/ David Pescovitz / 9:59 pm Mon Feb 8, 2010

The Prisoner viewable online

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I didn't watch AMC's remake of The Prisoner when it aired last November, but I was delighted to see that all 17 episodes of the original 1967-1968 British series are still viewable in full for free on the AMC site. If JG Ballard wrote a TV series, I'd imagine it would have been something like The Prisoner. For those who aren't hip to it yet, the show is a trippy psychological drama about a former spy held captive in a mysterious resort-like prison. The Prisoner video player (AMC, apologies if non-US viewers are shut out)

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  2. Sweet! My wife and I were enjoying going through the series about a month ago but stalled out due to a missing Episode 7. Excellent.

    Be seeing you.

  3. Incidentally, a really sterling job has been done getting this series onto Blu-ray. The archivists did a good job of preserving it, it looks fantastic.

  4. I’ll never forget it. I was in a cheap motel room in Hemet, CA for my fiance’s grandfather’s funeral, and late at night on some random channel, there was this show. Back home, and a few trips to the rare video rental store later, I had seen the whole of the Prisoner. What a great series, and I loved seeing Patrick McGoohan as the judge in A Time To Kill. I would have to say The Chimes of Big Ben was my favorite because it was then I realized he’s never getting off the island. Hmm, sounds familiar…

  5. #3 , speaking of old series being re-mastered… I was watching an “Are You Being Served” special, and at the end they talked about how the original colour pilot on video had been erased, and all that existed was a very high quality B&W film copy. They didn’t use a chroma filter making the film copy, and were able to reconstruct the colour information with special software. Stunning when you think about it.

  6. “The Prisoner” has to be the best TV ever produced for whack jobs, paranoids, and the mentally deluded. Why are we making a society that makes “The Prisoner” seem to be an exercise in foresight instead of the rantings of some loon?

  7. My father was talking about The Prisoner the other day. He loved it, apparently. Unfortunately, I’ll have to get the DVDs, since i’m in Australia.

  8. Ooooh! Really wanted to see this, thanks. Just started streaming it and it seems to be playing. I’m in Canada.

  11. The rates for staying at Portmeririon, where it was shot, start at @ £155.00. The rooms with the lowest rates all have “Village” in them. “We regret that dogs are not allowed, other than guide dogs.” So, you will have to settle for a white inflatable Rover to play with.

    A virtual tour.

  12. If you’re into “The Prisoner,” be aware that it’s sort of a sequel to an earlier series starring the same actor called “Danger Man,” aired as “Secret Agent Man” in the U.S. (where it spawned a catchy radio hit).

    The “Prisoner” concept was also oddly recycled in an American spy movie called “Double Team” a decade or so ago.

  13. bloody region blocking silliness…

    Anyways, The Prisoner (original) is brilliant.

    @drinkcoke2009
    You may have to get used to the style when you start watching, different acting style, different camera work and all that. Quite old, I think most of us don’t watch many shows from that era.
    It’s worth it though.

  14. Thank you! I never realized that this was available online. Now I know what I’ll be doing for the next several hours. :-)

    Be seeing you.

  15. In promoting the remake, AMC made the entire series available on demand over the summer. I enjoyed it all over again and was therefore inspired to watch the remake/re-imagining.

    The remake was pretty good in its own way – the acting and writing were good and it was certainly visually appealing. For those uncomfortable with ambiguity, it might even be an improvement over the original. But for me, this was the remake’s greatest weakness. It strove too hard to offer a cohesive explanation of its own mysteries whereas the original left many if not all of the biggest questions unanswered. All in all, the AMC series was good enough in and of itself, but didn’t hold a candle to the unconventional genius of the original.

  16. This show was so bizarre. I found the later episodes less engaging than the first, but overall, a very fun series.

  19. “AMC, apologies if non-US viewers are shut out”

    A British show, that only Americans can view….

    There isn’t a big enough FU for AMC.

  20. Just last night I was showing the first episodes of the original and the remake to my wife and one of our friends. I lamented that while the remake was far more slick and and higher production values, it really let me down by making sense. The original’s real virtue is its bizarro strangeness.

  21. My father showed me The Prisoner when I was around 12. It was then, as it is today, my favorite TV show. My boyfriend and I are about to watch the last two episodes together after having gone through the entire series. Hopefully he won’t be disappointed as many of McGoohan fans were when the series ended so many years ago. I thought the ending was brilliant!!

    Be seeing you.

  22. It’s worth mentioning that there would’ve never been The Prisoner if Patrick McG hadn’t made Danger Man/Secret Agent first. The Prisoner is practically a sequel to that espionage show, which is one of the smartest of all time. In case you are unfamiliar, “Danger Man” was the half-hour show that only aired in Britain. “Secret Agent” was the hour-long show that aired on both sides of the pond (I think). Same character – John Drake. Don’t expect Man from UNCLE gadgets or Get Smart camp — it’s a pretty serious (but still escapist) show. Available on DVD.

    1. Oooh this thread is beginning to rock!

      IIRC, that’s the actual theme song from “Secret Agent Man”….

  23. For whatever reason, this show used to air in the middle of Saturday morning cartoons when I was a kid, as well as Danger Man (I’m pretty sure it was half hour episodes, not 1 hour, though this was in Canada, contrary to defacebook’s comments above) – I remember watching this in between Road Runner and Rocket Robin Hood cartoons.

    1. Us Canucks used to get our TV entertainment from Britain just like the Brits got it: but such would often be modified for the Yankees (those foreigners!).

      This difference still shows up in some media products… “only in Canada, you say?”, or “Not for sale outside the USA”.

  24. For those watching the Prisoner online: keep an eye out for Bond creator Ian Fleming in Episode 03; he appears in one of the early scenes.

    1. alexdecampi | #23 | 06:56 on Tue, Feb. 9 | Reply
      Report For those watching the Prisoner online: keep an eye out for Bond creator Ian Fleming in Episode 03; he appears in one of the early scenes.

      No he doesn’t. THAT Ian Fleming died in 1964. This is an entirely different person with the same name.

  25. Also, Patrick McG was considered for the James Bond movies before Connery was selected, but turned it down. I guess he wasn’t very keen on playing a womanizer — John Drake certainly wasn’t.

  26. The Prisoner aired already? How did I miss that? I remember all the hype in advance, but didn’t hear anything about the actual broadcast. Hohum.

  30. “The video you are trying to watch cannot be viewed from your current country or location, Number Six”

  31. If JG Ballard wrote a TV series, I’d imagine it would have been something like The Prisoner.

    Actually, Thomas Disch wrote a novel based on it; it’s not exactly a novelization of the series, but it’s not NOT one either.

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