Patrick McGoohan, 1928-2009

By James Poniewozik | @poniewozik | January 14, 2009 | +

Patrick McGoohan, the creator/star of the brilliant and elliptical series The Prisoner, has died at age 80. His best-known work, which aired in the States on CBS, was a disturbing but engrossing mystery, exploring Cold War themes of paranoia and totalitarianism; in it, McGoohan played Number Six, a former spy who is imprisoned in a pleasant but inescapable seaside town known as The Village, without knowing who exactly is keeping him there or why.

McGoohan’s death comes just as AMC is preparing a modern remake / reimagining of The Prisoner, to air this fall. And thanks to AMC, if you’ve never seen the original—which harks back to Kafka and anticipates later cult/conspiracy shows like Lost—you can watch it online now.

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shara says

It sounds really interesting, and I’ve always wanted to watch it. I’m just wondering, though, will watching the old one ruin the ongoing mystery of the new one, or is it going to be ‘reimagined’ to the point that there will be a whole different ongoing mystery? Probably too soon to tell. . .
jr77006

I am not a number!
Dave

Oh hush, 77006, and get back in line!
http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2009/01/14/this-may-be-the-most-technologically-accurate-novel-ever-written/ Nerd World – TIME.com » Blog Archive This May Be the Most Technologically Accurate Novel Ever Written «

[...] in unrelated news, Patrick McGoohan died. That’s [...]
plukasiak

It sounds really interesting, and I’ve always wanted to watch it. I’m just wondering, though, will watching the old one ruin the ongoing mystery of the new one, or is it going to be ‘reimagined’ to the point that there will be a whole different ongoing mystery? Probably too soon to tell.
_
in point of fact, the “mystery” of the original Prisoner was never solved — the resolution was deliberately ambiguous (although my personal theory is that it was really a reflection of the subconscious sense of isolation and lack of control of “John Drake”, the spy played by McGoohan in “Secret Agent” (original British title was “Danger Man”).
_
So I don’t think that the original series will ruin the remake (especially if its any good) so much as “inform” the viewer of the new series. And this is especially true if my theory of the ending of the original Prisoner is correct — the character of John Drake informed the original series, and there will be no “John Drake” for the show to bounce off of.
_
(It would have been far more interesting if Keifer Sutherland were playing Number 6, so we could all speculate over whether he’s Jack Bauer or not!)
shara says

@plukasiak: Thanks for the info/insight. I’ll definitely check it out.
carolmr

I think Ricardo Montalban deserves a mention, too.
http://www.triscribe.com/wp/archives/1841 triscribe » TGIF

[...] from James Poniewozik on Time.com – his observations on McGoohan (apparently, AMC was in the works to do a remake of “The Prisoner”), Montalban, and the [...]