# RIP Patrick McGoohan **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286 "2009-01-14T17:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/1 "2009-01-14T17:41:22Z")
Be seeing you, Number Six…☹ [BBC article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7829267.stm) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/2 "2009-01-14T17:58:19Z")
Man, I enjoyed that show… ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/3 "2009-01-14T18:11:33Z")
Shame to hear that, I’d been eyeing up The Prisoner in a charity shop not too long ago too. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/4 "2009-01-14T18:39:38Z")
“I am the new Number two” “Who is Number one?” “You are, Number Six.” ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/5 "2009-01-14T18:50:32Z")
Wow…I just got my mom _The Scarecrow, Alias Dr. Syn_ for Christmas, too. I think he was mentioned in the recent “longest celebrity marriages” thread for some astoundingly long first marriage, to boot. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/6 "2009-01-14T19:14:39Z")
Be seeing you. 6 ☹ CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/7 "2009-01-14T19:18:52Z")
Sad news. Besides The Prisoner, check out Danger Man/Secret Agent, all of which is available from Netflix. We watched the entire run, and he is awesome in them. Plus, you will see Drake saying “be seeing you” and his anger as his bosses screw him over and lie to him. Drake is an anti-James Bond, not carrying a gun and relying on his wits and not on hardware (not that he doesn’t use some.) He also uses the attraction women have to him at times, but is always aloof. The first set of shows, half an hour long, are particularly good. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/8 "2009-01-14T19:21:03Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > I think he was mentioned in the recent “longest celebrity marriages” thread for some astoundingly long first marriage, to boot. ☹ Yep, I mentioned him. This is going to make my continued viewing of The Prisoner a little odd and poignant. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/9 "2009-01-14T19:24:17Z")
The entire 1967 series of The Prisoner can now be watched [online](http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner-1960s-series/). ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/10 "2009-01-14T19:31:35Z")
Wow, what a freaking coincidence. Not 30 minutes ago I just listened to “The Prisoner” off the Iron Maiden album _The Number of the Beast_. I don’t think I’ve heard that song in a couple years. “We want…information…information…information.” “Who are you?” “The new number two.” “Who is number one?” “You are number six.” “I am not a number! I am a free man!” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/11 "2009-01-14T19:57:50Z")
No matter how many of his other performances I see, he will always be Roger Devereau to me. _“Enough of this talk of plots and scenarios.”_ RIP, Patrick. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/12 "2009-01-14T20:25:49Z")
I assume the news that they’re going to [remake the Prisoner](http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/) killed him. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/13 "2009-01-14T20:39:12Z")
Well that’s a shame. He had tremendous presence on screen. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/14 "2009-01-14T21:36:02Z")
I can see McGoohan standing in judgment in front of God. God says, “Before I let you in, I must ask, what in the name of ME was the final episode all about???” ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/15 "2009-01-14T22:13:52Z")
Oh yeah, I’ll miss him too. Good memories of a good actor. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/16 "2009-01-14T22:49:43Z")
I just found out from a friend at work . . . very sad news for _Prisoner_ fans everywhere. I remember the first time I watched the series, late at night on CBS back in the early 90s. It totally blew my teenaged, impressionable mind. I was already into anything from the 60s, and the psychedelic, surreal mind games of _The Prisoner_ captured my imagination unlike anything else I’d ever seen on TV. There will never be another show quite like it (although its influence is obvious on modern shows like _Lost_). Was it sci-fi? Fantasy? Espionage thriller? Political/religious allegory? Yes on all counts. Plus, it was just so wonderfully _weird_. I’m a big fan (and occasional writer) of slipstream/interstitial fiction, and I can probably thank McGoohan and \*The Prisoner \*for much of that. Too bad I’ll never get to tell him how much I enjoyed his work. I imagine there will be a lot of news stories headlined “Be Seeing You . . .” in the next day or so. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/17 "2009-01-14T22:56:24Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I can see McGoohan standing in judgment in front of God. God says, “Before I let you in, I must ask, what in the name of ME was the final episode all about???” [Even Cecil was baffled by that.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/379/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/18 "2009-01-14T23:04:32Z")
> [@Winston\_Bongo](#): > > I just found out from a friend at work . . . very sad news for _Prisoner_ fans everywhere. I remember the first time I watched the series, late at night on CBS back in the early 90s. It totally blew my teenaged, impressionable mind. I was already into anything from the 60s, and the psychedelic, surreal mind games of _The Prisoner_ captured my imagination unlike anything else I’d ever seen on TV. There will never be another show quite like it (although its influence is obvious on modern shows like _Lost_). Was it sci-fi? Fantasy? Espionage thriller? Political/religious allegory? Yes on all counts. Plus, it was just so wonderfully _weird_. I’m a big fan (and occasional writer) of slipstream/interstitial fiction, and I can probably thank McGoohan and \*The Prisoner \*for much of that. Too bad I’ll never get to tell him how much I enjoyed his work. > > I imagine there will be a lot of news stories headlined “Be Seeing You . . .” in the next day or so. Heh, it reminded me somewhat of _The Man Who Was Thursday_, by Chesterton. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/19 "2009-01-14T23:41:10Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I assume the news that they’re going to [remake the Prisoner](http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/) killed him. No, no - he’s just setting it up so that he can properly roll in his grave when Number Two starts having parenting issues. I wish I was kidding. I really, really do… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286/20 "2009-01-15T01:28:30Z")
I remember him best for _Ice Station Zebra._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-patrick-mcgoohan/481286.md?page=2)