conflict
- of wills when a dangerous electronic mind probe is used to establish why
- the Prisoner resigned.
-
- 17. FALL OUT
- ---------------
-
- Writer: Patrick McGoohan.
- Director: Patrick McGoohan.
- Guest Cast: Leo McKern, Kenneth Griffith,
- Alexis Kanner, Michael Miller.
-
- The Prisoner finally wins the right not to be
- called by a number, to be an individual. He escapes The Village but not the
- prison of himself.
-
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