Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28402 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-01
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 7
• Running time: 850 minutes

DVD Description
Part action series, part psychedelic fantasy, part allegory, Patrick McGoohan's masterpiece, The Prisoner, was initially touted as a sequel to his earlier spy series, Danger Man. But when it was first broadcast in 1967 TV audiences were puzzled; when the show was cancelled 17 episodes later due to declining viewing figures, no one was any the wiser. Shot in the picturesque surroundings of Portmeirion in North Wales, whose architectural fantasies provided an ideal backdrop for the show's surrealism, The Prisoner has subsequently been recognised as one of the most innovative and thought-provoking series ever to be broadcast. Despite the primary-coloured flower-power look, the show's bold ideas haven't dated at all, proving that The Prisoner was simply years ahead of its time. McGoohan is Number 6, a man whose resignation from the secret service (seen every week in a montage title sequence--itself an impressionistic TV landmark) triggers his abduction and imprisonment in "The Village", a sort of open prison for spies where everyone has a number not a name. It's a pretty comfortable place and the other inhabitants all seem passively to accept the situation, allowing the Village authorities to control and limit their actions without protest (escape attempts are thwarted by mysterious bubble-shaped guards called "Rovers"). Number 6, however, is an indomitable freedom fighter whose refusal to accept the status quo is a metaphor for the individual ego struggling against the forces of social conformity: "I am not a number I am a free man" is the series' most resonant catchphrase.

The Village's allegorical microcosm of society is presided over by Number 2, played by a different actor every week, with whom Number 6 clashes repeatedly in a battle of wills as he continually questions the authority that has imprisoned him ("Who is Number 1?"). In turn the Kafkaesque authorities try to discover the reason why he resigned. His trenchant refusal to provide any reason at all is itself a powerful assertion of individual freedom. The series culminates in perhaps the most bizarre and psychedelic TV episode ever made, "Fallout", in which Number 6's revelatory discovery of the real power that keeps him imprisoned raises more questions than it answers.

Special Features
7 discs containing all 17 episodes digitally restored Alternate version of first episode ‘Arrival’ with music only track 288 page book by TV historian Andrew Pixley 40th anniversary limited edition packaging Original script PDF’s including ones never filmed 7 Audio commentaries with members of the original production team Brand new feature-length documentary

Synopsis
Though it ran for a mere 17 episodes, the sci-fi spy drama THE PRISONER is one of television's biggest cult hits. The brainchild of star Patrick McGoohan, the series followed the adventures of No. 6 (McGoohan), a former secret agent who is being held captive in a highly secured village, the location of which remains a mystery throughout the series. This groundbreaking and innovative show reached an unfortunate end as TV bosses got cold feet following low ratings and increasingly strange story lines. But McGoohan himself took control and steered the show to an ending that continues to cause great debate among THE PRISONER's faithful fans. This release includes the entire series of the show, digitally restored.

Customer Reviews

Nearly prefect, but not quite
Although the picture quality is peerless, there are a couple of niggling errors in the episodes themselves which prevent me giving 5/5. The 5.1 soundtrack throughout has been bodged, resulting in echoing sound which is virtually unlistenable - and these are set as the default (but you have the option to switch to a clear mono soundtrack).

The opening titles of "Once Upon A Time" have been sourced from another episode, meaning that the credits are incorrect. Also, during the "where am I?" dialogue, Leo McKern's voiceover mysteriously changes to Colin Gordon's after "information, information, information" and thus has the wrong No 2 laughing!

"Its Your Funeral" is similarly incorrect, the Colin Gordon voiceover is used again but only up until the line "By hook or by crook" when it switches to the correct Robert Rietty voiceover.

Living In Harmony - the "Prisoner's face flying up to the closing bars" end caption, seen at the climax of most of the episodes, has clearly had its audio taken from elsewhere (for reasons I can't quite fathom), since the closing notes from whatever episode it's been lifted from can quite clearly be heard fading out as those bars crash shut. The "slap noises" as No 2 slaps The Kid across the face (15 minutes in) are now badly out of synch.

Also of note is the fact that several dirty cuts and edits appear to have been repaired by removing the bad frame at the edit point, and replacing it with a repeat of the last clean frame, causing many shots to momentarily freeze at edit points.

The above glitches aside, this is a great set. There are some great Patrick McGoohan interviews in two Easter Eggs, and a superbly-researched book by Andrew Pixley.

A fine tribute
There were 17 episodes of The Prisoner and this will be the 17th review to praise this collection. A huge amount of work has gone into it, of which the people behind it are justly proud. You'll have probably decided to buy it without reading this far, but, if you're remotely hesitating, don't think twice.

Superb surreal psychological suspense
This is a superb digitally restored complete set of a masterpiece of surreal British television from the 1960s, supplemented by an extremely complete collection of extras including a 288 page book, as befits one of the most discussed series ever to come from these shores.

I was instantly impressed with the colour and sharpness of the images, and the wonderfully proximate sound. This digital restoration is as crisp as anything being produced today.

However, after a few minutes watching 'Arrival', I had completely forgotten about the reproduction, the extras, the packaging and the complementary book. Right from the beginning, the Prisoner is as engrossing as the day I first saw it (not in the 1960s, I hasten to add, but when Channel 4 screened it in the 1980s).

Lots of TV series which have achieved cult status are quite hard for people outside their dedicated fanbase to really get to grips with. Not so the Prisoner. The iconic beginning to each episode is enough context for a casual viewer to grasp in one go (as much as anyone ever really 'grasps' the Prisoner). What's more, the Prisoner comes across as a series _set_ in the 1960s, not as one _made_ in the 1960s. The visuals are flawless, the bizarre logic always impeccable, the characterisations without a chink. There is nothing whatsoever dated: everything has withstood the test of time.

The other thing which surprised me was how much development of character and situation takes place across the 17 episodes. From bewildered would-be escapee, No 6 increasingly turns the tables on his captors, turning their tricks against them, driving one No 2 mad, foiling an assassination plot, destroying a powerful computer with one question (though this is probably the moment which jars the most), and eventually taking control of his own destiny. This is a series which has powerful elements of romance and passion, but no sex, moments of harrowing violence, but with little bloodshed and few bodies, and acres of suspense without having to resort to set piece car chases, bombs ticking down to zero, or any of the other hackneyed techniques which we see all too often these days. There is not one shred of unoriginality in the Prisoner.

I immensely enjoyed this set, and would warmly recommend it not only to die-hard fans, but also to anyone who wants to enjoy a series of psychological thrillers that are entirely unlike anything else that has ever been made, or ever will be, unless (as they have been promising to) they remake it.