Q: Did the Prisoner escape?
McGoohan: No. The Prisoner never escapes. I mean, you are a prisoner of something.
Everyone is a prisoner of something.
You escape when you are released.. By death. It’s the final release.
As to how and where you go… well, it depends on what kind of prisoner you were.
As anyone who reads this blog or follows my Twitter feed knows, I’m a huge fan of Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the show’s debut, and to celebrate Network in the UK has released a brilliant box set to commemorate the show.
I already had the American Blu-ray set, and I wasn’t really interested in “double dipping” – until I saw the contents of this set.
You get all the episodes, remastered, plus epsiodes of Danger Man, the complete TV soundtrack (on SIX CDs!), a 128 page hardcover book on the making of the series, and all packaged as if it was issued by The Village.
I mean, look at this!
If that was all it was that would be one thing, but you also get a great documentary that is produced by the team who made the (very corny) Six Into One special for ITV4 in the 80s. In My Mind shows the unused McGoohan interviews as well as excerpts from the interview footage that was used) as it tells the story of how the production team chased McGoohan halfway across California to get the footage they needed… and how reticent he was to talk about the show at all.
The documentary is a fascinating look at the man behind Number Six, with archival footage and behind the scenes from the making of the series and great new interview footage of McGoohan’s daughter Catherine. For a fan like me, it’s sublime.
So, if you are a fan, theirs is no doubt in my mind this is a must-buy. Here’s the link to order it. With the exchange rate it’ll be about $90 US, shipped. It’s worth every penny.
Be seeing you…
NOTE: The blu-ray discs are Region B coded, so you will need a player that will play these discs (either software or hardware).