Product Details

• Actors: Patrick Mcgoohan
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: October 31, 2000
• Run Time: 156 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004Y7E0
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,557 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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• This is item 1 in The Prisoner Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
If a top-level spy decided he didn't want to be a spy anymore, could he just walk into HQ and hand in his resignation? With all that classified knowledge in his head, would they let him become a civilian again? The answer, according to the 1960s British TV series The Prisoner, is no. In fact, instead of receiving a gold watch for his years of faithful service, our hero (played by Patrick McGoohan) is followed home and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a picturesque village where everyone is known by number. But where is it? Why was he brought here? And, most important, how does he leave?

As we learn in "Arrival," Number 6 can't leave. The Village's "citizens" might dress colorfully and stroll around its manicured gardens while a band plays bouncy Strauss marches, but the place is actually a prison. Surveillance is near total, and if all else fails, there's always the large, mysterious white ball that subdues potential escapees by temporarily smothering them. Who runs the Village? An ever-changing Number 2, who wants to know why Number 6 resigned. If he'd only cooperate, he's told, life can be made very pleasant. "I've resigned," he fumes. "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." So sets the stage for the ultimate battle of wills: Number 6's struggle to retain his privacy, sanity, and individuality against the array of psychological and physical methods the Village uses to break him.

"Free for All" sees the Village gripped with campaign fever (it's a "democracy," Number 6 is told, though he retains a healthy skepticism). He's encouraged to run for the job of Number 2 against the incumbent, but what's the point? And why is the Village so keen to have a defiant troublemaker like Number 6 take the reins of power? In "Dance of the Dead," Number 2 stages an elaborate costume ball that turns into a nightmarish courtroom scene--and guess who's on trial?

An allegory of the conflict between person and society, individuality and conformity, and freedom and slavery, The Prisoner asks more questions than it answers, and that can be a maddening experience for viewers who like their TV neat and tidy. McGoohan (Braveheart, Escape from Alcatraz) also created, wrote, and directed much of the show, yet it's his screen presence that sets its tone. His terse body language, sardonic half-smile, and simmering anger at his imprisonment are used to maximum effect in scripts that emphasize strict word economy and witty repartee.

So does he ever escape? And does he ever find out who Number 1 is? "Questions are a burden to others," the Village saying goes. "Answers, a prison for oneself." Besides, only 14 more episodes until all is revealed. Or is it? --Steve Landau

Product Description
THE PRISONER, Patrick McGoohan’s classic British 17-episode TV series, has been mesmerizing American viewers since its first showing on CBS in the summer of 1968. It is widely considered television’s first true masterpiece. Now, the definitive edition of the underground cult classic is presented here totally restored, and in the fan-preferred episode order, providing an internally-consistent "chronological" viewing experience. After resigning his top-secret job, an angry man returns to his London home, only to be gassed unconscious and whisked away to a mysterious place known only as "The Village." It is a completelly self-contained seaside architectural wonderland, surrounded by mountains and protected by a balloon-like guardian known as Rover. The captive residents, with priceless secrets locked in their heads, are known by numbers instead of names. The Village, administered by Number Two, is set up to extract, or protect, those secrets. Set #1 contains the following color episodes ARRIVAL: A first look at the Village, and Number Six, its newest resident. Where is the Village? Which side runs it? Who is Number One? Who can you trust? Can there ever be escape? FREE FOR ALL: The annual democratic elections are about to be held in the Village - including the position of Number Two. Will Number Six run, and can he win the election - and his freedom? DANCE OF THE DEAD: Sadistic, secretive experiments are performed on Number Six as the Village prepares for its annual carnival. An amazing find on the beach leads to charges that Number Six has broken Village rules. A hearing is held and he faces trial. There has never been a jury like this!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A revolutionary science fiction show, August 23, 2000

By	Sylvio Gonçalves (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prisoner - Set 1: Arrival/ Free for All/ Dance of the Dead (DVD)

The Prisoner is one of the most, if not the most, revolutionary science fiction show ever. Produced in the milestone year of 1968, this brief English series (17 episodes) discussed with unique boldness themes like information control, torture and brainwash procedures in authoritarian governments. Esthetically, the show mingles influences so diverse as Franz Kafka's The Trial, Orwell's 1984, Ingmar Bergman's Hour of the Wolf, and the James Bond movies.

The show was sold to ITC as a non-official sequel to the most popular "Secret Agent/Danger Man" series, starred by Patrick McGoohan. This time, McGoohan acted too as creator and producer, and used his freedom to talk about the role of the individual in a increasing oppressing society. He is an anonymous secret agent who resign his position. But he knows too much; doped by a mysterious figure, he awakens in what seemingly is a luxurious resort in a paradise island. But this place is no spa: is a prison in the open, where no one knows what are the others prisoners names, and in whom can trust. They even don't know who really are their captors: are they from "their" side or from the "other" side? They don't know and the viewer don't knows too. The agent himself receives a code, Number Six. "I am no number! I am a free man!", claims he repeatedly. But he will not be a free man till he succeeds in escape from the island. In the meantime, he have other important task in hand: maintains his sanity and individuality in a ambient where all of his movements are monitored, and where he frequently suffers torture and brainwash.

The DVD release is great news. The three episodes are an excelent introduction to the series. "Arrival" is the very first one, where Number Six arrives to the island and meets for the first time the Number Two (the chief warder, a role assumed by a different actor/actress in each episode). "Free for All" is a parody to the election process. "Dance o the Dead" is the first of the "enigmatic" episodes in the show, with a plot that defies understanding. The Prisoner is rich in colors and sounds, that will be more appreciated digitally. The extras are very welcome, too. This series don't have the popularity that deserves, and, consequently, the material about it is very rare.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DVD release is the BEST order, October 7, 2000

By	Will (Barrie, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prisoner - Set 1: Arrival/ Free for All/ Dance of the Dead (DVD)

Can't wait for the release of all The Prisoner episodes on DVD. Something has been made here that the episodes are being released out of order. It may not be that of the original broadcast order, but the release is actually re-ordered to better reflect the original order of the show as McGoohan wanted it. For example, the new order has 'Free For All' second, which makes sense when you see how No.6 acts. He trusts the captors and even says "I'm new here". The original broadcast had this episode 4th. This order has a better progression of No.6's stay in The Village, from confused, trusting captive to rebelling, scheming, untrusting and disharmonious (sp?). This release is being done with consultation with Six of One - The Prisoner Appreciation Society, with the trivia sets by the American Co-ordinator Bruce Clark. The best order of episodes (which the 2 DVDs have followed so far) is: Arrival/Free For All/Dance Of The Dead/Checkmate/The Chimes Of Big Ben/A, B and C/The General/The Schizoid Man/Many Happy Returns/It's Your Funeral/A Change Of Mind/Hammer Into Anvil/Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling/Living In Harmony/The Girl Who Was Death/Once Upon A Time/Fall Out. Enjoy the most fascinating show and a television classic on DVD, I certainly will. be seeing you...

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Prisoner (a.k.a. Number 6) arrives in the Village, March 31, 2002

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Prisoner - Set 1: Arrival/ Free for All/ Dance of the Dead (DVD)

"The Prisoner" remains one of the most original television dramas of all time and one of the first cult classics. Created and produced by actor Patrick McGoohan, the show was seen as a (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) sequel to McGoohan's hit series "Secret Agent," where he played a man named Drake. In "The Prisoner," McGoohan plays an unnamed high level, top secret agent who resigns from his job. As he backs his bags a white gas comes through the keyhole of the front door and knocks him out. He awakes in the Village, a Kafkaesque community in which he apparently imprisoned (actually a resort on Cardigan Ban in North Wales favored by famous writers like George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward and Bertrand Russell). The three episodes presented here include the pilot episode, but the order in which episodes of "The Prisoner" should be viewed has always been open to debate. However, what we have here are the second episode to be filmed and the episode that was supposed to be aired second. "The Chimes of Big Ben," the second episode to air, is found on a different disc. Feeling confused yet?

"Arrival," written by George Markstein and David Tomblin, and first aired on September 29, 1967. Our hero wakes up in the Village and discovers everyone kept there either has certain knowledge or lived a particular lifestyle of interest to the government. Names are not used here, and our hero is told he is now Number 6. The rules are explained to him by both Number Two (Guy Doleman) and the New Number Two (George Baker), but it is clear that our hero is not about to play well with others. In terms of hooking an audience, "Arrival" certainly accomplishes its mission. However, whereas the key to most stories is having the audience wondering what is happening next, with the Prisoner the viewer is never sure if they know what just happened let alone trying to anticipate the future.

Down the road in "Free for All," written by Paddy Fitz and directed by McGoohan, which first aired on October 20, 1967, it is election time in the Village. Number 6 is persuade to stand for the position of the new Number Two (Eric Portman), although by this time it is clear that every episode is going to have a new Number Two. Of course, our hero is not interested in the position, but rather the opportunity to lead a breakout from the prison. He really should know better, because even winning a landslide victory is not going to do him any good. This was actually the second episode filmed, although it aired much later (this is clear to you, right?).

There is more fun to be had in "Dance of the Dead," written by Anthony Skene and aired November 17, 1967, which was intended to be the second episode. It is carnival time in the Village and everybody gets to dress up and have fun. However, Number 6, who only wears a black tuxedo, is more interested in the dead body that has washed up on shore, seeing it as an opportunity to communicate with the outside world. This is one of the more tantalizing episodes because it begins with Number 6 drugged and duped into revealing some secrets and ends with him being tried for "crimes against the community." It seems like we might be close to understanding what is really going on, but, of course, that is but another illusion. Mary Morris plays Number 2 in this episode (Number 2 was in almost all of the episodes, but always played by a different actor. The only other character to appear in all of the episodes was the Butler, played by Angelo Muscat).

You understand, of course, that once you watch these first episodes you will be hooked on the entire series. "The Prisoner" makes "The X-Files" look like a bastion of sanity. These brain candy episodes hold up remarkable well as compared to other television fare from the Sixties.