Forget 3 Body Problem, This Show with Rare 100% Tomatometer Is How Sci-Fi Should Be Made
This series was an influence on many of today's classic TV shows.
Christopher Nolan, who won almost every major award this past film season, is already gearing up for a new project. According to various sources, this could be a remake of the classic but almost forgotten sci-fi series The Prisoner, which seems to have only become more relevant since its release in 1967.
The importance of The Prisoner cannot be overstated. One of the show's fans, Mark Frost, became a producer on Twin Peaks, and David Lynch's film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me includes a direct quote from the ending of The Prisoner.
Another fan, John Shiban, producer of The X-Files, compared The Prisoner to Gone with the Wind in its genre. Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta comic books, argued that if all TV shows were as provocative and intelligent as The Prisoner, the industry would be a very different place today.
The Prisoner's influence on serial culture has been compared to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The series has been parodied in The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants, quoted in The Matrix, Shrek, The Truman Show, and Mad Men.
What is The Prisoner About?
The series tells the story of a nameless British agent who has just quit his job and suddenly finds himself in The Village, isolated from the world by mountains and sea.
The Village is full of surveillance systems and protective fields, and there is also a mystical device that catches anyone who tries to escape. The Village is inhabited by hundreds of people from different cultures, and everyone seems to live their lives peacefully.
All the inhabitants have numbers instead of names, they remember nothing of their former lives. Everyone calls the main character Number Six. Not knowing who to trust, Number Six tries to find out the truth about this mysterious place, the reason for his appearance in The Village, and most importantly, a way to escape from here.
The Prisoner Is a Timeless Work That Is Relevant Today
In the 1960s, Patrick McGoohan played Special Agent John Drake in the British TV series Danger Man, at a time when TV series were heavily focused on spies.
His Drake was a kind of anti-Bond: he seduced no one and relied not on guns but on his own brains. Tired of the role and the public's demand for standard plot twists, McGoohan came up with The Prisoner.
Without spoiling the plot, it can be said that Patrick McGoohan, the producer, writer and star of the series, found the perfect way to talk about politics, society and a man trapped in his own mind. McGoohan filmed the show in such a way that almost every generation sees The Prisoner a little differently, but the show remains extremely relevant.
Where to Stream The Prisoner?
The Prisoner is available on Prime Video and Apple TV.