The Prisoner

Dir: Don Chaffery, 1967, 16 episodes, tv (8.9*)

Patrick McGoohan continued his "Secret Agent" (a.k.a. "Danger Man" in the U.K.) character for a one season epilogue that turned into the most thought-provoking mini-series of all time. It begins with McGoohan stormily resigning as an agent, then being whisked away to an unknown island where he remains a prisoner, known as Number Six. Each episode, a new Number Two (the best of which was Leo McKern, in two episodes, the only actor to repeat the role) attempts various psychological tricks to get Six to reveal any information – of course he refuses. The series blended science fiction, espionage, and psychology, something that hadn’t been attempted at the time. This has aged very well, and still appears both provocative and relevant. A must for SciFi and classic tv fans, and anyone who loves a good story about individual identity and freedom.

Try to view them in the following order, chronological within his story: Arrival, The Chimes of Big Ben, AB&C, Free for All, The Schizoid Man, The General, Many Happy Returns, Dance of the Dead, Checkmate, Hammer Into Anvil, It's Your Funeral, A Change of Mind, Do Not Foresake Me Oh My Darling, Living In Harmony, The Girl Who Was Death, Once Upon A Time, Fall Out.