The Prisoner finally Escapes...

Patrick McGoohan, of "The Prisoner" series fame, is dead at age 80.

I really hate doing this. I don’t care much for writing some posthumous reference to a dear old actor who offered some of the most challenging, pioneering shows in TV history. That series was simply called "The Prisoner."

I thought he was a pretty sprightly guy for his age and expected him to be around for a longer time. But it didn’t happen. And we’re left in the world still stuck with absolute morons like Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Rielly waiting in the sidelines to spring like jumping vultures on President Obama if he screws up. The conservatives are such a sporting bunch.

But this isn’t politics. It’s entertainment. And McGoohan, along with George Markstein, created what might be one of the most entertaining shows that muses on philosophy. Some of the things he poses in this series puts it at least thirty years ahead of its time.

This Prisoner series was already talking about things like numbers, credit cards, identity theft, indoctrination, out of control machineries… the anonymity of everything. His greatest fear was losing individuality to the threat of a growing society where numbers became crucial names to people. His biggest worry was the lost of free thought.

Pretty fantastic stuff for a series that only lasted seventeen episodes. But he only wanted for it to run a short time. With an ending in mind for the series. Not only that, McGoohan wrote the final episode with all the answers caged in his mind. He’s brought all the secrets of the Prisoner to his grave.

Someone asked me in referring to McGoohan’s death, “Did number Two get him or did Number Six finally escape?”

That’s a pretty good question. I say he does escape. From life.

I’m sure fans of the series will be debating that one for ages to come. But we’ll never know for sure. And I think McGoohan will be chuckling, even in death, about how the people are still debating over it. He’s got an odd sense of humor.

But his fame didn’t start with the Prisoner series. None of it was even conceived by the time McGoohan took to fame with his first successful series “Danger Man,” streaming into the early sixties on American television. You might not know it by the original name. But most folks hereabouts remember it as “Secret Agent Man” with its lively, pop tune peformed by Johnny Rivers that blazes through your head.

It wasn’t enough for McGoohan however. He wanted something more creative, far-reaching when he put the secret agent success behind him. McGoohan was considered the highest rated actor at the height of the 1960s. For a time, his name was almost everywhere.

But he had one little idea he was set on. He visited on the Welsh border where the reefs and different architecture of the Portmeirion in North Wales caught his eyes. The idea of the Prisoner began to form his head as he placed several different possible stories in this strange commodity. Several buildings looked rather surreal in the right kind of atmosphere.

"I thought it was an extraordinary place," McGoohan said.

Couldn't be more aptly put.

He wanted to set “The Prisoner” series there and he got it. His name was well known at the time. He had the credibility of his prior success to support a crazy idea like this.

And it was crazy.

Screwed up, really. But brilliant.

For seventeen episodes, we are ushered into a world where spies retire to a place called “The Village,” people of different numbers. There is no escape, only relaxation. It was supposed to be a paradise where people with pertinent information would go. Just relax. We have no choice as we are pulled into this blunt, different world where the rules were foreign. Everything was okay as long as you cooperate.

But if you didn’t, then it’s only fair game to the authorities. They’ll get their information no matter what. Through drugs, mind control, anything. Nothing was sacred to the authorities. There's even a giant balloon named Rover that goes around dragging people back if they try to escape the Village.

McGoohan played a man named Number Six who resigned from his position in government during the cold war, but he had some important information tucked away in his head. Throughout the series, the authorities tried every way to extract this information and came close to killing him at times. But Number Six often turned the tables on him. There was never a straight answer. But the closest answer we have received was this: “I resigned… for a peace of mind.”

The authorities were played by several different actors in the position of Number Two, the chief administrator. Every episode seems to have a different Number Two. This reflects the ever changing authorities in the working world… that different authorities are often replaced. Much like what is happening in the real world today. The constant turnovers.

The series offered an amazing creative formation of episodes. The concepts were often thrust through the lightweight entertainment… but there was often a more serious implications in the series. The question of individuality is slowly losing its grip. The final episode is the most damning one of them all… where none of the questions were answered. The audiences were not happy. And McGoohan had to leave his home on a holiday knowing that people would be very cross with him.

But he delighted in arguments. He was a very confrontational man as seen in interviews. Beneath the collected façade of his features laid a very thoughtful man.

We may never know the answers to his most famous series “The Prisoner.”

But we can still have a lot of fun with it. I would recommend the A&E series run as they placed all the episodes in the chronological order according to Number Six’s progress and personality. At beginning of the series, he is more of a caged animal wanting to get out. But later on, remaining stoic, he learns to play checkmate with the authorities. I have too many favorite episodes in the series though I did like “Free for All,” “Schizoid Man” and a few of the final episodes.

Not only McGoohan acted, but directed, produced and wrote some of the episodes. Even came up with whistling the tune of the series title music. Apparently the guy couldn't sleep.

McGoohan is no longer with us. But his trademark series “The Prisoner” is… leaving behind a remarkable achievement that few were able to bring to television. This is his one greatest achievement and pride. And they are available to all of us through DVD releases. It is a gem in popular television and more imporantly science fiction.

Watch this series and you might find yourself scratching your head. I do envy you, the first time viewers, to discover this world of spies and prisons.

Be seeing you.