Be seeing you!

In which G.M. Norton visits The Village (at least in his mind)

I’ve recently started watching 1960’s television show, The Prisoner. 

For those unfamiliar, please allow me to give a brief outline of the story.

So, the show begins with a secret agent, played by Patrick McGoohan, who resigns from his job.

After returning to his swanky London pad, he’s busy packing for a trip away. But before he can start wrestling with his suitcase in an effort to zip it up, unknown figures fill his apartment with gas and he falls unconscious. When the spy wakes up, his home looks exactly the same, but when he looks out of the window, his London street has been replaced by a rather quaint village where everyone has a number.

He soon realises that The Village is more of a lavish prison and sets about trying to escape. 

Given the new name of Number Six (I don’t think we ever discover his real name), the spy constantly battles with an ever-changing array of authority figures that go under the title of Number Two.

The series basically goes between Number Six attempting to escape and trying to find out the identity of the mysterious Number One, and Number Two who is keen to gather information from Number Six, particularly the reason for his abrupt resignation.

Added to this, there’s a slightly sinister weather balloon, known as Rover, that emerges out of the sea and stops people from getting away.

It really is a fascinating programme. So far, I’m up to episode 8 of 17. 

Throughout the episodes I’ve enjoyed so far, Patrick McGoohan’s character is quite angsty. Now I do understand it, as I wouldn’t be too keen on being gassed either. But if I were to regain consciousness in a delightful serviced apartment complete with 1960s décor, set in an idyllic Italianate village, I don’t think I’d complain too much about my new living arrangements.  

Here are the six things that have particularly appealed:

The opening sequence, which is repeated at the start of every episode 

Number Two’s college scarf

The stunning village, set in the real-life North Wales village, Portmeirion

‘The Tally Ho’ newspaper – if I’m going to read politically weighted bumf, at least this one has a promising name

The colourful clothes that villagers wear

The many faces of Number Two

I have The Prisoner on DVD but all the episodes seem to freely available on YouTube if you fancy giving it a go.

Be seeing you!

G.M. Norton

Protagonist of 'Norton of Morton'