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

Why do we need a remake?

[ericdano]

Why do we constantly need a remake of everything? Battlestar Galactica is about the only good remake to come in a long line of them.

I can see maybe another series LIKE the Prisoner, but not a complete remake of the series. The series is a classic. The way it uses music, and of course the mannerisms of No. 6.....

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[negative3]

And what exactly do they mean by "take liberties with the original." That is probably code for "when we got done with this bitch it will be damn near unrecognizable."

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[ericdano]

Seriously. The Prisoner is a classic. It would be like remaking Citizen Kane. Of course, they did remake Psycho.......another classic. And look at the results there. Terrible remake.

A petition should be started to prevent this remake from happening.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Doktor Memory]

The important difference is that the original Battlestar Galactica was very, very, very, very bad. Not good. Terrible, in fact. Unwatchable. Occasionally downright embarrassing. Anyone who has fond memories of the original Galactica probably last watched it as a hyperactive 7-year-old. Changing the original series could only improve it.

The Prisoner, to put it mildly, does not suffer from this problem.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Bobzibub]

Like Dr. Who, much of the Prisoner is not simply the theme-park theme... It was a show that explored freedom the limits of individual freedom. Like us, you are allowed to do what you want and live freely, but only on the fixed limits of an island. And I think that the ra-ra "sandbox" that the protagonist lived in is more relevant to our sandbox now, than back in the 60s.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[sg3000]

> Seriously. The Prisoner is a classic.

Agreed! The Prisoner (minus the last two incomprehensible and silly episodes) was an incredible show. I remember it came on one night late on PBS (after Red Dwarf), and I recognized it from the description on The Straight Dope.

We were all set to make fun of it (hey, look! a campy 1960s era show!), but we quickly became engrossed in the plot (it was one of the better episodes -- The Schizoid Man). I was actually quite surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I ended up buying the A&E boxed set, and I was amazed at McGoohan's understanding of how society tries to mold its citizens. Plus the whole "spy versus spy" part was an intriguing bonus (particularly "Hammer and Anvil").

This is a show that doesn't need to be remade. Today, they'd have to cut it in half, make Number 6 run around shooting people with a machine gun, and have a hooter babe leading woman.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Doktor Memory]

Mmmmph. I won't make a blanket defense of "Fall Out" -- it's certainly not flawless, and doesn't necessarily hold up that well today -- but I tend to think of its flaws as artifacts of its era, rather than as outright artistic failures.

The series always wavered in between straight-up cold war spy thriller and existential parable of individuality and liberty; I can't fault McGoohan for coming down hard on the latter side for the finale, even if it did skirt the edge of "psychadelic nonsense" as a result. If he'd gone the other way, we'd probably barely remember the show at all. ("Aha, Number Two is... A Soviet agent!" Snore.)

And even at its worst, The Prisoner had neither a Space Disco nor a Cute Robot Dog...

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[crucini]

For all the political grandstanding people are putting in shows these days, I seriously doubt that a remake would be able to maintain enough aloofness as to preserve an elusive point.

Exactly. McGoohan was so zealously independent and iconoclastic that The Prisoner remains accessible to any individual feeling at odds with a totalist environment, whether that environment is liberal, conservative commercial or whatever. The TV makers of today couldn't resist mixing in their dislike of Bush, Christians, etc. That would prevent the new show from enjoying the wide-ranging and long-lasting appeal of the old.

Of course there's also the inevitable addition of sex, sticky sentimentality, bogus ethical dilemmas, and cheap laffs.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[stienman]

Why do we constantly need a remake of everything?

To renew copyright.

You see, if a company owns the rights to a copyrighted script/movie/show/etc then by making another one with essentially the same script/plot/etc they can effectively prevent others from doing the same even though the copyright for the originals ran out. Once you change enough so that the big media conglomerates can't go after you for copyright infringment, you've created an essentially different story.

Of course the originals can be distributed after their copyright runs out. This is fixed by releasing a 'newly mastered' or 'digitally enhanced' version. They can copyright the new release of the old work, and one has to find an old copy to get the non-copyright version from - which can be difficult, if not impossible, to do since the studios controlled the masters and any original copies that legally left posession of the owner may be poor quality, damaged, and usually form an incomplete set if it was a series.

-Adam

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

You missed a huge reason why the Prisoner was so shocking. The last two episodes were a bare-naked call for violent overthrow of the government. If that didn't leave an impression on you, but the rest of the series did, then I wonder what else in life and the literary and performance arts you are missing.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Carpe PM]

"Questions are a burden to others"

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[trygstad]

> The original Battlestar Galactica was very, very, very, very bad.

True. But not as bad as Space: 1999, quite possibly the most bizarre and humorless sci-fi series ever made. At least no one is talking about remaking it. (I think I should not have said anything. Forget you read this. You have never heard of Space: 1999.)

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.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[eglamkowski]

Liberal in the US has no single definition. In fact, those who would consider themselves liberal in the historical sense now call themselves libertarian, but even that word is becoming twisted. Conservative also has no fixed meaning.

Republicans and democrats have flip-flopped completely SEVERAL times over the past 150 years.

Left-wing and right-wing have no connection to their historical usages.

Political nomenclature in the USA is worse then useless, it's used deceptively as a means to attack people. The nominal descriptive power of these words is long gone.

The Best Show of All Time

[gadlaw]

My favorite show of all time. Ahead of it's time and gave me a view into reality when I was growing up. I remember when it was on PBS stations and after the show there would be a panel discussion about what it all meant. Classic. And of course, they'll totally screw it up. God, I hate remakes.

Re:The Best Show of All Time

[Davey McDave]

Probably one of my favourite shows too. Though, I'm probably one of the only ones of my generation to truly admire it, which is a pity, considering it really has that same lasting appeal that say, Clockwork Orange has. I still wear my "I will not be pushed, stamped.." shirt with pride when I'm out and about.

As a family we stayed in Portmeirion every year, often in different houses, and to be fair, if you take that out of the equation, it ceases to become The Prisoner. The location was perfect: completely out of odds with what you'd expect, a beautiful mediterranean village in the middle of nowhere in North Wales. Let me tell you, the weather is often quite beautiful there, as well. It was surreal, unusual, and contributed to the feel of the entire series, the eccentricity of it all, the removal from any kind of current social context, making it equally applicable throughout the ages (again, see Clockwork Orange).

And besides, the entire point of remaking the series in a modern context is entirely contrary to the point of the Prisoner: you remake it and you cheapen it, you make it become a fad or a brand rather than a unique point of history (let's face it, the second episode makes a reference to the fact man hadn't landed on the moon yet!). If you want to preserve the legacy, make your own drama rather than ruining another.

To quote the series itself, "my life is my own".

Sixth post

[AEton]

I am number six... ....wait, who is number one?

Re:Sixth post

[Johnny Mnemonic]

You are #827305. I am the new #176043.

Will the new Prisoner have a /. episode, where the prisioner has a plan for escape, but it invovles the use of Windows so he's modded to -1 and no one hears about it?

But seriously--this is an interesting time for this to be discussed. I believe it comes from a desire to challenge the group-mind attitude that has led to our current state of politics, just as the first one did. Hopefully the massive suckage of this remake won't obscure that message, but that'll be pretty hard to do.

Prisoner

[dao_way]

I always wanted to be chased down the beach by a big bouncing transparent ball. I know, I'll take a really innovative TV series from the late 60's, steal the name and "prisoner" idea, change it completely, and dump everything that was cool about it; that is, "the arty, 'pop' feel." My guess is that the ball will be bouncing after the producer, or should we just wait until the "other ball drops"?

I'm not a number!

[__aaclcg7560]

Standby for Version 2.0 of The Prisoner. Or is that Version 6.1? Hmmm...

Gah.

[solios]

The Prisoner is absolutely one of my favorite shows of all time. I really don't see why a remake is necessary - the original was just fine, thank you. If we're talking "liberties" I can only assume it'll be in the "sex sells" department as opposed to the allegory department, or the Iconic Representation department.

Sorry, I just don't see The Prisoner working without McGoohan or that 60s Bond-esque Secret Agent flavor.

Re:Gah.

[kfg]

I really don't see why a remake is necessary. . .

Because the "creative" people don't actually have any "ideas."

KFG

Wrong substance

[$RANDOMLUSER]

> The new version will not...have the arty, 'pop' feel of the original...

That wasn't pop, it was lysergic acid diethylamide.

Please recreate that sense of disorientation

[G4from128k]

The Prisoner was great because of the disorienting plot lines and characters - it was seldom clear why #6 was there, what they wanted him to do, or how they were manipulating him. Half the time he seemed to be getting away with some little bit of rebellion only to find that he was doing exactly what they wanted him to do.

I can understand that they may not be able to reuse the old setting, but I hope that they can recreate some place for the "Prison" that has a similar feel of idyllic ordinariness to contrast with the surreal psychological drama.

Re:Please recreate that sense of disorientation

[robertc5]

A setting eerily like Microsoft Headquarters!

Possible location

[isny]

Guantanemo Bay.

Re:Possible location

[Belseth]

Guantanemo Bay.

Isn't that where they are setting the next Survivor?

And fix the ending too

[SysKoll]

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.

And I sure hope they won't put together a half-baked end chapter where they blame the CIA or the Nazis or involve an alien conspiracy.

C'mon, guys, grow a spine.

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)

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...

"takes liberties with the original"

[Dystopian Rebel]

Poll: For the new Prisoner series, which of the following liberties is most likely to be taken?

a) 80% of the production budget will be for explosions
b) 80% of the production will be for cleavage
c) the Lotus Seven that McGoohan drove will be replaced by a Toyota Echo
d) the Rover balloon will have advertizing pasted all over it
e) Adam Sandler in the main role

Re:"takes liberties with the original"

[Alsee]

a) 80% of the production budget will be for explosions
b) 80% of the production will be for cleavage
c) the Lotus Seven that McGoohan drove will be replaced by a Toyota Echo
d) the Rover balloon will have advertizing pasted all over it
e) Adam Sandler in the main role

All of the above, of course.
Except it's obviously not 80% for explosions and 80% for cleavage. That's just silly. It's only 60% of the budget for explosions and 60% of the budget for cleavage.

And before any math nazis jump in bitching that I made some mistake that it adds up to 120%, yes I know it adds up to 120%. No I did not make a mistake. Obviously 20% of the budget is for exploding cleavage.

Like I said, 80% and 80% is just silly. 60% exploding cleavage is way over the top.

-

Uh, what happened to the movie?

[PhantomHarlock]

There was going to be a Prisoner movie, did it go away? There's no mention of it in IMDB anymore even. Here's something at least: http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=18084 05507

Re:Will this one make sense?

[Scrameustache]

the original fun will be downright annoying to the reality-tv generation.

Sweet! Payback.

Re:High and futile hopes

[goldrybluszco]

The original wasn't killed prematurely, there were more episodes made than originally planned. The idea of remaking the Prisoner is a joke, almost as bad as making a sequel to 2001: A Space Odessey. ;)

Another Re-imagining

[blueZhift]

I'm guessing that they're going for a Battlestar Galactica style re-imagining. So maybe Number 6 will be a woman this time! I must say though that the new Battlestar Galactica has become one of my favorite shows, so there is a chance that something good can come from a Prisoner remake.

Be seeing y....oh never mind...

"Nowhere Man" was the best "remake" of the show

[Eryq]

A one-season hit that was inexplicably cancelled, "Nowhere Man" combined elements of "The Prisoner" and "The Fugitive". Some of the scripts were weak, but the show as a whole was brilliant.

And the theme music Kicked Ass.

I Regret to Say...

[k0hlrabi]

Your Wedding Falls Square in the Middle of the Prisoner Marathon

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.

Why?

[vmxeo]

I'm a huge Prisoner fan, and at first glance was very interested to see it being remade. But after more thought-it's considered one of the best sci-fi shows of all time. How to do you even hope to improve on that? Create a new CGI animated Rover? Write a more surreal and confusing final episode? Replace number EVERY week, instead of every other?

Sorry, just don't see it happening...

Obligatory multiple /.-tradition post

[davidwr]

Might as well get these out of the way now....

I for one welcome our new Number One overlor.. oh wait.

In Soviet Russia, TV kidnaps YOU. Damn, that doesn't work either.

All your island are belong to us. Drat I'm oh-for-three.

How about a nice game of human chess? Lame.

Get rich quick:

1. Find cult classic.
   
2. Announce a remake
   
3. ???
   
4. PROFIT!!!

And finally....

When they broadcast this in HTDV, will Number One personally set evil-broadcast-flag-bit?

MOD +5 JUST_PLAIN_STUPID :)

How to make a mockery of the Prisoner

[crucini]

In case the producers of the new show are reading, here are my suggestions:

1. Add a sultry female co-star, #7. Initially, she and #6 suspect each other of being spies for #2. Develop inevitable romantic plot. She tends to bail out #6 when he screws up his plans. Optionally, wrap in black leather.
   
2. Use monumental, fascist-inspired sets with towering spires, grim tunnels and riveted doors. Light dramatically. Every footstep must echo loudly and every slamming door must sound like a dumpster being dropped by the garbage truck.
   
3. Make each #2 a caricature of utter, unsympathetic evil, ala Voldemort in Harry Potter. Optionally, monsterize #2's face with latex appliances.
   
4. Replace Rover with a hi-tech CGI robot that floats around firing laser beams.
   
5. Highlight #6's human side via friendships with other inmates. Feature sticky scenes of sentiment in which #6 exchanges a manly hug with his buddy before one of them heads off to near-certain death.
   
6. Use the show as a megaphone for the political issue du jour. Frex, have #2 refuse to sign the Kyoto treaty, whereupon the island becomes choked with pollution until #6 persuads him to sign. Of course, there must be a "vote fraud" episode.
   
7. Add montages with hip-hop and rock.
   
8. Replace the ironic distance of McGoohan with someone more meaty, sweaty, earthy and hunky. Let him bellow from the diaphragm, "Like, it's so lame being a number! I'm an individual!".
   

Answer - We don't.

[jd]

You are correct that remakes are terrible, with NO exceptions to date. (The American version of Red Dwarf being the exception only in that "terrible" is far too nice a term.)

There ARE other stories to tell, though, based on the series. What of the agent who faked his death in the first episode? How did he break in the end? Several Number 2s admitted to being prisoners themselves - was there a natural progression going on from prisoner to guard to authoritarian figure? How did The Village start in the first place and when? There were several prisoners under threat of death that Number 6 tried to save - were they really in danger and how did they resist so much as to be placed there?

There are all the events prior to The Prisoner. For that matter, assuming no other prisoners excaped, there are all the events that occured to the evacuees afterwards. Was a new Village founded? Number 6's house had the automatic door - does this indicate that he was merely on parole from The Village? Or maybe that their techniques had improved so much that a physical prison was no longer required - a psychological one being quite sufficient.

Oh, there is no shortage of things they COULD do, based on the series. So what do they do? Remake the episodes that have already been done, only minus all of the social context that made them meaningful in the first place. The biggest intellectual challenge here is to guess which versions they'll use. (There are at least two versions of the second episode and reputedly different versions of the first and third as well.)

OT: South Park

[David Rolfe]

I find South Park quite watchable, although (or because) it's often a thinly disguised swipe at liberals.

What a weird thing to say. I find that South Park is often a thinly veiled swipe at conservatives. I think this is why they still enjoy such a large audience. Matt and Trey are equal opportunity 'haters'. I guess the genius is that we all see it through our own colored glasses.

E.g., when a stupid liberal watches this all they see is a hilarious parody of ham-fisted American colonialism; but when a stupid conservative watches it all they see is hilarious caricatures of elitest left-wing Hollywood.

I find both sides hilarious, which is probably why I hate politics so much.