I drove a taxi in Santa Monica for years and was fortunate to give Patrick McGoohan a ride. I didn't recognize him. Just got a quick look before he sat in the back. He was wearing his hair a little longer and it was grayer. After I assured him I knew where the Disney studio in Burbank was he didn't say anything so I didn't recognize his distinctive voice. At the studio gate he had to give his name. As soon as he did my eyes shot up to the rear view mirror and he knew I had made him. I waited for him as he requested and took him back. He talked more on the way back. He had been pitching a script. He had worked with Disney before. When he got out I asked him if he had done any film work recently. He had just gotten back from filming Brave Heart. I thought he said Grey Heart. So he stood tall and said Brave Heart. It was as if as if he were on a stage. What a thrill! He could have walked out on the crew filming the docunentary when he saw how amaturish they were but he stayed and tried to help them. Even the lighting was bad. You could tell how uncomfortable he was. Especially when compared with the clip of him being interviewed by someone else in front of college students who were studying "The Prisoner". He was likely upset with the doc crew because so much of the interview involved out takes. He has an english film Hell Drivers from 1957 on RUclips. He plays the lead. Sean Connery is also in it. Even though Connery is one of the lesser characters you could see he had a star's presence.
People say Patrick is difficult, cryptic - I feel he is more open and honest than most actors. He is trying hard to be himself instead of portraying himself as a hero or a genius or a sex symbol. A brilliant documentary about a brilliant show created by a brilliant actor. His defiant, aggressive character has helped me accept my own defiance and aggression.
I truly hope everybody who’s watching this realises just how fortunate we all are!!! This is the cherry on top! Patrick showed us back then the world that would today unravel and he warned us..... THANK YOU for this heavenly gift Patrick and thank you, all who persevered with Patrick and produced this ultimate up close & personal interview!!! ❤❤❤
I believe this series was "notice" to what was coming in 1969 and how to get out. We are all secret agents and must resign in order to be private. In 1969 "they" the umbrella corporations, had perfected their security system and everything went "legal". You common land deed, a title, became a security interest taken by the government and these securities need to be liquidated after you resign from the public.
Growing up in LA in the 1960's, notable, high class and truly marvelous actors, with exceptional reputations, were seemingly everywhere. Names like Heston, Stewart, Ford, etc come to mind. Although an American, Mr. McGoohan became successful in the UK, especially in Danger Man. The Prisoner was his unique masterpiece. Living not far from where he moved after departing England following the last episode, one genuine regret in my life was not being able to meet and spend a few priceless minutes with this amazing gentlemen. Mr. McGoohan was a close friend of actor and producer Peter Falk of Columbo fame. They shared several episodes together, with Mr. McG directing quite a few of them. Thank you for this marvelous video! I think I am a pretty good judge of character, and your efforts confirmed my initial impressions of the great Mr. McG; direct, self-assured, commanding, confident, knowing exactly what he wanted to achieve in his degree of perfection, and nothing less. I would imagine he would be a very intimidating man with whom to work, but very decent to those close to him. I have found men like this often seem like lions in the world outside their home, but inside much different. I imagine Mr. McG would be the first man to come to the aid of another in trouble, especially when an injustice had been done. You can sense that quality almost instantly. One can tell that Mr. McG was a very combative man in his personal life based on his early experiences as a boy. He sought to break the mold of where he found himself, and through his work discovered his medium, his arena, to fight his personal, perceived noble battles; a man on a mission. From the beginning in 1968 until today, I have watched episodes countless times, and I always find an important lesson or morsel of insight in the story line, many of which Mr. McG wrote or directed himself. Mr. McG's strength of character, courage and determination have always inspired me as a person. It is amazing the lessons he sought to communicate to us are more poignant today than ever before. Mr. McG's gifts to the world do not just include his masterpiece, but the deeply important, thought provoking and drive for independence his own personality has conveyed and inspired. When he sadly passed away years ago, I remarked to a friend, Mr. McGoohan; his talents, drive and courage in pursuit in inspiring others were simply needed elsewhere by The Creator. He simply returned home. Mr. McG was (and is) truly ahead of his time!
When I went to see Braveheart in San Francisco, The Prisoner had been running many times on PBS, and when McGoohan made his big entrance (and chucked the prince's lover out the window) he received a huge pop from the sold out crowd! Was wonderful to feel that energy, and that Patrick was beloved by a smart SF audience. (They were smart in those days, but that has ended). I attended a Prisoner Symposium in high school, and did a couple of Forums at the local PBS station, Channel 9, in 1980 when they reran the series. Next on the list is to visit Portmeireon. Thank you for a wonderful documentary.
The Prisoner is a great work of art and Patrick McGoohan(who I'd already loved in Braveheart and the warden in Escape from Alcatraz) proves he's more than just a terrific actor. This was HIS show and his decision to leave the ending open ended ensured it's longevity.
Just watched this in 2024. I was shook as a teen in the 1970s when it aired on TVO and I remain shook. Not nostalgia but a life lesson in struggle and freedom. Long live John Drake, no longer a prisoner or a number but a free man!
You may want to rethink the message of The Prisoner. I've rewatched many of the episodes that I first watched as a teen, only now I realize that almost every scene is riddled with freemason symbolism. It happens constantly and cannot be an accident. Given the amount of control that McGoohan had over the series, it must have been intentional on his part. Space doesn't allow for me to better explain the numerous examples, but as a token look the exchange between the characters at minute :59 of this documentary: they scream "five" and "six" over and over at each other. 5+6=11, which seems silly and unimportant to you and me, but is of great significance to people in intelligence and other secret societies. But, you may ask, isn't the message of the series rebelliousness? In my opinion the real message that comes across is that resistance is futile. In the show only people that work for the secret overlords have anything approaching a normal life and happiness. I'm familiar with the final episode. I think that it is just plausible deniability of what the true message of the series was.
Ok, now I get it. Pat might've been a conspiracy theorist at a time when the world was at its most hopeful for freedom from profit and imperialism. His moral intensity was for honesty and goodness in the face of repression. The liberation I inferred could be an illusion: Forty-Eight's aimless hitchhiking is not sustainable individualism. Two's refuge in the House of Lords rejects individualism for safety in numbers and privileges. The Butler's escape is a servant gig that he chooses, except it's Six's house, bugged and boobytrapped. The bipolarity of Six as One can be escaped. The road is the same and the gates can slam as before. Six is on the other side of the gates and can choose to negotiate the road to new places without guards or gates. I'm still optimistic!
@@ianweniger6620 I'm not outing him as a conspiracy theorist, I'm outing him as an insider pretending to be an outsider. The symbols put into the show were meant to only be fully understood by people like himself. It also means that the series origin story is probably fiction. I'm not saying that he isn't a good actor. I'm saying that he is a greater actor than anyone probably realizes.
I love it! Mr. McGoohan took over the interview, and made it his own production. No better outcome could have been had. I bet he felt like a writer/actor/director in charge again for a short time.
What an intense, intelligent, and handsome man. Exceptionally difficult to interview and penetrate. But one cannot but admire his passion and unyielding force of nature. I never understood The Prisoner, just as I never really understand allegories. But I enjoyed the mystery, and Patrick was so compellingly watchable. I had the honor of casting Katherine in a play I produced in LA, and she was very kind and very bright. I was thrilled that she brought her father to the premiere. By that time, he had been a scene stealer in Braveheart, and I was a huge fan of that performance, which I really did understand!
@Eric Przyswa Eric then I happily withdraw that word. I had a very high opinion of him and probably used the wrong adjective to describe someone who seemed to have strong convictions. Thanks for correcting me.
The series inspired me to grab the classic Aldous Huxley sci fi novel Brave New World (which addresses a lot of things happening culturally and politically around the world right NOW), because it was in many ways the source for The Prisoner; its tropes, themes, and satirical humor. Read that book, and it can affect a viewer's interpetation of scenes on revisiting the series. Bottom line, though, is not to try to "figure out" what you're seeing. Interepret it freely, as McGoohan urges. One question I wish interviewers had asked McGoohan is if he liked science fiction during his youth. He threw everything into this show, from thoughts projected onto a monitor to switching minds with another man.
Like others before him, he warned us about the the coming 'new world order' system (he even used that specific term along with the all seeing eye symbolism; which i don't think can be just coincidence) and their 15min prisons
When I first watched The Prisoner, I thought that he had died, been murdered, and the village was the purgatory. Not understanding he was dead, he continually tried to escape but never to succeed. As I listen to Patrick McGoohan, his voice reminded me of someone but couldn't put my finger on it then suddenly it came to me, Richard Burton.
Remarkable series.... intense, imaginative, but realistic vision of the 21st century - certainly the beginning of it - ...... Be seeing you...............
I just watched the whole thing. It’s an amazing piece of history. I remember seeing the Prisoner when it was first run. I didn’t get the ending until I saw the Canadian interview a few years ago. This film is an amazing insight into the genius of the man.
I remember watching the series from the first episode to the last. My father was a big Danger Man fan. At the end of the last episode, even though he had given up long before he stuck it out in some sort of search for sense, he said, "What a load of fucking rubbish," and was angry for days afterwards. I was 10 years old. I loved it. I had been canned in my primary school that year for doing the "wrong sort of pattern" in our art class. I had bought my first single, "The House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals. My father threw it in the bin and described it as utter trash. What I am saying is this, The Prisoner is a watershed moment in media history. It is a moment when art was set free. Then we had Thatcher and Regan and it was put back into prison. People speak a lot about what is art and my answer is that true art, brilliant art is that which appears timeless. We all know this series will still be watched and admired long after we are gone.
Right but with Reagan you have to differentiate between pre and post his assassination attempt when the deep state took over his admin. Like JFK. You seriously think thatcher and reagan werent pawns?
I was 15 when this came out. Without any question, the program changed my entire outlook on life and affected my young development. I'm a cynic (a very happy cynic). I put it down to:- Catcher in the Rye. 1984 Brave New World The Prisoner L'Étranger. Crime and Punishment Metamorphosis The Tempest (Shakespeare) These books (and the Prisoner T.V. programme) were extremely influential in my development. In happy they were around at the time. I'm also happy that my Grammar school English teacher was open-minded enough to teach us Catcher in the Rye.
What a fantastic documentary, definitely the best Prisoner documentary out there. Only today did I finally realize where the title of the documentary is taken from! It is from the episode "Once Upon a Time," from an exchange between No. 6 and No. 2, which is probably the closest we come to No. 6 revealing why he resigned: 6: Let me out. 2: Why did you resign. 6: For peace. 2: (disbelieving) For peace? 6: Yeah. Let me out. 2: You resigned for peace. 6: Yes. Let me out. 2: You're a fool! 6: For peace of mind. 2: (disbelieving) Whaaat? 6: For peace of mind! 2: Why? 6: Because too many people... know too much. 2: Never. 6: I know too much! 2: Tell me. 6: I know too much about you! 2: You don't. 6: I do. 2: (shakes head) No, don't. 6: I know you. 2: Who am I? 6: You... are an enemy. 2: I'm on your side. 6: (sarcastically) Yeeaaah. 2: Why did you resign? 6: You've been told. 2: Tell me again. 6: Yes. I know you. 2: (sarcastically) You're smart. 6: In my mind... in my mind... YOU'RE smart! 2: Why did you resign?! 6: There, see? Of course, the meanings behind these words, like much of The Prisoner, is open to interpretation. In my opinion, No. 2 calls No. 6 "smart," because No. 2 does not believe No. 6's answer, he thinks he is being clever. No. 6, conversely, says, "In my mind... YOU'RE smart," because he has finally truly answered the question, but No. 2 can't believe that he has been given the answer. I wonder if the title of the documentary implies that we, the audience, have been given all the answers we need to figure out The Prisoner's mysteries... and we don't even realize it.
This is marvelous! Seeing McGhoohan running on all cylinders, what looks to be drone footage of "The Village" interlaced with advertisement sequences from Portmeirion, connected with thoughts from his charming daughter. It all becomes a bit unreal. His daughter could easily be a character from the series. If this was the effect you were reaching for it's certainly working effectively on me.
a very fine addition to the scantily available interview material wth McGoohan about The Prisoner. thanks VERY much for posting this. makes me want to rewatch the whole series over again soon! just rewatched that Toronto interview recently & was looking for another documentary i'd seen about it & found this first, still no trace of whatever it was i'd seen before. hope this can stay up so people can see it.
Thank you for this in depth interview with one of the most extraordinary actors and writers of our time. The upshot of episode 17 seems to be, “ I have met the enemy, the locus of evil, and it is me”.
I came across The Prisoner Episode 1 last night and it brought back great memories. I was totally hooked into the series way back when. Now RUclips is sending me all these great links (including this very illuminating one) which I'm devouring greedily. I did manage to get to Wales once. I was sent by my company to an animation festival in Cardiff. I tried, begged to get a couple of vacation days so I could go see Portmeirion but no luck. They insisted that I fly back immediately for an "important" meeting which turned out to be not so important. Damn, if we'd had Zoom back then I might have managed it. I came so close!
I think the ending created by McGoohan was the ONLY way Number One could ever be memorable. The fans of that era failed to consider this when they "rioted". Furthermore, the ambiguity sustains the show to this day.
I adored this man, and still do! A sublime actor the best out there in my opinion.He made everything he acted in real. The Prisoner was avant guard. A series that forced one to think!!It is so now.He is in the class, and perhaps above it that Orwell and Huxley claimed.Extreemly talented . I truly wish I had been old enough to seek him out and have a extra ordinary parle with him.Hope to be seeing you sometime soon Pat!!!
No other television show accurately predicted the distopian world that we live in today: constant surveillance, 15 minute cities, forced vaccines, AI, police states, non stop state propaganda, chemicals in everything we eat and drink, pharmaceuticals that make us more "mutual" and agreeable, etc... Brilliant doesn't even begin to describe this show.
Thank you Keith for the upload - just found. Thank you Chris for this difficult assignment, good work. Interesting to see Catherine. An actor, a man - self-made, always reminded me of Nicol Williamson (demanding, Shakespeare productions to a narration of The Hobbit). I was fascinated with the production of The Prisoner. The quaint, folly village masking a technological concentration camp. Markstein's (The Cooler) approach just as interesting. I've re-written episodes in imagination, especially Fall Out. In the third act Six is returned to his flat, after a final brainwashing, we discover why he resigned. He feels in need of a long holiday. While packing, photographs of the village planted for him, induce a psychotic seizure. He destroys the images - but one has remained; as a mantle clock chimes six-o'clock. A fragment of memory returns - ""six, you are number six"...his gives his famous dictum. Packs the remaining photo, turns to leave. Looks at the camera and repeats "be seeing you". (Possible sequel). - Andrew Mackenna, Christchurch, New Zealand
Thanks very much to all concerned. I've never seen the Channel 4 documentary, but I trust you haven't left much of importance out of this one. Be seeing you! 👌
I remember, when I was a kid, in the early seventies, on french tv, when they had a technical problem, they put a Prisoner's episode. It always took you by surprise. And it was a blast. I loved it. Great, great documentary, by the way. Thanx a lot for that.
Did anyone mention the "be seeing you" signature that he brings to any spy role. When he directed his first Columbo episode and starred, he used it in that too. I think it is kind of cool.
There is a moment in this where he is in full Oscar Finch mode from his brilliant performance in Columbo's "Agenda for Murder". Rare for someone to be so masterful in acting and directing.
I was in the studio for the Troyer invu and you could feel the tension between McGoohan and Warner - in a very positive way - because Warner was completely psyched into the symbolic interpretations of the 17 episodes and McGoohan I don't think was as prepared for the depth of psychological searching from the questions, comments, and probing that took place. An unforgettable experience for me.
I had no idea that the location, Portmeirion, was full of people when they shot the Series!! Wow...when you watch The Prisoner, that first episode, it seems he is alone, but for the "residents" of The Village. Incredible acting....probably his skill developed doing live theater?? Kudos Sir!!
I organize my life by making lists of things to do. I number them. Sometimes, I'm able to accomplish the second task on my list before any others when a new task arises. I cross off the old task, write in the new task in its place and I tell the new task in all seriousness ''You are the new number two!''
Du musst amboss oder hammer sein! I'm only 18 minutes in and I'm glued to this! I just had to stop and say @Keith Rodgerson .... Thank you for this! I have to get back to watching.... Be seeing you!
it was the most original television program...ever..Patrick was trying to make people...think..television is really not designed for that..rod serling did the same thing..
🌹💐🌹💐🌹💐🌹 !!! What a very enjoyable gem ! I was, from september 1967 to june 1969, in London and in Cambridge to learn english ; and two of the means to do so were to listen to the radio or to watch television, which I did intensivily. The Prisoner is certainly one - maybe the only one - of the best series ever ; a series which makes you think, that is ; and this is considerable. Of course, I saw The Prisoner an that time in black and white ; therefore it was a great joy to discover it some years ago newly in colour.
Nice! But in many ways enigmatic, like its subject. Ironically, he never escaped from the Village; Mcgoohan might've gone on to produce more outstanding work as director/producer/writer but he didn't (or nothing I am aware of). One of the first things that came to mind mind after watching a couple episodes for the first time back in the late 1970's-early 80's on US public television, was contained in the intro: Q: "Who is Number One?" A: "You are, Number Six".
Fascinating, thanks for uploading. A shame the director and crew weren't better prepared but at least he's honest about his failings. A professional journalist should as a matter of practice always prepare for interviews with research and a list of questions. This provides an outline for the interview but still allows for spontaneity. To me The Prisoner is the television equivalent of Orwell's 1984 (as MacGoohan alludes) but with elements of Huxley's Brave New World, with his inquisitors alternating between hard and soft approaches in their attempts to get information.
Patty knew he couldn't tell you the truth, he was hoping that you would " get it", because everything can be known except the thing that's needs to be known and that is that which can not be told.
I have always thought the Prisoner series was one huge mish mash of confusion; but notwithstanding all the conflicting mush, it somehow fell together in the same way perhaps as 'Casablanca'. It was the very fact that neither makers nor viewers could make head nor tail of it that gave it its magic. A movie Rohrschach ink test. The late 60s timing, the opening, the car, the location, the photography, the laughable and scary balloon all had a little serendipity about them. McGoohan's aggressive growling expression was passe half way through the first episode. But notwithstanding all the inconsistencies and cul de sacs, it made it into history. Well done Patrick (rip).
Thanks for sharing this gem! 👍 I think McGoohan would be pleased how many people know and cherish The Prisoner. It was way ahead of its time, and had a lot of important messages, like choosing for yourself and keeping your moral compass intact. The surveillance aspect is another example; and anyone who asks questions being under suspicion.
A brilliant actor and an intriguing man. My favorite Columbo episode is Identity Crisis with Patrick. It was a pleasure watching Patrick in your footage/interview and his daughter.
McGoohan was amazing, one of his great lines in Braveheart was; "the trouble with Scotland is that it's full of scots". It was shocking, it got my attention and that's what great actors do.
@Keith Rodgerson Is it possible that you could enable captioning? Thank you very much for uploading this as "The Prisoner" was one of, if not *the* most original shows on television at the time. And I've admired McGoohan's acting. Not a bad jazz drummer either!
I have to admit that prisoner ends up in the same category as the 2004 series " lost". To some it is a cerebral allegory for the vicissitudes of life. For others it is an arcane example of a script that has no end point and is made up as you go.
I saw the prisoner on Channel 13 PBS in New York City in the early 1970s uncut for 17 weeks in the winter of I think 1972 or 1973. I think they had it on WOR and they chopped the hell out of it. P.S. Did Patrick McGowan do another series called Scarecrow?? after the Prisoner??
Dr Syn alias the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh-it's a Walt Disney "miniseries". I was really young when I saw it and thought Patrick McGoohan was the coolest man alive. I watch The Prisoner every few years and still think he is amazing
I drove a taxi in Santa Monica for years and was fortunate to give Patrick McGoohan a ride.
I didn't recognize him. Just got a quick look before he sat in the back. He was wearing his hair a little longer and it was grayer. After I assured him I knew where the Disney studio in Burbank was he didn't say anything so I didn't recognize his distinctive voice. At the studio gate he had to give his name. As soon as he did my eyes shot up to the rear view mirror and he knew I had made him. I waited for him as he requested and took him back. He talked more on the way back. He had been pitching a script. He had worked with Disney before. When he got out I asked him if he had done any film work recently. He had just gotten back from filming Brave Heart. I thought he said Grey Heart. So he stood tall and said Brave Heart. It was as if as if he were on a stage. What a thrill!
He could have walked out on the crew filming the docunentary when he saw how amaturish they were but he stayed and tried to help them. Even the lighting was bad. You could tell how uncomfortable he was. Especially when compared with the clip of him being interviewed by someone else in front of college students who were studying "The Prisoner". He was likely upset with the doc crew because so much of the interview involved out takes.
He has an english film Hell Drivers from 1957 on RUclips. He plays the lead. Sean Connery is also in it. Even though Connery is one of the lesser characters you could see he had a star's presence.
People say Patrick is difficult, cryptic - I feel he is more open and honest than most actors. He is trying hard to be himself instead of portraying himself as a hero or a genius or a sex symbol. A brilliant documentary about a brilliant show created by a brilliant actor.
His defiant, aggressive character has helped me accept my own defiance and aggression.
Catherine Mcgoohan is a treat, isn’t she? Bless her for sharing her love of her father with us all.
Pat, I'm still watching in 2024. For the hundredth time and counting :) Thank you for creating a gem I have been enjoying my entire life.
He stormed up to the gates of heaven and demanded, "Who are you?"
I truly hope everybody who’s watching this realises just how fortunate we all are!!! This is the cherry on top! Patrick showed us back then the world that would today unravel and he warned us..... THANK YOU for this heavenly gift Patrick and thank you, all who persevered with Patrick and produced this ultimate up close & personal interview!!! ❤❤❤
I believe this series was "notice" to what was coming in 1969 and how to get out. We are all secret agents and must resign in order to be private. In 1969 "they" the umbrella corporations, had perfected their security system and everything went "legal". You common land deed, a title, became a security interest taken by the government and these securities need to be liquidated after you resign from the public.
❤🙏
OMG. I am 65 & I watched this show air about 1970. I was only about 12 years old & this impacted me, when I could rarely stay up that late.
NSA
This film showed me nothing...
Because the author could not be bothered to enable auto captioning.
Following the link here was a waste of my time.
Growing up in LA in the 1960's, notable, high class and truly marvelous actors, with exceptional reputations, were seemingly everywhere. Names like Heston, Stewart, Ford, etc come to mind. Although an American, Mr. McGoohan became successful in the UK, especially in Danger Man. The Prisoner was his unique masterpiece. Living not far from where he moved after departing England following the last episode, one genuine regret in my life was not being able to meet and spend a few priceless minutes with this amazing gentlemen. Mr. McGoohan was a close friend of actor and producer Peter Falk of Columbo fame. They shared several episodes together, with Mr. McG directing quite a few of them.
Thank you for this marvelous video! I think I am a pretty good judge of character, and your efforts confirmed my initial impressions of the great Mr. McG; direct, self-assured, commanding, confident, knowing exactly what he wanted to achieve in his degree of perfection, and nothing less. I would imagine he would be a very intimidating man with whom to work, but very decent to those close to him. I have found men like this often seem like lions in the world outside their home, but inside much different. I imagine Mr. McG would be the first man to come to the aid of another in trouble, especially when an injustice had been done. You can sense that quality almost instantly.
One can tell that Mr. McG was a very combative man in his personal life based on his early experiences as a boy. He sought to break the mold of where he found himself, and through his work discovered his medium, his arena, to fight his personal, perceived noble battles; a man on a mission. From the beginning in 1968 until today, I have watched episodes countless times, and I always find an important lesson or morsel of insight in the story line, many of which Mr. McG wrote or directed himself. Mr. McG's strength of character, courage and determination have always inspired me as a person. It is amazing the lessons he sought to communicate to us are more poignant today than ever before. Mr. McG's gifts to the world do not just include his masterpiece, but the deeply important, thought provoking and drive for independence his own personality has conveyed and inspired. When he sadly passed away years ago, I remarked to a friend, Mr. McGoohan; his talents, drive and courage in pursuit in inspiring others were simply needed elsewhere by The Creator. He simply returned home. Mr. McG was (and is) truly ahead of his time!
I was 9 years old when The Prisoner appeared in the U.S.... and I was hooked on it!!
When I went to see Braveheart in San Francisco, The Prisoner had been running many times on PBS, and when McGoohan made his big entrance (and chucked the prince's lover out the window) he received a huge pop from the sold out crowd! Was wonderful to feel that energy, and that Patrick was beloved by a smart SF audience. (They were smart in those days, but that has ended).
I attended a Prisoner Symposium in high school, and did a couple of Forums at the local PBS station, Channel 9, in 1980 when they reran the series.
Next on the list is to visit Portmeireon.
Thank you for a wonderful documentary.
its amazing , to me, over 50 yrs later, this show still fascinates and holds many mysteries. love it.
The Prisoner is a great work of art and Patrick McGoohan(who I'd already loved in Braveheart and the warden in Escape from Alcatraz) proves he's more than just a terrific actor. This was HIS show and his decision to leave the ending open ended ensured it's longevity.
I love his voice and all his acting ..classy man educated man a gem in the entertainment business ..
Just watched this in 2024. I was shook as a teen in the 1970s when it aired on TVO and I remain shook. Not nostalgia but a life lesson in struggle and freedom. Long live John Drake, no longer a prisoner or a number but a free man!
You may want to rethink the message of The Prisoner. I've rewatched many of the episodes that I first watched as a teen, only now I realize that almost every scene is riddled with freemason symbolism. It happens constantly and cannot be an accident. Given the amount of control that McGoohan had over the series, it must have been intentional on his part. Space doesn't allow for me to better explain the numerous examples, but as a token look the exchange between the characters at minute :59 of this documentary: they scream "five" and "six" over and over at each other. 5+6=11, which seems silly and unimportant to you and me, but is of great significance to people in intelligence and other secret societies. But, you may ask, isn't the message of the series rebelliousness? In my opinion the real message that comes across is that resistance is futile. In the show only people that work for the secret overlords have anything approaching a normal life and happiness. I'm familiar with the final episode. I think that it is just plausible deniability of what the true message of the series was.
Ok, now I get it. Pat might've been a conspiracy theorist at a time when the world was at its most hopeful for freedom from profit and imperialism. His moral intensity was for honesty and goodness in the face of repression. The liberation I inferred could be an illusion: Forty-Eight's aimless hitchhiking is not sustainable individualism. Two's refuge in the House of Lords rejects individualism for safety in numbers and privileges. The Butler's escape is a servant gig that he chooses, except it's Six's house, bugged and boobytrapped.
The bipolarity of Six as One can be escaped. The road is the same and the gates can slam as before. Six is on the other side of the gates and can choose to negotiate the road to new places without guards or gates.
I'm still optimistic!
@@ianweniger6620 I'm not outing him as a conspiracy theorist, I'm outing him as an insider pretending to be an outsider. The symbols put into the show were meant to only be fully understood by people like himself. It also means that the series origin story is probably fiction. I'm not saying that he isn't a good actor. I'm saying that he is a greater actor than anyone probably realizes.
I love it! Mr. McGoohan took over the interview, and made it his own production. No better outcome could have been had. I bet he felt like a writer/actor/director in charge again for a short time.
Fascinating. McGoohan was brilliant!
Thanks for putting this on RUclips, Keith! Made me cry a little...
This was Great ! Be seeing you...
What an intense, intelligent, and handsome man. Exceptionally difficult to interview and penetrate. But one cannot but admire his passion and unyielding force of nature.
I never understood The Prisoner, just as I never really understand allegories. But I enjoyed the mystery, and Patrick was so compellingly watchable.
I had the honor of casting Katherine in a play I produced in LA, and she was very kind and very bright. I was thrilled that she brought her father to the premiere. By that time, he had been a scene stealer in Braveheart, and I was a huge fan of that performance, which I really did understand!
He is not dogmatic...
@Eric Przyswa Eric then I happily withdraw that word. I had a very high opinion of him and probably used the wrong adjective to describe someone who seemed to have strong convictions. Thanks for correcting me.
Watchable, compelling, yes... he moves like a cat.
The series inspired me to grab the classic Aldous Huxley sci fi novel Brave New World (which addresses a lot of things happening culturally and politically around the world right NOW), because it was in many ways the source for The Prisoner; its tropes, themes, and satirical humor. Read that book, and it can affect a viewer's interpetation of scenes on revisiting the series. Bottom line, though, is not to try to "figure out" what you're seeing. Interepret it freely, as McGoohan urges. One question I wish interviewers had asked McGoohan is if he liked science fiction during his youth. He threw everything into this show, from thoughts projected onto a monitor to switching minds with another man.
His Intelligent Morals When Offered Role Saint,James Bond He Refused.
I was an obsessed "Prisoner" watcher....So ahead of the time...wonderful!!
Over the last month I rediscovered my own obsession with the show.
We’re living this
And Rover is everyone.
Like others before him, he warned us about the the coming 'new world order' system (he even used that specific term along with the all seeing eye symbolism; which i don't think can be just coincidence) and their 15min prisons
@@SustainableEnslavementAgenda ,
15 min. Prisons....15 minutes of fame, the infamy of people for having done horrible things.....
When I first watched The Prisoner, I thought that he had died, been murdered, and the village was the purgatory. Not understanding he was dead, he continually tried to escape but never to succeed. As I listen to Patrick McGoohan, his voice reminded me of someone but couldn't put my finger on it then suddenly it came to me, Richard Burton.
good take
given that "lost" was heavily influenced by the prisoner.....it's very probable
Remarkable series.... intense, imaginative, but realistic vision of the 21st century - certainly the beginning of it - ......
Be seeing you...............
I just watched the whole thing. It’s an amazing piece of history. I remember seeing the Prisoner when it was first run. I didn’t get the ending until I saw the Canadian interview a few years ago. This film is an amazing insight into the genius of the man.
This was a great series that captured part of that era so well
I remember watching the series from the first episode to the last. My father was a big Danger Man fan. At the end of the last episode, even though he had given up long before he stuck it out in some sort of search for sense, he said, "What a load of fucking rubbish," and was angry for days afterwards. I was 10 years old. I loved it. I had been canned in my primary school that year for doing the "wrong sort of pattern" in our art class. I had bought my first single, "The House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals. My father threw it in the bin and described it as utter trash.
What I am saying is this, The Prisoner is a watershed moment in media history. It is a moment when art was set free. Then we had Thatcher and Regan and it was put back into prison. People speak a lot about what is art and my answer is that true art, brilliant art is that which appears timeless. We all know this series will still be watched and admired long after we are gone.
Right but with Reagan you have to differentiate between pre and post his assassination attempt when the deep state took over his admin. Like JFK. You seriously think thatcher and reagan werent pawns?
Very true, well said.
Hear, hear. I remember the tension building up waiting for the final episode to appear on TV.
What a character of this man. An artist.
I was 15 when this came out. Without any question, the program changed my entire outlook on life and affected my young development. I'm a cynic (a very happy cynic). I put it down to:-
Catcher in the Rye.
1984
Brave New World
The Prisoner
L'Étranger.
Crime and Punishment
Metamorphosis
The Tempest (Shakespeare)
These books (and the Prisoner T.V. programme) were extremely influential in my development.
In happy they were around at the time. I'm also happy that my Grammar school English teacher was open-minded enough to teach us Catcher in the Rye.
What a fantastic documentary, definitely the best Prisoner documentary out there. Only today did I finally realize where the title of the documentary is taken from! It is from the episode "Once Upon a Time," from an exchange between No. 6 and No. 2, which is probably the closest we come to No. 6 revealing why he resigned:
6: Let me out.
2: Why did you resign.
6: For peace.
2: (disbelieving) For peace?
6: Yeah. Let me out.
2: You resigned for peace.
6: Yes. Let me out.
2: You're a fool!
6: For peace of mind.
2: (disbelieving) Whaaat?
6: For peace of mind!
2: Why?
6: Because too many people... know too much.
2: Never.
6: I know too much!
2: Tell me.
6: I know too much about you!
2: You don't.
6: I do.
2: (shakes head) No, don't.
6: I know you.
2: Who am I?
6: You... are an enemy.
2: I'm on your side.
6: (sarcastically) Yeeaaah.
2: Why did you resign?
6: You've been told.
2: Tell me again.
6: Yes. I know you.
2: (sarcastically) You're smart.
6: In my mind... in my mind... YOU'RE smart!
2: Why did you resign?!
6: There, see?
Of course, the meanings behind these words, like much of The Prisoner, is open to interpretation. In my opinion, No. 2 calls No. 6 "smart," because No. 2 does not believe No. 6's answer, he thinks he is being clever. No. 6, conversely, says, "In my mind... YOU'RE smart," because he has finally truly answered the question, but No. 2 can't believe that he has been given the answer.
I wonder if the title of the documentary implies that we, the audience, have been given all the answers we need to figure out The Prisoner's mysteries... and we don't even realize it.
Genius teetering dangerously close to the edge of insanity.
Amazing . Well done ! The 8mm footage mixed in is priceless.
This is marvelous! Seeing McGhoohan running on all cylinders, what looks to be drone footage of "The Village" interlaced with advertisement sequences from Portmeirion, connected with thoughts from his charming daughter. It all becomes a bit unreal. His daughter could easily be a character from the series. If this was the effect you were reaching for it's certainly working effectively on me.
What a character!!!!! Patrick McGoohan seems like a civilized Ginger Baker!
a very fine addition to the scantily available interview material wth McGoohan about The Prisoner. thanks VERY much for posting this. makes me want to rewatch the whole series over again soon! just rewatched that Toronto interview recently & was looking for another documentary i'd seen about it & found this first, still no trace of whatever it was i'd seen before. hope this can stay up so people can see it.
Thank you for this in depth interview with one of the most extraordinary actors and writers of our time. The upshot of episode 17 seems to be, “ I have met the enemy, the locus of evil, and it is me”.
This is truly amazing! Everything you've compiled here... A treasure! Thank you!
This film from the filming is amazing.
If a work of art can be contained in words, it's no longer art. Rest well, Pat. You've earned your freedom.
Brilliant! Thank you for creating this. Thank you for posting this. His daughters insights were amazing.
She didn't fall far from the tree, much like her father, a very interesting person.
I came across The Prisoner Episode 1 last night and it brought back great memories. I was totally hooked into the series way back when. Now RUclips is sending me all these great links (including this very illuminating one) which I'm devouring greedily.
I did manage to get to Wales once. I was sent by my company to an animation festival in Cardiff. I tried, begged to get a couple of vacation days so I could go see Portmeirion but no luck. They insisted that I fly back immediately for an "important" meeting which turned out to be not so important. Damn, if we'd had Zoom back then I might have managed it. I came so close!
I think the ending created by McGoohan was the ONLY way Number One could ever be memorable. The fans of that era failed to consider this when they "rioted". Furthermore, the ambiguity sustains the show to this day.
As I saw it after seeing the final reveal,the answer was always there from the beginning. Who is number 1? You are, number 6.
and that is why i believe that mcgoohan intended number 1 to be number 6 from day one
Amazing show and very prescient in light of the world today almost 60 years later
I adored this man, and still do! A sublime actor the best out there in my opinion.He made everything he acted in real. The Prisoner was avant guard. A series that forced one to think!!It is so now.He is in the class, and perhaps above it that Orwell and Huxley claimed.Extreemly talented . I truly wish I had been old enough to seek him out and have a extra ordinary parle with him.Hope to be seeing you sometime soon Pat!!!
One of the very best - often british - such as sir Alec Guiness
No other television show accurately predicted the distopian world that we live in today: constant surveillance, 15 minute cities, forced vaccines, AI, police states, non stop state propaganda, chemicals in everything we eat and drink, pharmaceuticals that make us more "mutual" and agreeable, etc... Brilliant doesn't even begin to describe this show.
Thank you Keith for the upload - just found. Thank you Chris for this difficult assignment, good work. Interesting to see Catherine. An actor, a man - self-made, always reminded me of Nicol Williamson (demanding, Shakespeare productions to a narration of The Hobbit).
I was fascinated with the production of The Prisoner. The quaint, folly village masking a technological concentration camp. Markstein's (The Cooler) approach just as interesting.
I've re-written episodes in imagination, especially Fall Out. In the third act Six is returned to his flat, after a final brainwashing, we discover why he resigned. He feels in need of a long holiday. While packing, photographs of the village planted for him, induce a psychotic seizure. He destroys the images - but one has remained; as a mantle clock chimes six-o'clock. A fragment of memory returns - ""six, you are number six"...his gives his famous dictum. Packs the remaining photo, turns to leave. Looks at the camera and repeats "be seeing you". (Possible sequel).
- Andrew Mackenna, Christchurch, New Zealand
Watching Babylon 5 and noticed the “Be Seeing You” salute and am rewatching Prisoner AGAIN. So glad this was Recommended!
What a wonderful treat. Thanks for sharing it. BCNU.
Thanks very much to all concerned. I've never seen the Channel 4 documentary, but I trust you haven't left much of importance out of this one. Be seeing you! 👌
I remember, when I was a kid, in the early seventies, on french tv, when they had a technical problem, they put a Prisoner's episode. It always took you by surprise. And it was a blast. I loved it.
Great, great documentary, by the way. Thanx a lot for that.
Did anyone mention the "be seeing you" signature that he brings to any spy role. When he directed his first Columbo episode and starred, he used it in that too. I think it is kind of cool.
Thank you for this . A real joy to see . " Where am I ? "
What a fantastic documentary. Patrick was always such an interesting actor to watch in whatever he did.
There is a moment in this where he is in full Oscar Finch mode from his brilliant performance in Columbo's "Agenda for Murder". Rare for someone to be so masterful in acting and directing.
I was in the studio for the Troyer invu and you could feel the tension between McGoohan and Warner - in a very positive way - because Warner was completely psyched into the symbolic interpretations of the 17 episodes and McGoohan I don't think was as prepared for the depth of psychological searching from the questions, comments, and probing that took place. An unforgettable experience for me.
I had no idea that the location, Portmeirion, was full of people when they shot the Series!! Wow...when you watch The Prisoner, that first episode, it seems he is alone, but for the "residents" of The Village. Incredible acting....probably his skill developed doing live theater?? Kudos Sir!!
once upon a time was an actual therapy session
regression therapy
that leo had an extreme reaction to it is understandable
I organize my life by making lists of things to do. I number them. Sometimes, I'm able to accomplish the second task on my list before any others when a new task arises. I cross off the old task, write in the new task in its place and I tell the new task in all seriousness ''You are the new number two!''
After so long...nothing short of amazing! Many, many thanks!
Patrick McGoohan was also great playing the Military Headmaster in Columbo series, superb actor.
Thank you Mr. Rodgerson!!!
Du musst amboss oder hammer sein!
I'm only 18 minutes in and I'm glued to this! I just had to stop and say @Keith Rodgerson .... Thank you for this!
I have to get back to watching.... Be seeing you!
it was the most original television program...ever..Patrick was trying to make people...think..television is really not designed for that..rod serling did the same thing..
"be seeing you" - every government & corporation today & tomorrow
🌹💐🌹💐🌹💐🌹 !!!
What a very enjoyable gem !
I was, from september 1967 to june 1969, in London and in Cambridge to learn english ; and two of the means to do so were to listen to the radio or to watch television, which I did intensivily.
The Prisoner is certainly one - maybe the only one - of the best series ever ; a series which makes you think, that is ; and this is considerable.
Of course, I saw The Prisoner an that time in black and white ; therefore it was a great joy to discover it some years ago newly in colour.
Excellent. An excellent interview with an excellent actor and creator. An excellent interview and protection.
Keith, thanks for posting this. Quite compelling.
Who would have thought that “The Prisoner” would be more relevant today?
Patrick McGoohan was a genius.
Ciao from Torino, Italia
Nice! But in many ways enigmatic, like its subject. Ironically, he never escaped from the Village; Mcgoohan might've gone on to produce more outstanding work as director/producer/writer but he didn't (or nothing I am aware of). One of the first things that came to mind mind after watching a couple episodes for the first time back in the late 1970's-early 80's on US public television, was contained in the intro: Q: "Who is Number One?" A: "You are, Number Six".
he fell in love with columbo and did tons of work for that series, which is considered one of the smartest procedurals in history
Fascinating, thanks for uploading. A shame the director and crew weren't better prepared but at least he's honest about his failings. A professional journalist should as a matter of practice always prepare for interviews with research and a list of questions. This provides an outline for the interview but still allows for spontaneity. To me The Prisoner is the television equivalent of Orwell's 1984 (as MacGoohan alludes) but with elements of Huxley's Brave New World, with his inquisitors alternating between hard and soft approaches in their attempts to get information.
Excellent documentary. Thank you.
Thank you VERY MUCH for posting this Keith! What a treat.
Thanks for posting, Keef! Cheers!
Patty knew he couldn't tell you the truth, he was hoping that you would " get it", because everything can be known except the thing that's needs to be known and that is that which can not be told.
I have always thought the Prisoner series was one huge mish mash of confusion; but notwithstanding all the conflicting mush, it somehow fell together in the same way perhaps as 'Casablanca'. It was the very fact that neither makers nor viewers could make head nor tail of it that gave it its magic. A movie Rohrschach ink test. The late 60s timing, the opening, the car, the location, the photography, the laughable and scary balloon all had a little serendipity about them. McGoohan's aggressive growling expression was passe half way through the first episode. But notwithstanding all the inconsistencies and cul de sacs, it made it into history. Well done Patrick (rip).
Wow !, Excellent thankyou uploader
👋💚👍
And, here we are! 🧐😃❤️🖖🏿
Thank you, Chris Rodley. This was wonderful.
OMG! Thank YOU FOR THIS!
Thanks for sharing this gem! 👍
I think McGoohan would be pleased how many people know and cherish The Prisoner. It was way ahead of its time, and had a lot of important messages, like choosing for yourself and keeping your moral compass intact. The surveillance aspect is another example; and anyone who asks questions being under suspicion.
Most excellent interview! This will sustain me for a long time 😅😊❤️
Sooo great full for this thanks
Wow, that had more suspense than the series!! Great doc, thanks
Omg!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Terrific, thanks!
A brilliant actor and an intriguing man. My favorite Columbo episode is Identity Crisis with Patrick. It was a pleasure watching Patrick in your footage/interview and his daughter.
Thank you.😊
McGoohan was amazing, one of his great lines in Braveheart was; "the trouble with Scotland is that it's full of scots". It was shocking, it got my attention and that's what great actors do.
It is sad his demise was shortly following Braveheart!
This was great. It should have many many more views
He exposed everything going on that we are only now collectively waking up to.
#1 = Shapeshifter that left with the rocket.
@Keith Rodgerson Is it possible that you could enable captioning?
Thank you very much for uploading this as "The Prisoner" was one of, if not *the* most original shows on television at the time. And I've admired McGoohan's acting. Not a bad jazz drummer either!
Pat Is one of my most favorite people! Enjoying still his work
Thank you.
33:32 I wonder what the significance of the fact is that all the buttons with numbers that should end in “7” are mislabelled ...
The most amazing show on tv.
Star Trek was number two!
I have to admit that prisoner ends up in the same category as the 2004 series " lost". To some it is a cerebral allegory for the vicissitudes of life. For others it is an arcane example of a script that has no end point and is made up as you go.
I saw the prisoner on Channel 13 PBS in New York City in the early 1970s uncut for 17 weeks in the winter of I think 1972 or 1973. I think they had it on WOR and they chopped the hell out of it. P.S. Did Patrick McGowan do another series called Scarecrow?? after the Prisoner??
Dr Syn alias the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh-it's a Walt Disney "miniseries". I was really young when I saw it and thought Patrick McGoohan was the coolest man alive. I watch The Prisoner every few years and still think he is amazing
McGoohan Orwell and Huxley. All three warned us.
best TV ever made!
He’s so handsome and talented.
I’ve quit a few jobs in my time and i would love to have had the nerve to have stormed into the office and give that ,,I am not a number speech