I’m a big fan of the original series and am planning to watch this new one, in full – however, I’ll be watching in the spirit that the new series is it’s own separate thing. It might be called The Prisoner, and share some elements, but judging by what I’ve seen in the previews, they’re obviously going in their own direction.
And that’s fine. I have no problem with that.
Somewhere I read that McGoohan didn’t like doing love scenes in general, precisely because he was happily married, and he felt that smooching on camera (or anywhere) with another woman was borderline infidelity. He was never comfortable doing it.
He kissed women on Danger Man only because he wasn’t in charge of the scripts there. For The Prisoner, he was in charge, so no kissing.
It’s not a connection to Fleming necessarily, but McGoohan was offered the movie role of James Bond, twice, and turned it down twice. (He was offered it before Sean Connery was, I believe.) He didn’t have much respect for the character.
It’s my understanding that most of the episodes are padding. McGoohan originally wanted to do a seven-part series, but couldn’t sell the idea until he agreed to provide more episodes.
Portmeiron was a great location, but the new series needs its own visual identity. Shooting in the same places would make it look like a restaging of the original, when a reimagining is called for.
This is it exactly. The original still exists, but it is definitely a product of its time in style, content, and production values. I’m curious enough about how it will be brought forward into this century to watch at least the first episode. If I thought it were a Gus Van Sant-style retread, I wouldn’t bother.
Same here. I’ve heard SO much about the mystique of “The Prisoner,” but I’ve never actually SEEN any of it. So that’s my take, coming into the new series. My husband, on the other hand, fondly remembers the original series from his youth in England. So I’m sure we’ll have some interesting debates about the new series. And probably end up seeing the original one together at some point.
…and I’ve heard much about Portmeirion and want to visit some day.
We just watched all the Danger Man episodes, and if he did a lot of kissing, I missed it. Drake was professional, and far too smart to get involved. The closest he came to actually being interested was a Russian agent he had cause to work with. Plenty of the women he met wanted to kiss him, however.
I’m probably going to watch, but I’m not too hopeful. I watched the original when it first came out, and saw it again as about the first thing I got on NetFlix. We just don’t have the attitude of paranoia today you need to make such a thing work.
The reviews and articles I read about it don’t mention the “Why did you resign?” aspect which drove so much of the original series. It was a brilliant concept since the answer was obvious, and the Number 2s not getting it said so much.
In Danger Man, btw, the secret service lies to Drake several times, and breaks promises he transmitted to people he was taking back. Watching it gave a very good explanation of why Drake resigned. Number 6 was Drake - they just couldn’t admit it because then they’d have to pay royalties to the creator of Danger Man.
I’m going to watch it. I love the original but at the same time think it’s a good framework to build something new on it as well. So I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with the concept.
Wasn’t the original originally supposed to have only 6 episodes and ITV insisted on more episodes being made?
I’ll watch it. I liked the original and this remake (reimagining?) looks promising. Besides it airs in the same timeslot as Mad-Men and my autotune is still set for it.
Right, basically. McGoohan had only 7 episodes in mind when he pitched the series to Lew Grade (head of ITV), and didn’t especially want the series to be any longer than that.
If I remember right, Grade wanted The Prisoner to be salable to the US networks, which were rather rigid at the time in wanting TV shows to fill seasons of 24 to 26 episodes in length. So, when filming of The Prisoner began, the target was to make 26 of them. However, after 13 were in the can, it was clear the show’s premise was running out of steam. It also didn’t help that George Markstein, the script editor, got disgruntled and left at about that time.
The show’s contract was re-negotiated, and only 4 additional episodes were made, making 17 total. Despite the “deficient” number, CBS picked up the series for the summer of 1968.
ETA: TWDuke covered some of this, I just now noticed.
