Was The Village The First 15 Minute City? | The Prisoner Puzzle
Vložit
- čas přidán 19. 02. 2024
- Was The Village The First 15 Minute City? It is a question, not a statement. The Prisoner Puzzle, was filmed in 1977 with host, Warner Troyer. The Ontario Educational Communications Authority published this interview. The Prisoner was a 17 part series first shown in 1967 through to 1968. Published by ITC/ITV, over 17 million viewers tuned in to watch each episode. It featured one man's quest to retain his individuality in an enclosed village. Both literal and allegorical, the deep and dark series confused many on its release and has become one of the most popular shows ever broadcast. Often copied, parodied and even used in Iron Maiden's song, The Prisoner. The Prisoner series is available to buy as a DVD collection or through television download channels. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to our new channel.
Kindly support us here: patreon.com/TheOfficialMinistryOfTruth
#smartcity #theprisoner #bigbrother #15minutecity - Zábava
Thank you for joining us on our new channel. We will be bringing you great guests and please subscribe here - www.youtube.com/@TheOfficialMinistryOfTruth
Can think of much worse places to live than Portmeirion
Yes, but try leaving the place, what with Rover & the liquid Cosh with a strap in bed .😅 I've been to the place, & want to revisit, it's approximately 170 miles away , Central Scotland to 🏴. North Wales. 🏴.
Thank you for this return to my teenage years.
Freedom like madness, it's all in the mind.
I weep, remembering when television was like this. Intelligent and thoughtful and honest. I cry for this generation.
So true!
Well, some of it was. Some of it maybe not so much.
Thank you, it is jarring to be presented with what we once knew, but now a lost memory…. It was taken from us. I cry for this generation as well.
@@yesferatu You are so right. The best solution to practice is avoidance!
Cry a little harder 😭
Remarkable piece of history. The intellectual value of tv has declined ever since, possibly in an inverse proportion to screen size, brightness and picture quality.
You are right.
High quality TV has always been rare, by definition. You have to winnow a lot of chaff to find the good stuff and as someone who's been watching TV since the 60s, I say this has not changed at all. Don't let yourself turn into one of those curmudgeons who talks about how there's no good music to be found these days... LOOK HARDER. ADAPT. CHANGE WITH THE TIMES... or find yourself miserable in your old age, it's your choice.
...and analogous to theatre/film. Some of the greatest theatre was in Ancient Greece, with the most basic of scenery and props. Ditto with Shakespeare's Globe. Now we've got Spiderman...5? (I've lost count). Kiddie-poo razzle-dazzle.
It's the intellectual value of the western world that is depreciating. Low quality t.v.for low intelligent people
brightness and picture quality are a bit iffy in modern TV
The Prisoner was a true work of art, as much as any Picasso or Dali painting!!
The message however, is only too real now!!
This is the most intellectual interview about a TV show I have ever seen. Well dressed, articulate audience, insightful questions and interactions, no hype, the interviewer was as deadpan as could be, and it was all riveting. Anything around today like that?
Certainly not the Colbert show!
Could Jerry Springer institute a dress code? Lol.
Haha.
No!
sadly, only in reruns. Fortunately, the internet keeps them around.
“I think we’re progressing too fast”. And this was back in ‘77!
Solomon had it right - “There is nothing new under the sun.”
And he was right, we are still progressing too fast
The cry of those who have too much from time immemorial
Too fast!
Incorrect! He said it in 1977, but was referring all the way back to The Prisoner's concept which was pre-1967, before he had started the script work for the series.
An amazing man. Turned down James Bond because he did not want his daughter to see him kissing another woman on screen. He wrote his wife a love poem every day of their marriage.
He would have been a superb Bond
sigh....
True,
Incredible!
He also said (at the time) that he would play a hero or a villain, but not an anti-hero, which he considered Bond to be.
A vastly underrated writer and actor. So glad he is still appreciated
I've only seen this in 2024, I've been a fan of The Prisoner, since 1977, I'm 63. I was an original member of 6 of One the original Prisoner Fan Club, so now only now, everything that Patrick fore told is now a workable reality for those in power.
An original member. Love it. Thank you for your comment.
You'll wake up in the village tomorrow.
Be seeing you!
Hey DJ... I watched this programme a week after you did. I saw parts of the series as a teenager on the same Canadian channel (OECA, not yet TVO) that produced this interview. I had no overt context about the Cold War or spy shows: I just watched a lot of British reruns on CBC, PBS and OECA. THE PRISONER had a deep impact that lasts to this day and this interview brought me back to my foundations and not in a nostalgic way.
The most important thing about this interview was McGoohan's response to the question about the future of Number Six. I think he was demoralized by the result of the 1960s. When I saw the ending for the first time, I thought Six was free. I remember the Butler during the getaway drive and nothing more.
McGoohan says that the ending was a return to the beginning of the series and the lesson is that there is no escape from the world controlled by the Pentagon and Madison Avenue. He offers the Butler's presence in the escape, his entrance into Number Six's house and the door opening as if it were a door in the Village as proof of this loop. I agree with McGoohan that the Butler is a sinister character. I don't agree that the Butler's final appearance creates a loop back to the Village.
Why does Six allow the Butler to join their escape or remain in the truck on the drive or escort him back home? I didn't do any research on this and I bet that more than a few people turned this topic into a master's thesis. I'd agree that the Butler represents inescapability hidden in plain sight. The dwarfism of the character make me realize the impoliteness of pointing out diversity. The serious demeanour of the Butler allows his character unparalleled surveillance options. His silence throughout the series draws attention to his difference and at the same time increases his stealth and my suspicion.
Why do the escapees allow the Butler to come with? Why are they not suspicious? I wouldn't want the Butler along, even if he helped shoot the way out of the Village.
Forty-Eight is young and full of piss'n'vinegar: maybe his very first mission to infiltrate an anti-war campaign went sideways and his anarchist tendencies are all he has to fight back. He has no reason to suspect the Butler and is just happy to get out.
Two is fucked up: he's just been resurrected after Six got into his head and killed him and now he's in a show trial. He collaborated, enjoyed a level of authority and likely knows death is near. Even if Two knows the Butler can betray them, he won't convince Forty-Eight or Six.
So why does Six allow the Butler to live? Simple: he's a secret agent to the end and will exploit every resource until it's spent. The Butler may want to escape as well or he may be working to ensure that these agents are no longer threats. Either way, he got Six to the truck. As long as he helps with the escape, he's an asset.
Forty-Eight gets out midway and starts hitch-hiking. The Butler doesn't stop him. Maybe another team of interrogators will get him later. Maybe he prefers the open road wherever it takes him.
Two heads for the House of Lords. That's the last place I'd go if I were him and the Butler didn't make him go there. Maybe it's the last place for old men of rank to enjoy their privilege until death.
So why does Six go back to his house...and allow the Butler to stay with him? He's got no reason to believe that the money, cheques and passport are authentic or he won't be recaptured. I will admit that it's a bit of a stretch for Six to think his car will be out front of his house. He could inspect it for bombs and trackers and prolly ditch any tails.
But why does Six need the Butler? In the event of an attack, the Butler might continue to defend the escape. If he hesitates, Six can use him as a human shield and a hostage. The Butler has value to the end.
The Butler's entry into Six's house is a return...for the Butler. He knows the Villagers have been evacuated. He doesn't know that the rocket's exhaust has destroyed Rover. He knows that the Village is over and he has the receipts. He'll need protection if interrogators come for him. He can trust Six to have his back yet he doesn't ask for help.
I have some reasons why the Butler's final scene works. Whether he's a collaborator like Two or recruited by the interrogators from the start, he's still a trained spy and can handle himself. His conservative attire and demeanor along with his domestic skills fit into the neighbourhood.
The Butler knows Six would never live with an automatic front door. I think McGoohan wanted to show Six's freedom comes at the cost of insecurity. His housekey is useless now that anyone can walk in without it.
Six is an individual who is not a number but a free man. The Butler doesn't even have a number: he's an anonymous generic domestic servant. An ending with the two of them driving away would be awkwardly intriguing at best. It would've also put pressure on McGoohan to consider a second season or sequel, something he didn't want at all.
And now the punchline of the entire series:
THE BUTLER DID IT.
If you read this far, I'd like to hear from you!
As a child, we went to Portmeirion in North Wales a couple of times before the series aired, so it was great to see it as the set for The Prisoner. Many years later, I had a girlfriend who had never seen the show, so we watched a couple of episodes then I took to see the place. She was wide-eyed walking around the place. It's still magical and you can see on Google Earth that the concrete boat is still there.
The Prisoner came out when I was 14. I watched it faithfully but could never really figure it out. It was the first time in my life that I realized that it was quite entertaining to be puzzled. It was much more interesting to walk away bewildered than to see a show where everything was resolved and tied up neatly at the end.
Yes, something that makes one think is more valuable than giving all of the answers.
I used to watch it of a evening while my mother did the ironing. I was hooked and like you couldn't really figure it out. It was the atmosphere which pulled me in, I think.
Reminds me of the brother of the bell with Glenn Ford about the same time
Two guys having a smoke and chat about a superb series now bedded in TV history. Great stuff
History? We are now living this nightmare. We are all secret agents. How do we escape this construct without being sent to the moon?
Notice the size of the ashtray!
Reminds me of the interview of aldous Huxley and the interviewer a well known person smoking to beat the band..Huxley wasn't a smoker..Indeed g8 stuff here
I am not a number; I am a free man. I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered.
“The Prisoner” was a TV series decades ahead of it’s time.
centuries
I am so glad that this interview has been brought back into circulation; McGoohan was a superb artist, and to see him being interviewed and questioned in such a way is an exemplary piece of television.
The beauty of the Prisoner is Patrick McGouhan's writing was so open on the themes that it allowed the viewer to insert their own meanings and encouraged people to actually think - That's why it's still talked about today. It's a masterpiece up there with Brave New World and 1984. I wrote my university dissertation on it.
At the time The Prisoner was launched in the UK I had been in 'Care' for nearly a year .. It felt like being in prison with all freedoms taken away .. Permissions had to be constantly sought for everything ... Then one day the Superintendant sat us ALL down in front of the TV and told us that the programme we were about to watch would be one of the most important shows we would ever see ..... We laughed and joked about it between ourselves, but in or own company it had a profound effect ... I was 14 at the time ... I STILL find it as important today as way back then ... Though it's a personal respect of the prophetic value ... Not a cause or cult to follow ... But today's circumstances certainy show JUST HOW Prophetic it WAS! .... I Mean! .. Lockdowns? - 15 minute cities? - The CBDC?? etc; etc: ...
People use the term 'ahead of its time' to describe shows and thoughts of this nature... what they should be saying is that... it is of its time and remains relevant as much today as it has ever done.
Your supervisor was awesome. Just remember that everything you see happening outside of you in the exterior world is also happening within us all….there was a huge esoteric message within this series about our divided and mirrored brain hemispheres…just ponder the divided face masks and the seesaw/pendulum device in the control room, with two people sat on each side facing outwards (hijacking the central control and keeping the world/brain division in place).
Your supervisor was clearly a very astute and aware chap who really did care about you. Avoid all the new age garbage and head straight to Gurdjieff and Ouspensky books….Ouspensky and the book ‘in search of the miraculous’ is probably a good place to start…followed by The Psychological Commentaries by Gurdjieff’s student called Maurice Nicol. The commentaries can be found read out chapter by chapter on the channel Invite the Light.
The bottom line….your thoughts are not your own, they simply sound through you and you’ve come to believe they’re yours. How many times has a random unpleasant thought popped into your mind, seemingly out of nowhere, and is something you would never think? Try stopping all thpughtstreams for more than a minute….then you find out you are not even the master of your own mind…plus it can be hypnotised, brainwashed, and basically hacked.
There’s far more to this series than 15 minute cities and a global village….theres a war on for control of your mind.
Good luck and stay vigilant, hugs 🤗💕👍🏻
@@trappedinroom1014 I'll have to read your post many times to remember it; may even quote from it if that's okay?
Be Seeing You!
@@David-sk9vv You’re more than welcome bab….people or messages often come to us at the most opportune timing, almost like there’s someone watching out for us and pointing us in the right direction…or leaving seeds and clues in our past that we never forget or that curiously become relevant many years later…and I’d hazard a very strong guess that your supervisor was one of the seeds/clues in your individual journey.
Much love, be seeing you 🤗💕👍🏻
I'm a long time fan of The Prisoner, which was *so* ahead of its time (made in _1967 to 1968_ )...!
What McGoohan was trying to do was warn of us of the totalitarian system we are headed towards (with a Social Credit System on steroids).
Thank you so much for sharing this gem of an interview ─ and R.I.P. Patrick McGoohan. 🕯
_𝓑𝓮 𝓢𝓮𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓸𝓾_ 👁
The only actor in history who has won an Emmy award as a guest performer on the same show but on two separate episodes ! He was so good first time around they asked him back , but to play another different character on 'Columbo ' and picked up the award on two separate occasions ...quite astonishing achievement !
Good information and many thanks.
McGoohan was a very talented man
I remember watching both those episodes, they were really good !
A couple of days ago I was surfing the You Tube channel and clicked on the Prisoner only because of Patrick McGoohan. I'm 63 years old and had never heard of the Prisoner. I am so glad I watched the first episode. This interview with this host and an intelligent audience was a pleasure to watch. This is the only audience and format that I believe Mr. McGoohan would have tolerated. An extremely intelligent man and brilliant writer, director and actor, with little patience for "dumbing down". Also loved him the Columbo episodes. Thank you for posting this.
Where have you been the last 50 odd years? I first saw it in the '70s late at night on local Miami channel 51.
I still use. "I am not a number I am a free man" It stuck in my head that much. From watching the reruns of the series in the 70s as a kid.
yes it was the most important TV show ever made. Magoohan foresaw the rise of the surveillance state. A true visionary.
No lungs were harmed in the making of this interview.
But seriously, what a fascinating piece of TV history.
I watched it as a boy.
Be seeing you Mr McGoohan. Thanks for your thoughts. RIP
What a thoughtful man! So much more sophisticated than the idiots we have to deal with today.
He was indeed a thoughtful, deep thinker, unlike the shallow persons we have today, who think of nothing, but borrow from others and add a little of their own words
As a child i had no idea what was going, but intrigued. As an adult, with life experience, having watched it again and i could see that No.1 was us, everyone.
I rewatched the entire series just last summer. It's more relevant today than it was on its original release.
It was the age that looked toward one world government, the flower power brigade saw this more than most
I can't think of Leo McKern without thinking of Rumpole of the bailey
Once we had Gentlemen actors..........
Leo played the Eastern religious leader seeking the Red Ring, in the Beatles movie.. HELP..
Patrick was such a deep thinking artist. Every performance was different and very rewarding to watch.
Great comment and many thanks for viewing.
I'm convinced they don't make men like this anymore. He was very perceptive, creative, introspective - really (tapped in) and responded accordingly, on his terms.
Loved him in "Danger Man" and "Secret Agent Man" TV series.
He was fantastic as the jazz drummer in "All Night Long" (1962), lol, he rally made that movie tick, and in more than one way.
The guy was genius, in my opinion.
Patrick MaGoohan 1928-2009 (RIP).
He was a class act--too intelligent for the average Hollywood crowd. I especially loved his performances in all of the Columbo episodes.
Wasn't he in four episodes and directed others? I know he and Peter were good friends. Peter gave Pat one of his glass eyes, with a note saying, 'Be seeing you!'
‘Questions are a burden to others, and answers are a prison for oneself’
Whammo.
That's deep.
As a Spanish person who didn't know anything about this series and whose age is less than the series... I am impressed by the quality of the plot, the scripts and the dialogues. Many movies and series made after this programme have been inspired by it.
I know the fighting scenes, special effects and the way of acting can be demodé but once one sees one or two episodes, one is used to wacthing it and the rhythm and the story flows smoothely.
The interview is fabulous! The presenter is superb, Patrick McGoohan as the interviewee is magnificent, and also the quality of the questions from the audience. What different from the programmes right now!
Thank you for this video!
Gracias! Thank you for your excellent comment. Great to know we have Spanish viewers and best wishes.
I was 18 when this played in Calif.... I soaked it up like a sponge. The Chimes of Big Ben tells us "The Village is the template for a new world order." and everyone he encounters is a rat. Even the nice girls are rats. They inject him, pulse him with different frequencies, contol the radio/tv, manipulate language, there are rainibow people, men in black, people wear speacial facial protection, .....he owns nothing and he will be happy...you can't be too cynical
Portmeirion is a wonderful place to visit and looks very much the same today. If you ever find yourself in the north west of Wales maybe pay the village a visit.
Been, its an astonishing place but traditionally a lot of locals don't like the place. But it is great. Great to walk around like walking round a living film set.
Yes! Be seeing you...
Yes I recommend a visit to the truly wonderful and unique village of Portmerion
I've always wanted to see that place
Portmerion was built by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis. Several old buildings rescued from other sites, some he designed himself, a few only facades and overall resembles a North Italian village. In the surrounding area are some of his other follys. The weather there is strangely mild and the setting perfect.
I read the biography of him 'an Architect Errant' some time ago.
What a fascinating, intelligent interview compared with modern drivel!
Patrick broke the spy show mold with "The Prisoner." Great interview too of a classy, artistic man.
I think it was a sci-fi show instead of a spy-fi one.
As ‘clever ‘ as The Prisoner was I think it was just to radical to achieve a wide audience and an audience that that would have the attention span to be interested enough to see if No. 6 escaped!
A Sci-chodrama.
Danger Man was the catalyst for The Prisoner.
i will always hold that the prisoner was the most consequential tv show ever made
Rod Serling's work deserves mention too.
My late father was working in a top secret UK government job during the 60s and 70s so I found this an awesome programme to watch.
He rarely gave interviews and this is fantastic
There is another interview on CZcams, he did on a UK Teen's Saturday morning tv show... so weird to have such an actor and interview on that type of show but... Patrick gave a precise account of who No.1 really was... in that he was asked by Mike Smith about why the ending was so confusing...
Mike Smith: "... and who was No.1, is there ever going to be a conclusion to that?"
Patrick McGoohan: "That was the conclusion what you saw, that's why it's still confusing!"
Hilarious and yet, very real response!
Here's the link... from the 2 minute mark onward you get who No.1 actually was. You may be surprised!
czcams.com/video/RhlS6kNT0pI/video.html
I find it ironic that although Patrick says we can fight back against Madison Ave. advertising and the (evil) corporations by not buying their products, yet throughout the entire interview both he and the host were chain smoking!!
I grew up in a home where both my parents smoked constantly, as well as my aunts, uncles and other relatives. Even as a very young child I realized that their behavior was absolutely stupid. I had to resist the peer pressure in high school and college to be "cool" by smoking. And when I watched tv shows like "The Prisoner" I was bombarded by frequent cigarrette ads! Fortunately I had the good sense not to fall for it. (And most of those idiots who smoked also wasted their money and lives on drinking alcohol.
@@telbon8869 Now I realise that sugar makes the same stuff that grows on teeth, grow in the veins. Diabetes, heart trouble, and Dementia. Yet sugar is hardly challenged. Same with the mind control and electronic money control of the world, with the threat of robot soldiers. Just as the Prisoner predicted.
Great Actor - Great Range! Versatile & Charismatic... Watched him in the 70s on numerous Programs as a Child, & more recently in Braveheart
No, because back in the 60’s, every village & most towns in the UK could be traversed within 15 minutes. We hardly had a motorway network and the rail network was undergoing a massive downsizing. This idea only matters now because so many utilities & services have been centralised in regional capitals, the rise of the internet, and modern logistics.
Patrick McGoohan is such an unlikely, but undeniable, genius. I think he is gracious enough to realize the series was made with many open-minded producers, directors, writers who lent a hand to make it a work of art. Never mind the perfect time and place.
My god this is gold dust
It really is…. My goodness.
The 1970's was a good time for interviews. Very little chance you would get this level of insight and analysis if you held a similar interview with an actor today. Even the audience members were asking interesting and meaningful questions.
-and it wouldn't be supported by advertisers.
this generation wasn't as dumbed down
Today you can sell them anything even if it hurts them
@@WillAH956 You say that of an interview where one of them was whilst chatting working on killing himself and his interlocutor with cancer. There was more time for thought than in the 24-hour-news-cycle era but also a lot of differently-stupid.
@@leftgrrl I understand what you are saying however it's still clear to me a majority of people today have almost no critical thinking skills.
@@PeterWTaylor It wasn't supported by advertisers even then. This is Canadian public television.
Funny thing is every episode says “who is number one” followed by “you are number six” so I always thought they knew from the off it was himself that was number one.
You got it!
in the 70.s i used to babysit my 3 year old niece and she was a handful, but when the prisoner came on pbs she'd sit still beside me on the couch and wouldn't say a word and watch it with me , as soon as the show was over she'd be up and at em ! i don't know why but she was mesmerized.
Both of you have great taste then.
didn't you later ask her why he liked it or was fascinated with it, as that is a common stimulant for children at that age-something or someone different.
@@rsjmd Honestly i didn't want to ruin it , she was a bright child , it would got her thinking that maybe she shouldn't like it , i didn't want to take the risk, but i'd glance at her at times to try and figure out why, she'd just be watching, i just don't know, i was just glad for the reprieve.
@@user-gx2yy1df6f ...kinda had that effect on ALL of us!
I think the architecture in the village, and the striped blazers and Rover the balloon were so eye-catching and special that even children were fascinated.
Remarkable man. Everyone that knew him said he was a genius.
Mr. McGoohan was a true genius, and a free thinker.
My favorite # 2 was Leo McKern, who actually had a breakdown during the filming of " The Chimes of Big Ben. " He did return for two more episodes.
@@jamesdrynan Why did he have a breakdown?
Wasn't his breakdown during filming the two-header over 'Once upon a time' then he came back for 'Fall Out'? He was though in 'The Chimes of Big Ben' with that prophetic dialogue 'The whole world as the village'.
The non-stop stress when he and Pat were basically shouting at each other in the penultimate episode. I think they were at it all day
Very interesting prescient. Flew back home from vacation and sat next to a scientist on her way to a symposium where 15 minute cities were part of the program discussion.
I always thought little Angelo was the real Number One, especially with that last scene in the last episode.
Lew Grade was a freaking legend. Bankrolled some of the best UK sci-fi - proper entertainment moghul who understood ideas.
I'm currently binging on "Danger Man." If I recall correctly, in at least one other interview, Mr. McG denied that "The Prisoner" was a direct spinoff. Fairly difficult to swallow that after watching the Danger Man episode about Colony 3, a "village" operated very much like THE Village. It was for the purpose of training spies to be perfect English men and women, which was a different purpose than in "The Prisoner." But the running of the colony was very similar, even down to a sinister Interrogation Room. And, while the spies trained there did leave, some of the personnel such as teachers were doomed to stay there indefinitely. There are other lesser echoes as well, such as several party scenes in Danger Man that very much foreshadow the party scenes in the episode "One, Two, Three"
So all of a sudden, YT recommends me an interview where King Edward I "Longshanks" is comfortably having a smoke with the host, without any cigarrette stupidity, all natural, great conversation. Wow, just wow. Props to the channel for having acquired this fantastic piece of journalism, and huge thanks for having uploaded it!
Edit: And almost forgot to add: Enthralling. And also... God! - The level of intelligence and knowledge of their art, this was fantastic!
Many thanks and best wishes!
Braveheart is a pile of cack. No idea how they got such a star to be in that dumb panto.
If you’re here purely for his superb acting as Longshanks, and you haven’t actually watched the prisoner….I seriously, seriously recommend you watch it, it’s absolutely superb. It’s loaded with allegory, both exoteric and esoteric, and was clearly designed for curious minds.
I only recently came across it, and I’m actually glad it took that long to appear on my radar, because I probably wouldn’t have recognised those allegories had I watched it when I was younger. Enjoy! 😁💕👍🏻
@@trappedinroom1014 Thanks for the info! Sounds awesome, and I'm definitely intrigued now! Will try to find the series, have a great day!
Love his Americanised accent which for me recalls that of his friend Peter Falk. Patrick's appearances in Columbo make several scarcely hidden references to the Prisoner.
Wow - makes me want to watch it all again. When I was 15 or 16 I did not understand it.
Patrick did a great job with the prisoner every episode was different but to me it's about gov trying to break down the individual and to get all the information out of them but not to our no. 6. He is sadly missed and the prisoner was the best series ever.
I remember when The Prisoner first aired here in Great Britain, I was about 15, which was a very long time ago. It was well received by everyone I knew back then. It looked like it was a lot of fun to act. The episodes on Columbo were the next time I saw him act and he was really good in those too. I didn't know he had dreamed The Prisoner up himself, he was really talented.
I was seven and captivated by this series in the 60's- I was allowed to stay up to watch it because I used to explain it to my parents- and NOW I know I was spot on most of the time- however the Orange Alerts and red alerts baloons scared the shit out of me and I would hide behind the sofa! ( I read from morning til night every day any book I could- mostly the classics- and my parents couldn't understand why I preferred them to TV)
I was only 8 when I first saw The Prisoner. Didn't really understand it but liked it, perhaps it was due to the mystery of the balloon Rover. As I got older, I re-watched it, several times over several decades. It got better each time. True mark of great art. Thank you, Mr McGoohan.
Catch him in Helldrivers. Off the scale nuts and absolutely brilliant
Loved the way they sped up the film of the trucks in that. i'm 70 now and have seen it countless times.
@@terrystevens5261 Reckless speeds of over 30mph!!
The dwarf was the Greek chorus. Like R2D2, and C3PO of Star Wars. They comment on the action taking place. The dwarf did it with a look or posture. It illustrates the action, guides the audience in how to feel about it, and illuminates the absurdity of it all. Here's a dwarf, or droid, seen as an underling of society. But he's the one above it all.
“Who is Number One?”
“You are, Number Six.”
It just hit me...😮 I have to watch it again.
McGoohan was a genius and ahead of his time.
The show is so 1960's but is also way ahead of it's time.
Thank you for uploading such a thoroughly interesting interview. A fine audience too.
Thank you for your comment. Greatly appreciated. We will be posting another interview with Pat next week. We hope it is of interest to you.
I was hooked when it was repeated in the UK in the 80's, I was a young teen in high school and this series had a profound effect and really woke me up. a bit of a matrix style mental awakening to indoctrination be it schooling, religious, governmental etc.
The innate self being controlled by powerful institutions and yet, ultimately, by our own conditioned mental prison.
Be seeing you 🧐
i love how he pauses b4 answering. He ponders first. i really need to do that 🧐
The prisoner was a fantastic escape for the viewer!
It still is. A refuge from the woke, ESG, DEI, tiring LGTBQ++ pronouns, the migrant invasion, smash 'n grab acceptance and all the other nonsense of today.
“I had to sign in to get into THIS joint!”. Greetings from New Mexico!
Greetings to New Mexico! Thank you very much.
Man! He had it nailed back then. Great interview. Love British T.V..
Never forget... Mr. McGoohan was an American. After The Prisoner finished, he moved his family to LA where he spent the remainder of his life. He was good friends with the legendary Peter Falk. Mr. McGoohan was a veteran writer, producer and director.
What an extraordinary man. “Be seeing you”👌makes total sense to me. Reminds me of that song by The Alan Parsons Project.
Thank you all for your comments...looks like we've got a whole lot of thinkers and independant minds on this channel. Let's keep the discourse positive and helpful, as others may not be as far forward on their journey out of the village.
Best tv prog ever made, well done Patrick and Lew Grade, verified all I had been thinking. They have tried to remake it, but nothing comes close . A unique work of art with endless interpretations, it still remains a mystery and an enigma. Was it all a dream?
Thank you for your comment David. Much agreement from us. We were warned, weren't we?
A passionate, intelligent man. I never missed an episode of The Prisoner in the sixties. A highly imaginative series, almost Machiavellian in its premise. The location, the uniforms, the sets were all colorful and striking. Also Rover, the roving balloon was unique to the show. Definitely a series that was a bubble off plumb.
Original Rover was a car borrowed from another movie but they sunk it in the estuary by accident. The balloon was a last minute improv!
Portmeirion in north Wales a very pretty place to visit.
Way ahead of his time, and boy, was he right about progress! Thank you.
The best part of this TV show is the Lotus Super 7. It was reality. The rest was an allegory.
Thank you, Ministry of Truth, for posting this excellent interview.
Thank you for viewing and sending the nice message.
The 7:00 mark describes exactly how I feel when I go to get a haircut now and they insist on asking for my phone number. If you refuse they can't deal with it.
Lol, where on earth do they do that? I'd give them a fake number that's 25 digits long 😂
@@Shifter-1040ST Supercuts
@@SamPockerOfficialthat's in the US, I guess? I live in Germany. I do remember that in shops they kept asking for your regional postal code for a while. But when too many people refused or gave fake codes they gave up on that. People here are rather keen on their privacy.
@@Shifter-1040ST yes in USA
The thing that really put me off Netfliks is that when I went to their website, just to see what they were like, they required visitors to register.
How many retail stores are you aware of that ask for your personal details just to be able to enter their store?
You are number 6. I am not a number I am a free man
He possessed such cultured vocal abilities.
He talked propper like what i do.
The tranquility of a cultured Gentleman.
So interesting to hear him say so in so heartfelt a manner that tech was beginning to eat our bacon and was the inspiration for the series---and then so very passionately expressed in an outburst when describing getting into the studio.
Still the best concept / series that ever came on TV. I played as a child in Portmeirion just a few weeks after the filiming. The Village and Patrick McGouhan style will never grow old.
The many layers of meaning of the themes and symbols used in the tv show The Prisoner is so profound and is like a spiritual and religious allegory but concealed and disguised as a cold war era crime mystery and spy thriller. The question who is number 1 you are number 6, is like looking into a mirror and asking yourself who we really are. It also confronts us with the dilemma of being human and having a free will to live a good life under the conditions of a scientific technological modern age that reduces human beings to measurable quantities and numbers. Be seeing you is a not so subtle reminder that the village was a system of control and the bounds of freedom are severely constrained and that everyone will be constantly monitored and surveiled.
🎯
bulllsfuckineye
we'reinit 😈🤡
have taken over
Thankfully
*some* of *us*
still have our
resilient minds
*If* ~ Kipling.
✊💖🙏
I sat glued to the set for every episode of the prisoner. I didn't quite understand it at the time, I was quite young then. I still replay some of those episodes in my mind and they still fascinate me. I like to replay them when I can. I think that at 74, i'm starting to understand it's message. Great show.
I've been to the village twice. It's a beautiful place.
On the second occasion there was a prisoner event with lots of people dressed up in the costumes.
Might go back this year if I get time.
It's a few hours drive.
Be seeing you.
The 40th ‘Portmericon’ actually took place last weekend with some brilliant reenactments.
People wearing blazers, capes and holding their brollies and No 6 placards imitating the scene from ‘Free For All’.
There was also a ‘Rover’ balloon during a recreation of the chess scene from ‘Checkmate’ where human chess was played!
A brass band was also playing in the bandstand.
I was there myself black blazer and all and it was absolutely brilliant.
I was told it was earlier than usual this year and it normally takes place at the end of April.
I’ll definitely be joining the ‘Six of One’ appreciation society after being there.
Be seeing you!
@HammerLex77 that must have been great. I'd be guessing and say it was the tenth anniversary that I went. Didn't know about before I got there though.
I was only a kid when the prisoner started, we had a telly but not always the electricity. I saw some but missed most .I'd love to be able to watch all episodes now
It's probably out on dvd.
@@swanseamale47 It is as well as on Prime. 😀
I'm not a X , I'm a person, I'm not a Toc Tiker, I'm a Person, I'm not a Facebooker, I'm a person, I'm not an instagramer, I'm a person, I'm not a What 'sapper, I'm a person. I shall not be influenced by AI algorithms, I'm a person. Loved the Prisoner growing up, I think it actually taught me not to believe anything your told by anyone in society, ''I'm an individual, I'm a person.'' Funny that filming the Prisoner at Portmeirion actually saved this architectural treasure due to the large number of tourists visiting it every year. So, Patrick Mcgohan has done more to save Welsh architecture than he ever would have thought. I think he use to drink in our town pub in the South of England in the 1960's as my mum always mentions what stars lived and drank in town.
Reminds me of something I said years ago.
MATTER
That which occupies space and has mass; physical substance.
I am made of matter. I live in a world of matter. The rest is not, and does not, matter.
@ravingnutter No offence intended, but I suggest you obtain a legal dictionary then look up 'Person.' The legal definition of 'Person' is not what you think, especially when used in a so-called 'Court of Law,' which is actually a place of business.
With my diverse interests in subject matter on CZcams I may end up breaking its algorithm.
The great Warner Troyes, from the time when Canadian journalism was a beacon
Very nice presentation. For me “The Prisoner” is the best thing ever made for television.
Thank you very much. It certainly has to be the best show ever made....for those who question their imprisonment.
Check out the "Newsbenders" from 1968 with Donald Pleasance. The topic will shock you.
the not The. Any idea what the number 48 symbolized, Israel?.
This man is a (T)raditionalist, but I think I already had that vibe.
Knowing it difinitively, makes me like him even more.
As a boy in the early 60’s having watched Danger Man , Man From Uncle, Z Cars etc I recall my dad and I being absolutely taken aback when we tuned into the first episode of The Prisoner. Didn’t understand it and unlike the other productions nothing really happened every week !
Brilliant, and the host was top class.
To me the series represents the taking away of individuality. We are all prisoners losing our personal identity through electronic communication (how often do you phone a company and find it impossible to speak to a REAL person) surveillance and brain washing. With the internet we are now controlled and studied far more than Patrick new then, or maybe he could see what the future held.
I keep as much of my life to myself as I can, and I avoid internet sites where I have to perform an ‘action’ when faced with a ‘cookie’ or ‘privacy’ statement. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.
My life is my own.
Me too , stick to it and be happy
I am always disturbed when completing an online application that the button to click at the end says "Submit".
Be seeing you
I understood it as a place where the establishment particular secret agents and top civil servants are retired to or imprisoned within in order to keep them quiet. It is also implied rather then stated that this establishment rather than being British or American it is a world establishment controlling both sides of the Iron curtain. The concept that such a thing existed then and still exists today has been around a long time before The Prisoner was made. I believe that Patrick and the writers were well aware of this long standing theory, but it is hardly supprising that they all seaked to deny it. Remember that Washington, Disraeli, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Churchill and Zedong all claimed that some kind of powerful candestine force had infutrated their respective administrations, perhaps they were not as paranoid as they may have seemed at the time?
Are we entirely sure that this world is actually run by human beings at all? If it is not, is it entirely beyound our imaginations to understand that these beings may perfer that we don't know that they are running the entire show from the very top? Surely we have all worked out by now that idiots like Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden are not running either the UK or the USA, ot have we not? So who is running the 5th and 1st largest economies in the world, plus all of the rest if it is not prime ministers or presidents? Could I take this oppotunity that the British PM earns less than £200,000 a year while just a top PL footballer can earn more than this a week? Does this not tell you something about where elected representatives are in the pecking order?
I was around 13/14 years old when I first saw this series. I didn't miss an episode. I totally loved it. It is so great to find out all this information that I never knew before. Patrick looks great here. Thanks.
Many thanks for your comment.
I was about 14, 70 now lol.
I think quite a few of us watching this are the same age! I guess that makes us all 70 yrs old........
I met Patrick McGowan's stunt double at a convention and he told me the tale of Patrick writing the ending episodes, basically Patrick retired to his caravan with several bottles of whisky and some illegal substances then emerged two days later with the script.. People have complained the ending was hard to understand!
Incidentally when they did the filming for Living in Harmony when they filmed the duel between the Kid and number 6, Alexxis Kanner, The Kid, was told to slow his draw down but there was no need as Patrick was so fast every time.
Brilliant series from 1967 68, still intriguing and rare insights from Mr McGoohan ...
I have a fading picture on my wall that i got from Portmerion in the 90s. Every morning Pat scowls at me as i get out if bed as if to say "when are you gonna get round to rewatching The Prisoner?"
Soon...sooon. 👌
Right from the very first episode back in '67 I became almost obsessed with the series and being of such a young age back then I think it had an influence on me that has pretty much stuck with me right up to present day. Did that get me anywhere in life? Maybe not, but I probably didn't want to go there anyway. " I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own".
I always thought that number 6 was the agent from Secret Agent Man, and he wound up in the village because he tried to quit the agency he worked for, and knew too much due to his missions as the Secret Agent Man…go figure. I always enjoyed both shows growing up. Never missed an episode or rerun😁
Absolute brilliance there. For me this was easily the best TV ever made, and I hope the remake demonstrates the depth of the ideas behind it.
A fantastic piece of archive footage, thank you for uploading. I came to this channel as the rumour is the next Christopher Nolan movie could be an adaption of 'The Prisoner'.
BCNU
Glad you enjoyed it.
Amazing series when it came out compared to what was on TV at the time, followed from the age of 12 and continued to watch when it was continually re released over the years. Now stuck in a Tower block, wake up every morning looking out the window to see the same view, constant reminder of the Prisoner. No kidding, a reflection of real life!
We hear you....plus we're surrounded by the 'brain-washed cabbages' who have all accepted their fate. Rebel, rebel....
When The Ontario Educational Communications Authority, and TVO, actually made interesting original content. Great interview with McGoohan clearly being in an almost effusive mood which was not always the case in interviews. Kudos to both Patrick and Warner.
Something nobody seems to have noticed or mentioned that I am aware of: Angelo Muscat (the butler at Number Six) returned with the protagonist to his home in London, and the door is automated, as it was in the village. The implication is that the protagonist is STILL in a prison. However, while the butler goes into the house, the protagonist does NOT. He drives away, and never goes into the house, so may now be free, after all!
Good observation and great comment. As Pat said, the end episode should have been called, 'The Beginning'.
I've never quite caught that in the few times I've watched the series all the way through. I really like that.
@@TheOfficialMinistryOfTruth, have you ever read the comic book sequel of the series that was published by DC Comics in the late 1980's?
No we haven't, but thank you for drawing it to our attention.
"What must we do", progress,progress,progress.
"Humans" they are not making much progress, are they?
Lots of people have been trained as children to trust people in authority.
They are "Good boys/girls" when they are doing what mummy and daddy want,aren't they,"good subjects, Bad boys/girls when they don't,"bad subjects".
So when those people grow to adults they are mindlessly trusting of those people in authority.
The appeal to authority is one of there many manipulation tactics,the appeal to the "experts".
They used that tactic in America to manipulate women into signing consent forms, to allow them to harvest their defenceless baby boys foreskins for profits and put the Yahwistic christian-zionized slave mark/brand upon their male child.
I remember watching this series on TV when it was first aired in the USA - and it has been my favorite TV series ever since. WOW. Especially the last episode.
Iron Maiden's song 'Back In The Village' is also influenced by The Prisoner as well as 'The Prisoner'
I loved McGoohan in everything he did. It's interesting to see here that he was always only ever playing himself.