WHY?
Why are so many people drawn to The Prisoner? People from all walks of life, from virtually every country in the world, and from many diverse backgrounds. Young and old alike. there seems to be a common thread which runs through the Prisoner which many people identify with.
The "bait" I think is laid during the opening sequence. So powerful it is that one cannot help but be captivated by it, and in that, you want to know more. The Prisoner was different at the time, and opened it's doors to a variety of viewers, the village was a microcosm of our own society, which in turn made the same of those viewers watching.
Perhaps it is the fight of the individual against the village which draws people to the series, something which we can all relate to, the fight of the individual against society. And then there's No.1. Well we all want to be No.1 don't we, we all have to look after No.1, because if we don't then who will? Isn't that what they tell us?
For myself, well John Drake – Danger Man - was my childhood hero, and when Danger Man came to an end and the Prisoner began, it was, well it seemed logical to carry-on this, what seemed to me to be, as a 12 year old, an extension of Danger Man. And I was hooked oh so easily. Why, and at such an early age? Well that's something I have thus far failed to fathom, even after 40 years. The closest I can get is that as a child I was a bit of a lone-wolf. I rebelled against my father, and if someone wanted me to do something I would deliberately go off in another direction, which is still true today. I even rebelled against Six of One, and walked out a few years back.
But one thing is for sure, the Prisoner has remained with me, even during the years after Fall Out in 1968, until 1976 when the series was screened on British television for only the second time, the series remained with me. To quote the President:
"Remember us. Don't forget us. Keep us in mind."
And that is just what I did, and have done for 45 years. What that makes, or says of me I don't know. But I suppose there are worse things one can be obsessed by in this world of ours. The Prisoner may be thought to be subversive. There are those who loathe the Prisoner series, my father was one such person, who in later years didn't like my watching such rubbish! He didn't even like my being a member of Six of One: The Prisoner Appreciation Society, now you tell me why he would go to such lengths as to actually hide my Six of One mailing when it arrived? One thing is for sure:
"There is more harm outside the village, than is dreamt of in my philosophy!"
[QUOTE]even during the years after Fall Out in 1968, until 1976 when the series was screened on British television for only the second time [/UNQUOTE]
ReplyDeleteThat might depend what village you lived in. It was repeated the following year in mine. I think I've come across other references where it was repeated in the earlier 1970's too. I'm sure it would have been repeated more often but because there were only two channels in Britain, repeats were not so likely. In the USA, it seems to have been being shown somewhere every year thereafter - on their proliferation of *local* channels of one sort or another.
In 1969, American newspaper previewers of repeats of the show, were already referring to it as, "a classic of the small screen".
Hello Moor,
ReplyDeleteYes, that would be the 1969 repeat, in the afternoon. I was at school at that time, and so was unable to watch the 1969 repeat....if only video recorder had been invented then!
I don't recall repeats of 'the Prisoner' earlier than 1976, if there were I must have missed them. After 1968, it wasn't until the repeats in 1976 that I was able to see the series again, three times in fact, which was made possible because the Village in which I lived at the time was in Lincolshire. I could pick up three ITV regional television stations, Anglia, Central, and Yorkshire all of which screened 'the Prisoner at 10:30pm, which was lucky for me.
Regards
David
Be seeing you