My favourite actor, Patrick McGoohan died last week at the age of 80. A massive star of 1960s UK television with 'Danger Man', then the cult classic (and my fave tv show) 'The Prisoner'. This was a guy who was always his own man. Strongly principled, he turned down the role of 007 several times because he didn't like the use of guns, and the use of women as mere playthings. After huge success as secret agent John Drake in 'Danger Man', he packed the job in, and presented legendary tv producer Lew Grade with his idea for a new show. 'The Prisoner', he explained, was about a secret agent who resigns, is kidnapped and imprisoned in a mysterious village until he explains WHY he resigned. Grade gave him full control to do whatever he wanted, and McGoohan created a ground-breaking, often surreal television series that paved the way for the likes of 'Lost'. The final episode created a huge backlash from viewers who failed to understand that the series was an allegory, and would not end by answering questions, but by posing more, deeply unsettling ones.
"The greatest evil that one has to fight constantly, every minute of the day until one dies, is the worser part of oneself. And that is what I did. And I would do the same again."
The series has now been remade by ITV and AMC (a US tv producer) with the American actor Jim Caviezel in the McGoohan role (Number 6), and our very own Sir Ian McKellen as his nemesis (Number 2).
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