So we learn that Sky One is planning to remake The Prisoner. Well, it was bound to happen eventually, one supposes. But there’s catch.
‘The show will not take place in the famous “Village” setting of the original ... the new series would take “liberties with the original” and would not retain its arty feel. ‘
The horror, the horror! The Prisoner is a classic, easily among the top ten television series ever produced. For those who’ve never had the pleasure of seeing it, it’s the tale of a secret agent who resigns, only to be knocked unconscious and wake up in the Village, the place where secret agents who know too much go when they try to leave the intelligence field. Everyone has a number (McGoohan’s character is Number Six), with Number Two being the person (several persons, over time; they don’t last long) who seems to run the operation. Who is Number One? That’s a big mystery which was revealed (or was it?) at the end of the series, in a script famously written in a marathon session by McGoohan which went on to become one of the most controversial television programs in history.
It was innovative, daring, and disturbing ... and they want to get rid of some of the features that made it that. What are they thinking? Nevermind, I know, I know—money. Trim out the stuff that makes a show unique and interesting and daring, make it palatable to the lowest common denominator, and thus get the advertisers pleased with it. Phooey.