Six Into One: The Prisoner File

After Channel 4 screened the finale of their repeats of The Prisoner. They broadcast this special show to delve into the mysteries about this enigmatic series.

It had interviews from actors, writers and directors of the various episodes. More importantly it featured an interview from the main man himself. Patrick McGoohan then living in Canada.

One contributor mentioned that Number 6 was in fact John Drake, McGoohan's character from Danger Man.

As for what it was all about. There were a lot of wild theories. As for McGoohan himself, he thought it was all in Number 6's mind. It was psychological.

I remember seeing a newspaper review of this show. Rather unkindly the critic mentioned that McGoohan was trapped in his own orifice and had no idea how to end the show. It was lost in some late 1960s psychedelic haze.

This half-hour documentary was screened by Channel 4 following a repeat of the final 'Prisoner' episode ( 'Fall Out' ) in 1984, and has never been rerun by the station or made available on D.V.D. This is strange, seeing how it features interviews with many of the people responsible for the show, such as producer David Tomblin, directors Don Chaffey and Pat Jackson, set designer Jack Shampan, actor Alexis Kanner, script editor George Markstein, and, surprisingly, Patrick McGoohan himself. The filmed interviews were linked by actor Saul Reichlin, occupying a 'Green Dome' style control room. No attempt was made to analyse the series in depth or interpret its hidden meanings, instead the show's history was presented in a straightforward fashion. Particularly interesting was Markstein's assertion that 'No.6' was always intended to be 'John Drake' of 'Danger Man' fame, despite McGoohan's frequent denials. The man himself was, as you'd expect, non-committal, cheekily signing off with 'Be Seeing You!'.