Cinema Retro has received the following announcement:
Of all the countless action adventure
TV shows that filled our screens in the 1960s, perhaps none of them have
fascinated audiences quite as much as The Prisoner. In 1967, Patrick McGoohan
stepped away from the colossal ITC hit show Secret Agent (or Danger Man in the
UK) and used his commercial clout to create a series that has thrilled and
baffled in equal measure for over fifty years.
He played a nameless secret agent who
is kidnapped during the titles sequence of the first episode, and wakes up in a
bizarre, pastel-hued location where everyone is known only by their number, and
where escape is made impossible by a malevolent bouncing ball.
In ‘The Village’, the authorities are
determined to discover why this new arrival resigned. However, No. 6 as he is
now known, is equally determined to keep all his secrets to himself and spends
17 episodes fighting to retain his individuality.
Equal parts action thriller, dystopian
science fiction, and political allegory, The Prisoner has held generations of
viewers in its thrall. Two such devotees, Chris Bainbridge and Cai Ross, became
hooked when Channel 4 in the UK broadcast the series in 1992 to mark its 25th
anniversary, and have stayed hooked ever since.
Now, Chris (a senior lecturer in
media) and Cai (a film writer and Cinema Retro contributor) have channeled
their obsession into a new podcast, Free For All, which has just completed its
first season.
Recorded in North Wales, a mere hour’s
drive from Portmeirion, the extraordinary Italianate village where The Prisoner
was filmed, Free For All makes an in-depth, passionate, irreverent and loving
evaluation of each of the 17 episodes.
Chris and Cai have already interviewed
the actress Jane Merrow, who played No. 6’s mind-reading ally in The Schizoid
Man. In the second season, we are promised interviews with acclaimed author of
The Official Prisoner Companion, Robert Fairclough, noted Prisoner authorities
from The Six of One appreciation society and The Unmutual, and It’s Your
Funeral No. 2 Derren Nesbitt (Where Eagles Dare).
Catch up with all the episodes of
Season 1 on Spotify, Apple or wherever you enjoy your podcast selections.
Search for Free For All / Prisoner.
Be Seeing You.
Click here to access podcast.