TV Review: The Prisoner (1967)

The Prisoner (1967) created by Patrick McGoohan

A secret agent (Patrick McGoohan) vehemently resigns from his job. He returns to his London flat, planning to travel for leisure. That plan is thwarted when he is gassed and taken to The Village, a remote and isolated community where everyone is identified by a number. The Prisoner is Number Six; the head of The Village is Number Two. Number Two wants information, specifically why Number Six resigned. The show is a battle of wills between Number Six who demands his freedom and individuality and the various Number Twos. When a Number Two is defeated or outlasted by Number Six at the end of an episode, a new person takes on the role of Number Two and tries a different method to break Number Six or make him conform. 

This superficially straightforward though odd premise is turned into a surrealist nightmare for Number Six. He resists the urgings of Number Two to conform. He tries to find allies or convince others to rebel against The Village's status quo, where everyone else seems happy to conform. The Village seems idyllic except that there is no freedom, especially to leave. Anyone who makes too much effort is attacked by Rover, a giant fabric ball that skims along across the ground or the water with a roaring sound. Its presence is very odd and very unnerving (and the most extreme element of the show's surrealism). The Number Twos use a lot of technology, mostly fanciful, to make individuals conform. There's brainwashing, identity switches, and other extreme measure (even an election pitting Six against Two for head of The Village).

The elaborate production is very odd and eclectic. It was mostly filmed in Portmeirion, Wales, a town with a whimsical architectural hodge-podge of buildings and open spaces. The place has a timeless and locationaless feel that establishes the isolation and inescapability the show needs. The contrast with London's urban sprawl and mass of unrelated people is striking. The Village people wear very similar clothing (there's only one shop, after all) and have the happy, conformist attitude viewers expect from Stepford Wives or Nineteen Eighty-Four. Their attitudes put off both Number Six and the viewer, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere, as when everything is too neatly arranged. The strange world makes the mystery more mysterious and intriguing, as long as the viewer is willing to go along with the more outlandish elements. The show as a whole could be interpreted as artsy-fartsy and too-self-aware, but I find it fascinating and challenging.

Recommended for an odd televisual experience. The show is 17 fifty-minute episodes and streams on Kanopy for free with a library membership.