You're right Danger Man was retitled Secret Agent Man in the United States and they added the Johnny Rivers song Secret Agent Man as the theme song. I believe Patrick McGoohan did not like the gadget heavy James Bond and so he went for a man that did not look dangerous which is why he would put on glasses to look more book nerdish and, I believe, usually posed as a travel magazine writer. I believe the show didn't want to expose the culprits until the end because it was for people who enjoyed doing puzzles and solving problems. They did not want to know who was the bad guy in the beginning of the show. If you enjoy Patrick McGowan's acting you can catch him acting in at least one episode of the Colombo series each season plus he spent a lot of time directing. The Prisoner was more of a spoof TV show about a secret agent who wanted to leave the business but the higher ups we're afraid he would spill secrets so they sent him to their special Village where they took away his name and gave him a number. The Americans I'm afraid will blow your mind because it is so oriented towards these Soviet undercover spies that you will root for them against the Americans who are trying to catch them. Obviously, the actors in The Americans, Keri Russell and her real life husband Matthew Rhys, are on a totally different level of sophistication than Secret Agent Man. The Soviet Union had a couple of cities that were copies of American small towns. All of the townspeople were Soviets who has spent some time living in the United States in the various Soviet embassies and consulates Etc . And understood how we think, talk and how our culture works. They would select very young children who had made very high marks on intelligence tests and these children would live in the town as Americans, speak English better than most Americans, get indoctrinated into sacrificing their lives by living in the United States as sleeper agents. That is how they could live here without having Russian accents and understanding our euphemisms. On a slightly different note if you enjoy Keri Russell in the Americans you should watch her latest series on Netflix call The Diplomat. She plays the American ambassador to Great Britain. It is very smart, funny in a realistic way. The second season should be starting in a couple of months. This is not to be confused with the British series call The Diplomat which is located in Barcelona Spain.
This was the 1st (and for a long time, only) episode of Danger Man, I had seen (I've since got a box set of Season 1). BBC 2 did a Danger Man retrospective, which meant they first gave the basic premise of the series. They highlighted this episode, as one of the ways the series was trying to move beyond the 'normal' spy series of the era. There were several 'cultural historians' / pundits giving brief explanations of 1) what made the show special and (2) what its influences were from other British shows or films and what it was reacting against. On this first look, John Drake was much more a spy from John Le Carre's world, which attracted me, rather than a 'toned down Bond'. I was wrong, having seen Seaon 1. It's theme is disillusionment, from sacrifice and failures, which the British can do brilliantly - 1 character in the 'training village' was a former idealistic communist, who resents having to be obsequious to the 'Lord of the Manor', because of course, every British village has its local aristocrat. All of which leads up to the beginnings of Drake's disillusionment, at the denouement. Anyway, that's my tuppence, or more likely farthing's, worth.
You're right Danger Man was retitled Secret Agent Man in the United States and they added the Johnny Rivers song Secret Agent Man as the theme song. I believe Patrick McGoohan did not like the gadget heavy James Bond and so he went for a man that did not look dangerous which is why he would put on glasses to look more book nerdish and, I believe, usually posed as a travel magazine writer. I believe the show didn't want to expose the culprits until the end because it was for people who enjoyed doing puzzles and solving problems. They did not want to know who was the bad guy in the beginning of the show. If you enjoy Patrick McGowan's acting you can catch him acting in at least one episode of the Colombo series each season plus he spent a lot of time directing. The Prisoner was more of a spoof TV show about a secret agent who wanted to leave the business but the higher ups we're afraid he would spill secrets so they sent him to their special Village where they took away his name and gave him a number. The Americans I'm afraid will blow your mind because it is so oriented towards these Soviet undercover spies that you will root for them against the Americans who are trying to catch them. Obviously, the actors in The Americans, Keri Russell and her real life husband Matthew Rhys, are on a totally different level of sophistication than Secret Agent Man. The Soviet Union had a couple of cities that were copies of American small towns. All of the townspeople were Soviets who has spent some time living in the United States in the various Soviet embassies and consulates Etc . And understood how we think, talk and how our culture works. They would select very young children who had made very high marks on intelligence tests and these children would live in the town as Americans, speak English better than most Americans, get indoctrinated into sacrificing their lives by living in the United States as sleeper agents. That is how they could live here without having Russian accents and understanding our euphemisms. On a slightly different note if you enjoy Keri Russell in the Americans you should watch her latest series on Netflix call The Diplomat. She plays the American ambassador to Great Britain. It is very smart, funny in a realistic way. The second season should be starting in a couple of months. This is not to be confused with the British series call The Diplomat which is located in Barcelona Spain.
Amazing show! Watched it in the mid-60's in the US.
This was the 1st (and for a long time, only) episode of Danger Man, I had seen (I've since got a box set of Season 1). BBC 2 did a Danger Man retrospective, which meant they first gave the basic premise of the series. They highlighted this episode, as one of the ways the series was trying to move beyond the 'normal' spy series of the era. There were several 'cultural historians' / pundits giving brief explanations of 1) what made the show special and (2) what its influences were from other British shows or films and what it was reacting against. On this first look, John Drake was much more a spy from John Le Carre's world, which attracted me, rather than a 'toned down Bond'. I was wrong, having seen Seaon 1. It's theme is disillusionment, from sacrifice and failures, which the British can do brilliantly - 1 character in the 'training village' was a former idealistic communist, who resents having to be obsequious to the 'Lord of the Manor', because of course, every British village has its local aristocrat. All of which leads up to the beginnings of Drake's disillusionment, at the denouement. Anyway, that's my tuppence, or more likely farthing's, worth.