The Prisoner (1967). Why did you resign? 

Just a note to the folks angered by an obscure reference to the comedy series Portlandia, I am aware of where The Prisoner was filmed, it something that's talked about and shown further along in the video if you keep watching. Be seeing you! 🕶

The Prisoner was possibly one of the greatest TV shows ever. So far ahead of it's time and the fact that it's STILL being talked about to this day shows that it was something special.

The intro is the absolute best part: the car, filing the ID card, the gassing, the music. Bravissimo 👏

One of the best tv shows ever. I saw this as a little kid and it blew my mind, I still think about it often.

Who is Number One? You are, No. 6. They told you at the start of every episode. Genius.

"What do you want?" "Like and subscribe." "You won't get it!"

Weird and trippy, walks a thin line between brilliant and 'they may just be messing with us', visually unique and endlessly quotable. "This is a dreamy party!!" is one of my favorites. Great show.

Finally made my pilgrimage to Portmeirion. Stayed three days. Now rewatching with child’s eyes after the visit.

Answers in a finale from a show that gave us, "Questions are a burden to others, answers a prison for oneself."

Recently I went to Number 6’s house in London and got a shedload of pictures. It was a ridiculously sunny day so it looked exactly the same. I don’t think I stopped smiling all day.

The meaning of the Prisoner series: Every now and again someone wakes up and realizes we are all in the village. We are manipulated and shaped by selfish agendas set up by society. People are at various levels of denial and compliance in their attempts to cope with life. Most comply passively. Some try to join the system and rise to the top (No 2). They are aware of the corruption but co-operate anyway to have a better life, but they are still prisoners. No 6 is honest and doesn't give in and searches for people who think like he does. The system punishes those who try to resist, to death in some cases, so they have to conceal themselves. When No6 makes it to the top he realizes that the structure of the system is worthless and is run by faceless controlled automatons. Only at the end, when the system is dismantled, does No6 find out who his real associates are. Many of them appear like nut-cases to the casual observer, others have had to live a life of silent desperation (No2's the servant). No6 is by no means perfect. . No6 escapes to London and tries to tell his story. The final message comes when the door of his apartment opens automatically "We are all in the village". It seems the author of this video is a knowing or unaware enforcer. "He who leads into captivity goes into captivity."

My hat is off to McGoohan, (RIP) Nothing like this series ever came close to the intellect and artfulness of both writing and visuals. (edit: yeah the music,too)

saw it as a kid; enjoyed it immensely, and was promptly bored by other tv offerings for the next thirty or so years...

Number 2 said it best in Chimes of Big Ben. "The Village is a model for the world order".

In 1978 I tried to make a pilgrimage to Port Meirion. I got off the train, and found myself in the middle of nowhere with heavy luggage. No phones, no taxis, no highway, nothing. I was stranded! Unable to move, all I could do was wait until the next train -- SEVEN HOURS LATER! I never did get to see Port Meirion. Sorry #6.

In the U.S., it was initially a summer replacement series for "The Avengers." The first episode I recall was "The Chimes of Big Ben," and I'd never seen anything like it.

My dad watched this as a kid and I also watched it. Quality show!

My parents let me stop up to watch this , and since then it has become my trusted mentor , whenever my moral compass needs checking I refer constantly to it . Challenge everything told to you, trust nobody and be suspicious of everybody and everything. We are all prisoners , we are all pawns in the game .. Who are the prisoners and who are the guards .

Loved this series! Made TV weird before weird was cool.

I love this show so much. It is genius.

Never understood what the hell was going on, but loved the show from the first episode I saw in the late 60s! Still rewatch it every few years, but no episode more than Many Happy Returns. The look on McGoohan’s face when the woman he’d seen back in London walks into his village apartment is priceless! Be seeing you!

I never get tired of The Prisoner. On again, started tonight on Horror Channel.

I loved this show when it was first broadcast in America. I was 8 or 9. I think it may have been my introduction to Science Fiction. The thing that first caught my eye was "Rover" ...

Loved the series , Patrick played this part absolutely fabulously, nothing will ever come close to the finale of such a great atmospheric series ever made . Be seeing you . Fabulous series . Iconic for show for that era, nothing can come close to the mind boggling games that he was put through to try and find out why he resigned. Great series even Greater actor .

brillant! followed every episode back in the day, coolest thing on tv.

I was not surprised or disappointed by the end reveal. My dad had a funny theory about Number One...though He thought it was the butler who often served tea and breakfast. lol

Have to admit if I had written this show, the butler would have been Number 1.

I watched the entire series as it came out. There was never a doubt in my mind that No. 6 was Danger Man. But The Prisoner as a series? Incomparable. It started during the "summer of love", and the whole series was part of the acid culture of the late 60s that sparked things like Sgt Pepper. Fascinating, inscrutable, and psychedelic. I still remember the delight and awe with which I watched each episode.

I saw it as a kid - on our old black and white tv, was unimpressed, missed Danger Man with its' action-packed episodes, goodies, baddies. the former always winning. As an adult, watching the breathtaking, iconic imagery in colour, experiencing Kafkaesque constraints to freedom, I formed my own conclusions, I consider it unique and irrepressible. The Spice Girls talked of Girl Power, the Monkees sang 'We're the young generation and we've got something to say" What girl power? What things to say? The Prisoner did have something to say - about freedom, conformity and control. 'I am not a number, I am a free man' says it all.

I went with three mates to Portmeirion, we all loved the series as kids. Fascinating place. It's also a metaphor for the series. Nothing is quite as it seems, from the Stone Boat, which is exactly what it says, to the Green Dome (Number 2's residence) and other buildings which you can't enter because......spoilers! They have, of course, a dedicated shop run by Six of One, the official fan club. As well as being the site of world famous pottery makers.

No question: after the Cuban Missile Crisis, BOTH/ALL sides formed the Village to rid themselves of troublesome agents.

only 106 subs with the quality of this video I thought you'd be well on your way, keep up the great work and more will come you defiantly deserve it

Back in the 1970's, here in the US, my local PBS* station played numerous British TV shows and movies. This station was instrumental in bringing Antique Roadshow to the US. As a kid The Prisioner made as much sense as some of the cartoons like Scobby-Doo. *For those outside of the US, PBS is Public Broadcasting. It receives government funding and donations from the local community. It's a loose federation of stations across the US. Some stations are better funded than others.

Yes, No. 6 *is* everyman. Thanks for the videos!!! 📺📺📺

Fantastic show! Time for a rewatch... I recall in the 90s "Nowhere Man", which had to have been influenced by it - but more in plot content rather than looks. I gotta find and revisit that show too...

I was 7, I loved it, my parents wouldn't have it on the main TV so my sister and I watched it on a small black and white set in another room.

I saw the Series when it first showed up on TV. It Blew Me Away. 😲 From time to time the series would show up on Public Television. I never missed an episode of I could help it. Seriously awesome.

TVOntario many years ago re-ran the series, with commentary by joiurnalist Warner Troyer; Patrick McGoohan appeared in a Q & A after the last episode, with some distinctive characters in the audience; so taken with the series, that a friend & I journeyed to Portmeirion soon after this re-run & luckily managed to stay there; the general manager took a liking to us, buying some rounds in a local pub; bought the cherished badges from the Prisoner Shop which I shared with friends upon returning home; subscribed to the Six of One Club newsletter, which at that time was a quarterly mailout. Great experience visiting there. You singled out Ron Grainer's dynamic theme music which I think was one of the key appealing elements of the series. Have the epsiodes on VHS. What to do with 'em? lol Be Seeing You.

The A&E version - like trying American chocolate - well said sir!

I'm so old I saw this "live" as a 12 year old. As kids we loved the surrealism of it all, regular TV was so dull & predictable. Our parents hated it. That last episode..."Dem Bones"....whoa!

Patrick was the first person the producers asked to play "Bond".

I was a teenager when i saw this series, i remember the last episode getting more lunatic and then realising sadly that he'd been a prisoner of his own mind the entire time.

I grew up with it. Brilliant. Such a good reminder of it !

I always assumed it was meta-commentary. Patrick felt trapped by his success as Danger Man and realized his captors are captives too. His only real jailor is himself.

This is a great review, giving it its due for how revolutionary it was/is, while also acknowledging how batshit crazy it was/is. So basically it sums up the series to a "t." Damn fine, Stam Fine!

One of the things I love about this series is the amazing animated ‘penny farthing’ end credits sequence…I also love the typography they use throughout the series on those credits & on Village signs etc. When I was a kid living in Mill Hill I used to see Patrick McGoohan regularly going to our local Catholic Church on Sundays, he was ‘Danger Man’ at the time, before he became No.6!

Ron Grainer also did the soundtrack for The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. Good musical style.

I would’ve accepted the last episode if they’d just added one more scene: where he wakes up back at the office he left his resignation at and some clerk simply takes it and rubber stamps it RESIGNATION ACCEPTED.

Carry On Stam! Hu Ha Ha Ha. Bless this Village. Couldn't resign, I mean resist. Anyway, a very good video, damm fine. Btw, I was 6 yrs old when they produced this series (1966/8) I'm now 60. BCNU

Loved Sid in the village at the end, behind bars! :D

I just can't help but feel that the show was more so autobiographical than anything...

Shame Sid James was never featured as No. 2, actually. I would love to have heard his distinctive laugh in response to "I am not a number, I am a free man!"

A place that seems like heaven but is actually hell that you can never leave. And yet Patrick McGoohan was happily married for over 50 years.

I watched as a child when it was first out in the 60s. Thought it was bonkers instantly loving it and still do. The remake was bollox no messing!

3yrs later, 3rd time watching, and that StamFine ending still catches me out :D

I've heard a rumor over the years, that the way the series was made, you can watch the pilot episode, then any episodes you like, in any order, just so long as Fallout is the last episode, and it will make just as much sense as you would watching them as listed. 😂

Often narrators are an egotistical earache at best, you on the other hand are, on point, informative & comical, clearly outlining, where possible, the premise of this complex & head scratching 1967 drama. For that, I thank you.

I remember watching The Prisoner when I was just a puppy... I remember my Boys underwear size was 6. I'm proud to say that I resigned from all my duties and I'm living the life of an old dog. I still don't understand it but Love the music.

6:47 Fun fact. the _Prisoner_ theme was actually the third attempt at a theme for the series. The Ron Grainer version was actually the second try. Patrick McGoohan heard it, and insisted that the tempo be stepped up. And that’s what you hear on the final series.

Cool review. Be seeing you!

I loved The Prisoner. Despite being over 50 years old, its themes mostly feel timeless and increasingly relevant. I was disappointed by the AMC miniseries and sequel fiction. I prefer as sequels, the 1990s UPN series, Nowhere Man, starring Bruce Greenwood, or The Truman Show movie, starring Jim Carey. While not direct sequels, these works were heavily inspired by, and more closely follow the feel, and spirit of the original.

Excellent as always. Your videos have gotten me through a week of bedrest. However, in the future I request that you please post Jim Caviezel warnings. I think I'm relapsing.

I really enjoyed this overview/teaser and how you compare it to today and the relevanc, I laughed out hopefully at the right places, I've just clicked the subscribe button

I think the last two episodes are works of art

Great review of a truly great series.

Anybody fancy a re-visit to this after the pandemic. That and with the 'social credit score' and '15 minute cities'.

I worked in North Wales many years ago. I had a few hours to kill before I needed to teach. So I visited Portmeirion, North Wales where the outside shots were filmed. It was very small but the views over the sea were spectacular. I re-enacted stuff in my head as a young kid. My parents were fab and let me watch it.

The random Syd James' was a nice touch.

please can you reveiw more itc series like department s, jason king and randall and hopkirk ??? i love these and love seeing your views on these series

LMAO🤣🤣🤣A Packet of Balloons. Funny Guy👍👍

I'd love to see a crossover between The Prisoner and Office Space. "I don't like my job and I don't think I'm going to go anymore."

I watched The Prisoner in the middle of the night here in Canada, in the 80s. TV had JUST gone 24 hrs here, and a character named Chuck the Security Guard would play old shows all night. I didn't sleep much. I was too young and too Canadian to catch all the allusions and ideas, but I liked a lot of them My fave was the ep where McGoohan enlists some cronies and they all figure out that they can find out who the Moles are, because Moles can't be pushed around. Then his cronies turn on him, because McGoohan ALSO can't be pushed around.

Pretty damn good, accurate and insightful series encapsulation for someone who admittedly didn't REALLY love it and doesn't really know quite what to make of it all (does ANYONE actually KNOW anything more than anyone else about it's meaning, and more to the point, does it even really matter in the slightest bit?!)

I equate this show like listening to Frank Zappa music. Quirky, intricate, obsure, brilliant. I partake of The Prisoner and Zappa music in small doses widely spaced apart. I admire and appreciate both, and they both drive me crazy....Zappa has taught me a life lesson which I will pass along..."Watch out where the huskies go, and dont you eat that yellow snow."

My favorite series ever

Thanks for this, I think I now feel inspired to watch this show! You've mentioned The Champions, could you please do a video on them as well? That would be great, I feel they never got the exposure they deserved... But they had a nice mix of sci-fi and espionage, all the ESP and so on, which none of the other shows had...

This is the best video I can find on this series 😂 great work. Summed up my feelings perfectly

The Prisoner was such a great and entertaining series!

The last 4-5 episodes are an absolute ride. McGoohan was in complete charge by that point, and rumours of manic drug-fueled last minute writing binges to hit impossible deadlines are all true. I discovered it quite early, late 1970s, and in the 1980s I wrote a Masters thesis about it. The main artistic criticism would be that it took McGoohan a while to understand what he was doing, fire most of the production team and end up doing it all himself. It starts off as a paranoid spy thriller with a bit of color and ends up as a dark prediction of how 1967 would end up as 1970 and there would be a lot of psychic refugees. Chief among them would be McGoohan himself. He wasn’t so much scared by The Prisoner as scarred by it. He was never the same.

This is the most humorous review of the series I've seen .This series helped me get through my High School years. After I graduated, I put my student ID card in my typewriter and made an X on it like in series opening scenes.

I discovered The Prisoner while watching a documentary on Amazon Prime about Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast album. There is a song called The Prisoner and Bruce Dickenson said that the song was influenced by the show while speaking from Portmeirion. I then watched it on Prime and then bought the DVD set. Great show!

It's like when your dentist asks you if you floss when he God dam knows the answer,no I don't just drill you bastard. Friggen had me rolling on the floor 🤣 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I”m not sure exactly when WTTW in Chicago did a rebroadcast but I watched it as a kid and it was awesome :) I wasn’t born until 1970 so the original broadcast in the 60’s can’t be what I remember ;) but they did it again, at least once opssibly several times.

Nice video man and great quality, better review made than some channels with over 100k subs normally do

McGoohan said in an interview that he only wanted to do 7 episodes because he felt the show would run out of story ideas after that, but Lew Grade talked him into doing 10 more episodes. Sadly it shows because most of those later epis were not as good..:)

The first (and probably still only) TV series to have its own typeface, called Village.

this show only makes sense when you watch it stoned

Here I. The states I didn't see the cowboy episode (never shown in US) and final episode until the rebroadcast of series when I was in college.. Calling it weird is an understatement.😄

The Individual versus the Collectivist mindset. More relevant than ever nowadays...

One of the best tv theme songs, you hear it once and remember it for ever.

It was a good show for it's time. Miss shows like this. They made you think.

The last two episodes of Evangelion make sense. The last two episodes of the Prisoner do not.

People realize the answer to who is number 1 is basically in the opening sequence, right? "Who is Number 1?" "You are, Number 6."

The Greatest Theme Tune EVER!

Purely taking advantage of the medium of television, this is the greatest programme ever, Patrick was a visionary.☯️

Fucking brilliant, attaching the balloon via the handy pin!

So much more carefully thought out than any other spy series. And, we suspect, what really happens to former govt agents. The acting of much higher quality than we usually get on tv.

Shows like this and The Champions informed who we were as a generation. There has been nothing to match them in recent years, well Fringe had its moments but really nothing else.

Star Trek, Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, The Prisoner. Top 4. Runners up: Galactica (remake), lost, xfiles, kolchak,fringe. It gets fuzzy after that.

My theory? The village is a retirement community for spies.