The Prisoner (1967-8) - for my money, this classic show is the
finest and most intriguing TV series ever made.
Patrick McGoohan's fascinating
"allegorical conundrum" tells espionage stories of secret agent Number Six, detained by a sinister authority for refusing to say why
he resigned. The only way in or out of mysterious prison complex 'the Village' - famously centred on the architectural chaos of Portmeirion in
North Wales - is via helicopter (an Aerospatiale Alouette II, piloted by Captain John Crewsdon) but escape proved to be almost impossible for
our iconic hero throughout the 17 episodes of spy-fi drama.
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In the first episode Arrival, the prisoner attempts to escape by stealing the helicopter but he's returned to the Village by remote control
of the machine.
In episode The Girl Who Was Death, a Bell 47-G2 is featured in one of the many action scenes.
The Prisoner TV series used two different Alouette helicopters, one with landing skids, and another fitted with pontoon floats (see below
for comparison photos).
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photo © Joey Rhodes
(Bell 47 Helicopter Association)
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The greatest TV series of all time, The Prisoner,
celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007 with a digitally re-mastered edition of the DVD
boxset. Having recently visited Portmeirion, the picturesque coastal resort in Wales used for location shooting, my perspective on Patrick McGoohan's
genre brainchild has changed, but only insofar as a brief stay in - and successful escape from - the 'village fantastique' has increased my critical
appreciation of the timelessly original show.
While this century's Bourne and Bauer provoke controversy as heroic icons revealing everything that's
wrong with the west's paranoiac and divisive socio-political spectrum, the dramatic impetus granted this series by struggling freedom fighter Number
Six is more powerfully relevant now than ever.
Shattering the standard formula of home entertainment with its innovative techniques and overlapping
metaphors, developing surreal platforms for intriguing SF adventures, breaking the constraints of studio bound conformity and censorial acceptability,
and challenging viewers to always question whatever they see or hear, became astonishingly routine for McGoohan, and his production team, such that
The Prisoner has since been elevated by fandom into the ultimate cult TV show.
- review by Tony Lee, previously published in Interzone #213 (Nov. 2007)
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