It Takes "The Village"

One of my all-time favorite TV shows was "The Prisoner." I really identified with the plight of Number Six--always thinking of new and creative ways to gain his freedom, continuously being thwarted by the power and treachery of his captors, but never giving up--talk about an allegory for freedom activists.

The dialog in the opening sequence pretty well sums things up:

Where am I?

In The Village

What do you want?

Information.

Whose side are you on?

That would be telling. We want Information.

You won't get it.

By hook or by crook, we will.

Who are you?

The new Number Two.

Who is Number One?

You are Number Six.

I'M NOT A NUMBER! I'M A FREE MAN!

(Mocking laughter)

I always thought of this series as a sequel to "Secret Agent," but that was never stated--it just seemed to make sense. And in the final episode, Number Six more than made up for John Drake's aversion to carrying a gun, when it becomes, as Claire Wolfe speculates, "time to shoot the bastards."

There were rumors back when "Braveheart" came out that Mel Gibson was discussing a movie version with series star Patrick McGoohan, but I haven't been able to find out any more about that than just chatter.

Pity. A remake would be cool, and Gibson collaborating with McGoohan would do it right.