Must Be Christmas Tonight by the Band, Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby/David Bowie and Kung Fu Christmas by the National Lampoon

The stunt rhymes in this. Lehrer applauds.

It’s worth watching just for the opening and closing credits.

I've always thought that Ken Dodd proclaiming "Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess" was the greatest pun in a song ever. (an ostensibly non comic song by a comic, that was actually comic after all)

There is some disagreement about how the number of episodes was decided. The version I find most convincing is that it was originally planned to shoot two seasons in one go, the first one to end after 16 episodes with No 6 being taken to see No 1 (which happens). Before the second series was begun though, Lew Grade said they would have to wrap the project up so Paddy McGoohan (as my mum who had the hots for him called him) came up with the final episode (Fall Out) as something of a ending. If you watch nothing else watch Fall Out. Incredible piece of TV. I was 12 when it first screened and we were all expecting Danger Man, which we loved. We watched open mouthed each week hoping for some kind of understanding. I am still working on it, but what a glorious piece of television.

I was ten when Seeds of Doom was shown and thought myself way past the hiding behind the sofa stage but the scene in the swamp with the vines dragging some poor guy under scared the living heck out of me. The effects were literally ropey, but story telling and atmosphere beat realism anyday.

Can't believe the EDL is still very much a thing. This video is more relevant than ever

The Rover (weather balloon) happened by chance, the original Rover clearly didn't work so the tech team needed another idea... as they discussed what to do, a team member happened to look up & spotted a white weather balloon far up in the clear blue sky & thought 'Ahh..' they contacted the met office & ordered several... the rest is history!

i don't know why i'm here but damn that hits

Saw Mitch today at the Fringe! Last saw him in Edinburgh in 1999 and he was just as funny as l remember! Get along to the show!! 😂😂

Ha ha! Absolutely brilliant!

0:48 in the hospital because Liam Neeson kicked the shit out of them

🎵Why can’t you say the P-word on telly anymore🎵because because Pikey is racial slur against Irish gypsies

I first saw the Prisoner on the uk channel 4 reruns in 1983, as recommended in the music papers by one of my favourite musicians (then and now) Mr Will Sergeant. I missed the first episode, so my first intro to the series was Many Happy Returns, a real what the @@@@ moment. Not a single character speaks until about half way through. So atmospheric, and such evocative incidental music. I was sold. Started recording the episodes after, then got them on vhs release a few years later, then dvd. Still love it!

“Protect Other People” in … oh i see someone’s already posted this. Man, Mitch- these are great! The Prisoner was a Summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers here in the States. I was familiar with his work on Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and first saw The Prisoner when I was 10 in 1967. Went to a PortmeriCon in 2003 and met Vincent Tinsley. When I arrived I met this guy Ian running cables for tannoys near No. 6’s place and volunteered to help. Ian had the run of the place and he took me up the bell tower. It was unbelievable.

eminem who? 🤣

From the thumbnail, I thought _American Psycho_ would be on your list...?

This is no longer a problem is that labour are now in charge

I always saw the ones running the village as a rogue secret fraction within the MI5 or the British government. In part because some of his superiors were in on the _prank_ in "Chimes of Big Ben". I also see a lot of references to Stasi/KGB and a totalitarian society...all the agents working for nr.2 are villagers with a number. In East Germany, up to 10% of the population were Stasi members, and you could trust noone.

Very interesting points, and I agree fully. I have a short video on my channel with Patrick talking about The Prisoner.

I am so glad i found the original poster, this popped up in my head and i love to have found the original poster

By that logic, it'd be fine to call a gay person you don't like a word that rhymes with "maggot". It'd also be okay to call East Asians you don't like a word that rhymes with "drinks". All the while saying "well I only mean the bad ones". It's a slur mate just as any other

Apub joki

Interesting!

Any revamp would pointedly end with de-pop...

I'm pretty sure "ja! space is gay!" is going to live rent free in my head *forever.* (also: i f*cking knew it!!!)

Not to do it down in the least, but in terms of weirdness, and indeed certain scenarios, “The Prisoner” was preceded by Anthony Newley’s “The Strange World of Gurney Slade” which was shunted from its original primetime slot to the graveyard shift because it was too weird…

I forgot.......the transcription from 35mm film to Blu Ray is one of the highest quality Blu Ray copies out there.

Here are some fun facts: * McGoohan didn't know how to end it and went to Lou Grade for help. * After the last episode aired the ITV switchboard was jammed with people complaining about the ending! * A couple of episodes of Danger Man we're filmed in Portmeirion, which is where the inspiration to film The Prisoner there came from. * Some of the properties on top of the hill are now Hotel Suites you can stay in.

Which implies it's his own side that put him in the Village. Also, the fishing holiday thing does constitute a boring explanation 😢

They kept asking No. 6 why he resigned. I think in 2 separate episodes he says he wanted to go on holiday to go fishing.....

Even in Australia it was shown quite regularly on late night TV.

The English language is wonderful. It is capable of efficient, precise and appropriate use when applied to the persons you depict here. It is offensive, but justifiable in this context, as it is the coomon parlance of the advisor to the disgrace that is Alex Johnson .

Because of the mores and censorship of the time, it was a bit hobbled - but everyone knew that. It didn't matter; much like many of the driving sequences are undercranked to make them look faster (but then, George Miller also did this in Mad Max). It's grim. It's grimy. It's so CONTAINED. Plus, I think it's possibly one the hardest boiled of hard boiled films ever made. These are tough men doing a tough job in tough times. They're so tough, they don't go to the pub, they hang out in the local greasy spoon wearing their WW2 surplus Sappers jackets. It doesn't thrill, it just gets in your face and jeers quietly, full of menace and angst before blowing the smoke from an unfiltered cigarette in your eyes and turning away with a sneer of contempt and slurping another slug of tea that's been stewing for hours.* Wages Of Fear? This is The Piecework Of Sheer Bloody Desperation... *your experience and reaction may differ

If the Tories are the 'natural' leaders, does the landslide mean Labour are now 'supernatural' leaders? I think we should be told 🙂

I have been told a dozen times who he is and yet if you asked me tomorrow who he was I'd struggle

POP: Protect Other People. This is brought out in 'Once Upon a Time'. In the series there are times when No. 6 acts to protect an innocent person.

You say "No 'Prisoner' - No 'Lost' " - "Lost" was inspired by Flann O'Brien's book: "The Third Policeman" written in 1939

😆

😊 and it paid off!

A lot of the Prisoner Village sets were recycled from MGM Borehamwood. They were mainly from the Donald Pleasence/David Niven/Sharon Tate/Deborah Kerr folk horror Eye of the Devil, then used in the Dirty Dozen, and the church is also in Casino Royale 67 (again, a film a lot of people compare to the Prisoner, and hey they use the same sets plus some cast IIRC). Also, I think they're also in Inspector Clouseau (1968). The irony is, if we like some nuts, include Ice Station Zebra cos McGoohan playsa mysterious British spy, that was shot in MGM CULVER CITY, which Borehamwood was effectively an annexe to, down to some fairly similar looking backlot sets (I believe when they did the Miniver Story in 1950 at Borehamwood, they had to reproduce sets from Culver City to add some continuity from Mrs Miniver). And that uses the MGM Culver 'Dutch village' to play somewhere like Dunoon or Sandbank, and it looks surprisingly convincing. But in my head, that's like an honorary Borehamwood film.

Tories = NSDAP

Well said Sir!

The snag with this Tory meltdown scenario is that they'll be so desperate to get back the support lost to Reform, that should Farage win Clacton tomorrow he becomes de facto Tory leader at a later point when he blackmails them into a merger - so we end up with an even worse Conservative party that doesn't learn a goddamn thing and is back to being a 'credible' opposition force in five years' time.

I know this is 7 years old (wow, you've got older... so have I. Grump) but it's still relevant (if not more so) in today's society. I'm an Englishman in America and I'm seeing shit like Louisiana forcing 10 commandments in schools; yes, us non-believers will shout out in response!

I always thought that the inconsistencies, non-sequiturs and failure to tie up loose ends was an intentional part of the ethos of "which side are they on". I find many echos of "The Prisoner" in the US cover-up and disinformation regarding UFO/alien phenomena.

Murdering roots, the good guys. :D Just like Roberto!

Robocop, the dark side of corptocracy. Ghostbusters, a loveletter to capitalism. RLM talked about this years back.

Nailed it, Mitch.

Here's to the Lib Dems getting more seats than the Tories!