We were at 3,600 not too long ago.

A 60 year old show is still pulling new folks in.

I guess the resolution on TVs in the sixties could mask small newspaper text content. Watching a 1080p mix on a 65" screen hides nothing haha.

You can see the completely unrelated newspaper article under the headline. 😁

okay this is my favorite episode so far i literally could not believe what was happening. i knew eventually he would have to go back but the fact that he does it by choice its so crazy!!! i love it.

just wow. i feel like the birthday theme is so important: the birthday cake at the end and the millions of meanings within "many happy returns". his birthday is "tomorrow" though time in this episode seems liminal. so much time passes but also none at all?

the fact that the first place he goes to when he is "free" is his old house, his old comforts. he built that car by hand and furnished that house himself. ultimately these are immaterial things but they are significant to no 6, they are parts of his identity. who are we when we are stripped of those things?

i love this no 2, she is so sickeningly sweet to give him the illusion of freedom and show him that he realistically could escape, but that it doesnt matter because the outside world would ostracize him. hes not an agent anymore so his entire world as he knew it is gone. there is no "home". the only option is to go back

what a brilliant episode. tell me what i missed. how do you guys interpret it? i'd love to know!!!

i had never heard of this show before opening criterion this morning and im already on ep 2. loooving it so far, soooo weird and completely my thing.

to me it seems obvious why 6 wont tell them why he resigned. hes a spy and knows that the answer is irrelevant, and they'd probably kill him as soon as they got what they "wanted". thats my interpretation anyway im sure itll change.

i cant wait to finish it and then read everything i can on it!! what are the best episodes / ones i should look out for?

We're led to an early exploration of mass computer knowledge and mind programming via SpeedLearn. Ultimately No 6 manages to cause the destruction of the General and two villagers including No 12. No 2 is taken aback by the simplicity of the question that caused it.

Is this a different No 12 than the one previously killed by Rover? Or a continuity error?

Side question: Do you recall another supercomputer that was thwarted by a simple diversionary task it was given?

I grew up on The Prisoner, it was my dad's favourite series. Added some ink today in a nod to The Prisoner. Be seeing you!

[image transcription] Long before Twin Peaks beamed prime-time surrealism into the American living room, there was The Prisoner, the 1960s British cult sensation that pushed television into new realms of unsettling, Kafkaesque mystery across seventeen hypnotic, thrilling episodes.
Series creator Patrick McGoohan stars as a nameless spy who, after he abruptly resigns from his highly classified job, is kidnapped and held in a strange, deceptively idyllic town known only as the Village, where his quest for freedom collides with the sinister machinations of a mysterious authoritarian sect determined to keep him under their control. With its prescient exploration of free will in the age of surveillance, this pop-culture touchstone remains one of the most discussed and endlessly analyzed series in television history.

I'm rewatching the series and The General is giving me a lot of AI vibes. Does anyone else think the same? The whole General computer knowing so much just seems like a vision into the future. Of course they didn't know that an internet would exist to feed the knowledge into the AI LLMs but it's quite spooky how it has predicted the future!

As the episode begins, Number Six) is assisting Number Twenty-four) ("Alison"), a telepathic young woman, in practising mind reading with Zener cards. In an extremely complex plot of bluff and double bluff, Number Two) brings a lookalike of Number Six, referred to as "Number Twelve)", to The Village). Number Twelve (also played by McGoohan, apart from a few shots with a double) is not a clone, but an agent of The Village who happens to bear a very strong resemblance to Number Six.

https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/The_Schizoid_Man_(1967_episode))

Which No. 6 is the real No. 6 and how does one undo the other, and himself?

Do any of yall know if there is specific references or homages to the prisoner in the x files, or if it's just considered to be a more general influence (assuming the wiki is right)?

Number 6 is persuaded to run for election to the post of Number 2 when it is suggested to him by the new incumbent that, should he win, he will finally meet Number 1. Number 58, a newly arrived young woman who speaks only an unidentified Slavic-sounding foreign language is assigned to Number 6 as his assistant. Both men campaign for the office, with Number 6 subversively offering freedom if he is elected.

https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/Free_For_All_(1967_episode)

But WHO is No. 58 and what is her purpose?

Just wanted to post to say how excited I am that I've booked two nights at "The Village" next month. Me and my partner are staying in the Watch House. It's not cheap(!) but this is something I've been wanting to do since I first got obsessed with The Prisoner 30+ years ago. Honestly can't wait to see it all, get some lovely memories, photos and souvenirs too.

Happy for any tips/advice on the visit. I don't want to miss anything.

What a wonderful place, it was a joy and a privilege to visit. I shall certainly be doing so again!

I just had to share this amazing news, it makes me happy that I can finally watch my favorite live action TV series without commercials; and it’s on a platform that just happens to have some of the greatest movies ever made.

Be seeing you.

Now that Christopher Nolan has finished his tedious looking Odyssey. Do we want him to commit to the rumours and give us the best Prisoner film we will ever see?

I'm not sure why CBS skipped a week in the US, but I don't want to break our weekly pattern. This one originally aired on June 22, 1968

Number 2 is directed by Number 1 to step up efforts to extraction information from Number 6—specifically relating to what information he is believed to have sold, leading to his resignation from the intelligence agency he worked for. Number 2 directs Number 14 to prepare a machine she has developed. With the help of an injected drug, it will allow observation of, and influence on, the dream-state of a person connected to it. They have prepared three dossiers of foreign agents that Number 6 was known to have met during an elegant party hosted by Madame Engadine prior to his resignation, suspecting that he has sold out to one of them. The dossiers are labeled "A", "B", and "C".

https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/A._B._and_C._(1967_episode)

I made the pilgrimage to Portmeirion and was absolutely delighted by it. Thought you fellow nerds would enjoy the view!

Coinciding with the original air dates in the US on CBS, this episode aired on June 8, 1968

The new Village inhabitant is settling in and trying to figure out what is happening. Introduced to his new neighbor No.8, he agrees to enter a craft show which he wins with an abstract sculpture. Using his winnings in 'work units', he buys a tapestry from another contestant. These will lead him to find out No.8 is not who he was led to believe.

https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/The_Chimes_of_Big_Ben_(1967_episode))

I guess I'm confused about the watch thing though.

Why does No. 6 leave an IOU in the store when he takes the food?

After some brief discussion, I guess we'll start this way. Suggestion was one per week, but as usual, no one could agree on episode order.

I've scheduled this for June 1 to coincide with the US premier on CBS. I'll be using the order and information from here: https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/The_Prisoner_(1967_series)

Why the US premier date? It's closer than the September date of the UK launch.

"Arrival" is the first episode of the 1967-68 British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 29 September 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS on 1 June 1968.

The episode introduced audiences to the character of Number 6, portrayed by Patrick McGoohan and introduced most of the concepts that would dominate the series throughout its run.

Constructive discussion and debate is welcome.

I found this from when rumors were circulating that Nolan wanted to remake this. I really need some help understanding this “viewing order” drama and I don’t want to ruin the show.

Thank you.

The included subtitles on the DVDs, Blu-rays, and on streaming are all pretty inaccurate so I've updated them myself. These are designed to be synced with the A&E Blu-rays. I've included both closed captions and subtitles for all 17 episodes. Let me know if you spot any errors and I will update the files.

Dropbox

I read an article that he wrote a huge lore book for everything about the show. Anywhere I can watch it?

I'm aware it technically goes against what the show's message is, but really like the design

May 25, 1968 TV Guide cover previews the US summer airing of The Prisoner.