The Prisoner To Be Remade On U.K. TV

An anonymous reader writes "Various UK news sites are reporting that Sky One is to commission a remake of the cult 60s UK TV series, The Prisoner. See u.tv and This is London." From the This Is London story: "The series, which made its debut 1967, is today credited by its fans as being ahead of its time. Featuring McGoohan as a former secret agent trapped in an isolated seaside village, it was shown in more than 60 countries. The new version will not be placed in the original setting, the north Wales village of Portmeirion, or have the arty, 'pop' feel of the original, according to the magazine Broadcast. Damien Timmer, who has been lined up to executive produce the show, told the television and radio industry magazine that the new series 'takes liberties with the original'."

Comments

Re:And fix the ending too

[TeknoHog]

The ending of the original series was a big let down. Looked like the producers and writers got afraid to take a stand and settled for a "you have to imagine it" ending. I hope that this time they'll fix it and make it plain instead of cheating the audience.

The original ending was put together in a hurry, as the series was cancelled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_Out_(The_Prisone r)

Translation for US audiences:

[MsGeek]

Sky = Fox.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Because we ran out of ideas and need the money

[toxic666]

Was that even a serious question? Whenever the "entertainment factory" runs out of ideas and needs to get something in front of an audience, they go for a remake. Sadly, they've chosen the culmination of a great actor's TV spy incarnation to mistranslate this time.

Check into the Danger Man -- First Season (1960-1961) and Secret Agent -- aka Danger Man (1964-1966) series if you like The Prisoner. There is a lot of interesting context. McGoohan was the first choice for James Bond in Dr. No based upon the cancelled, original half-hour series. As the spy-genre took hold, the character was modified and came back in the Secret Agent series (you'll recognize the theme song from the Wal-Mart "Roll-Back Man"). That was cancelled after two seasons and then McGoohan went on to make The Prisoner. Agent John Drake was the antithesis of the Hollywood spy-genre because it relies on plot instead of sex and violence.

The Prisoner was the result of the evolution of a concept that had (arguably) failed twice before. McGoohan just managed to get it better each time.

And now the entertainment industry wants to remake something a real talent took to its logical (??!!) conclusion almost 40 years ago. They don't have the vision to evolve the concept, so they will goose it for a couple bucks.

Re:And fix the ending too

[mbourgon]

Um, I don't see how the ending was flawed.

(from the "Troyer Tapes", an interview with McGoohan in 1977.): http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~culttv/pat_intervi ew.htm

Troyer:
D'ya know what's really interesting, to me, is a number of my friends and colleagues who watched the entire series told me, after the last show, that they were angry because they hadn't found out who No. 1 was. That went by quickly and they refused to acknowledge it.

McGoohan:
That was deliberate. I forgot how many frames; I think there were 52 frames, or something, of the shot when they pulled off the monkey mask. And No. 1's a monkey and then No. 1's himself. It was deliberate. I mean, I could have held it there for a good two minutes and put a subtitle on it saying, "It's him," you know. (All laugh.) But I thought I wasn't going to pander to a mentality so low that it couldn't perceive what I was trying to say, so you had to be a little quick to pick it up. That's all.

Not sure what was so tough, except the combination of the allegory and the real world. #1 is #6. And when he goes back to London, the door to his flat opens automatically. And he shows no surprise. The world is our prison. We are our own enemy. And the cycle begins again.

Be Seeing You...

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[pboulang]

No, I am not a bitter TV addict. I am a columbian drug lord.

And they are supposed to be personally attacked because they express disinterest in the basic idea of a TV show?

Making a critical (take that as stemming from "critique", not "important", it is obvious you have trouble understanding these things) decision without information is arrogance. Feel free to look up the definition. I also used the word "naive" because TV is not about the premise of the story, but in the telling. Saying that "the premise [of The Prisoner] is kind of stale by todays standards" shows an ignorance to the fact that throughout the history of storytelling, basic premises have been reused over and over again.

This is how fanboys sink to new lows when they try to climb onto a high-horse.

You clearly could have those labels applied to you, so I understand and appreciate your knee jerk reaction. Do you do any critical thinking at all or do you watch shows like Survivor believing them to be unscripted? You feebly attempt to use loaded words and you mismatched your metaphor ineffectively. Do you still cry when you think about those times that daddy touched you? You're obviously channelling a lot of aggression since my original post merely chided someone for leaping to conclusions.

Next time, I'll use a 6th grade reading comprehension as my guide so my point is clear for readers like yourself.