At 1.23 a very good Trompe-l'œil painted background! In the last year I've parked several times at that first underground carpark he goes into at 0.23. Its still there! London buildings are a lot cleaner but so much more traffic. I went to Port Marion 30 years ago and bought a no6 mug "i am not a number I am a free man!"
This is the opening of the pilot episode. We don't yet know who, what or why but by just after 30 seconds we know he's a good guy. He buys a ticket even though he could just driven under the barrier. Excellent storytelling.
I had it in one of my playlists for many years . There aren't any opening titles but I couldn't play it anymore because You Tube said it wasn't able to be viewed in the UK !!. This may account for the faster speed , it gets past the copyright algorithm .
Love this great intro! For many years I worked at ITN & frequently did OB’s from Abingdon Green opposite Parliament. Our video / audio connection box was fixed to the railings just above the ramp McGoohan drives down before delivering his resignation, & this sequence would always play out in my head as I connected the camera & comms while gazing down at the ramp… possibly one reason I occasionally connected the outgoing to the incoming!
@@STEVEC66 that’s interesting to hear. They had a lot of trouble with water ingress several years back which was a mammoth task to repair. Basically the whole green had to be dug up & waterproof membranes + bitumen laid down before the green was re-turfed & re-paved.
Really must watch this series again! I have memories as a child, of sneaking downstairs when I couldn't sleep, and watching a strange TV programme, with Mini-Mokes and a giant bubble chasing people! I loved it when Channel 4 showed the entire series in the 80's - I made my girlfriend watch it, and she was at first confused, but did really enjoyed it! 😄
I remember this series from the 1960's. I do wonder what ever happened to the two cars, the Lotus Seven and the Austin Princess Hearse. The registration, KAR 120 C is currently on a Caterham seven from 2001, no record of the Austin though.
If I recall, the original Lotus 7 with the registration KAR 120C was sold off after the making of the title sequence. It then had to be re bought to complete sequences in the Episode "Fallout".
There were 3 used, the first one with the KAR plate still belongs to Caterham, the other 2 that just wore the plate for some shots I can't find, I read years ago one had been crashed on a track after being sold to a private buyer but I can't confirm it anywhere
It is a bit of an oversight by the writer/producer that a man as angry as The Prisoner would stop to take a parking ticket from the dispenser. Although i know the barrier would not rise unless he did. Maybe I am analysing the intro a bit too deeply? Still a brilliant series, still watching it, my favourite! 🤔😜
Fun fact: the producers actually built an office in an unused room of the underground parking garage (I know that the Brits say "car park"), adding a little verisimilitude.
really important now. I think Patrick McGoohan was on the spectrum - or might have been Bipolar. A mad genius. Despite the misgivings cited re: Lew Grade, have to say it was amazing he took a chance like that on McGoohan - up to a point - cannot believe the drink-driving charge meant McGoohan had to bicycle to the studio for a time, etc. He seemed devoted, protective of his wife and daughters. Love the stories of him slumming it in L.A. during the 70's while Ms. McGoohan cleaned up as a realtor! Would a staunch Catholic belief really predicate say kissing women on screen? Mel Gibson is not a devout Catholic? It's wrong to speculate and I'm really not trying to stir the pot - it really doesn't matter - McGoohan was a creative force who had a singular vision who blended intelligent art with "meaning" and having "a message" with "subtext." Like Kubrick who had to ultimately pull "A Clockwork Orange" from the British market for a time due to the ensuing uproar, I don't think McGoohan fully anticipated the strong reaction after the final episode "Fall Out" that would basically force him and the family into exile to "on the other side of the pond" as they would say. I wish say Rafferty were more readily available for viewing. I have no illusion that McGoohan didn't expect a backlash of some sort to Fall Out - kudos to him for sticking to his guns, and not selling out. He'd rather bear the brunt of the Fall Out - than be stamped, numbered, indexed... as a "Sell out" It was the crazy late 60's, after all. Magic. Lightning in a Bottle. Not possible otherwise.
The best part of the whole series it goes downhill after that Lol I am old enough to have watched it on tv made even less sense on reviewing . ,recently. Maybe if you were on LSD it would be more entertaining .
