LITTLE ROCK — Younger viewers today might have difficulty understanding why The Prisoner was such a cult hit back in 1967. That’s OK.
Maybe one day they’ll try to explain the Jonas Brothers to their grandchildren.
The Prisoner was a 17-episode Cold War spy thriller with a dash of science fiction. It starred brooding British heartthrob Patrick McGoohan. The series gets a 21st-century makeover on cable’s AMC this week. It’s slick and edgy and well worth your time.
The six-part mini-series kicks off at 7 p.m. today and airs over three consecutive nights, with two episodes each evening.
The two main stars are Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings) and Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ). Caviezel plays the title role of the prisoner who is known only by his number- Six.
As in the original, the AMC version follows a man who resigns his job, then “wakes up in a mysterious place where people have numbers instead of names, and all traces of his former life are renounced as delusions.” The series follows Six’s struggle to recover his former life and freedom.
And in an era of increasingly invasive technology, AMC envisions the series as “an investigation into modern alienation, the corruption of power, rights of the individual, and the mysteries of the human condition.” Welcome to the strange and surreal Village. You’ll soon begin to wonder what is real and what is fantasy.
The original series was shot in the Welsh seaside resort of Portmeirion. The new version was shot on location in Swakopmund, Namibia, and South Africa. That explains the presenceof the South Atlantic on one side and the desert on the other.
As our confused hero frantically explores The Village, he soon learns that nobody has a name, only a number. Villagers have no memory of their past lives and, most ominously, everyone is under constant surveillance.
Six becomes obsessed with two things - finding out who is behind his circumstances and escaping.
Controlling The Village is the sinister and charismatic Two (McKellen) who sets out to break Six. (Note: McKellen is the only actor to play Two, unlike the original.) Fans of the original series should enjoy Caviezel’s take on his role.
“Although it would be foolish not to recognize the original character created by Patrick McGooghan, the Six I play is very much a contemporary mandealing with issues that affect us now,” Caviezel tells AMC.
“He does have some similar characteristics with the original Six, like his defiant nature and his complex antagonistic relationship with Two. But we learn more about his life before The Village. We also see him building strong relationships with other Villagers throughout the six episodes.” Those relationships include making friends with a doctor, 313 (Ruth Wilson), and a taxi driver, 147 (Lennie James), Still, Six never truly knows who he can trust.
Caviezel also realizes that there will be comparisons between the series.
“Our series is more a reinvention than a remake,” Caviezel says. “It looks at the situation with a fresh eye, and deals with issues that affect us now.” “The creative team is keen to remain faithful to the spirit ofthe original, but both the structure and the character have been reworked. Hopefully audiences will be able to enjoy it as a separate piece of contemporary television.” McKellen has his opinion on the series’ reinvention.
“It’s a thriller.” McKellen says, “and unlike the original series, this is much more about what Six wants to escape from and why he can’t escape. There are clues from the very first scene in the very first episode. What I like about The Prisoner are all the oddities, the strangeness, the peculiarities.” McKellen also sees the series as thoroughly modern.
“It is about relationships in the context of things which preoccupy us. It is about the nature of government today, about the state of mental health, about conspiracy theories. The story plays with current obsessions just like the original did.” Finally, good news for fans of the original - the bouncing Rover is back and it’s bigger and nastier than ever.
Rover, for the uninformed, is a big sort of latex balloon/ball that has a compelling way of keeping the villagers in line. You’ll see.
TV Week, Pages 91 on 11/15/2009