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The Prisoner, AMC MiniSeries: starring Sir Ian McKellen and James Caviezel

The Prisoner: 21st Century, AMC Mini Series

By June Williams On November 16, 2009 In Reviews: Television 8 Comments

The Prisoner: 21st Century
Review Part I
by June Williams


“I am not a number, I am a free man.” “I’ve resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own. I resign.”
-#6 The Prisoner-

Those words were spoken by the character known as number 6 in the original Prisoner television series in 1967. When I heard that AMC was going to bring us a new incarnation of The Prisoner I wondered what approach they would take. How would they bring the story of betrayal, secrets and alienation to the screen in a way that was relevant and convincing to today’s audience? Casting two of the finest actors around helped.

For those who are unfamiliar with the original series of The Prisoner, there are a few things I should tell you that might be of some help. First, all the inhabitants of the Village have numbers instead of names and none can conceive of life beyond the Village. Those Villagers who do suspect there is something wrong know better than to speak of it. The protagonist is convinced that not all the villagers are brought here as prisoners, some seem to be part of the organization that created and maintains the Village. In both the original series and the new mini series those who seek to escape are given a fairly long leash but even if they slip the bridle they are brought back by a large white translucent balloon known as Rover. Rover envelops the escapee and sort of smothers them although its apparent purpose is not to kill but capture. Rover was also used as a kind of intimidating herding device to either keep a prisoner/villager away from a certain area or push them into an area that those in control wished them to go. Constant surveillance helps those in charge keep track of what the population is doing and helps to foster crippling paranoia. Add to the mix a sprinkling of double agents. The thing about the double agents is that even they do not know who they are really working for and if they themselves are also prisoners. The Pièce de résistance is the use of mind control. Somehow the keepers are able to create new memories and cause Villagers to believe in a fictitious past and altered reality. This brainwashing is pretty successful but there are always tears in the fabric and number 6 knows how to fray the edges to reveal the truth.

While there are many fine actors who are in the new mini series, if the series has a chance at connecting to its audience it will do so in my opinion because of Ian McKellan (think Gandolph in Lord of the Rings and Magneto in X-Men) and Jim Caviezel (Jesus in Passion of the Christ, Edmond Dante in the Count of Monte Christo)

Ian McKellan plays a chillingly convincing number Two, the titular head of the Village. McKellan makes number 2 seem like he himself is hanging onto this projection of reality by the sheerest of threads. Unlike the original series this number 2 apparently has a family. He displays affection for them and we wonder if they too are a piece of fiction.

Jim Caviezel puts in a remarkably good performance as a man who resigned not from M5 as was the case in the original series but from a powerful corporation known as Summakor. Michael who is now known as number 6 observed unaccountable changes to people he was supposed to be watching on security videos and when his inquiries were stonewalled he resigned. Caviezel’s number 6 is so far removed from the original as to be almost unrecognizable. He wishes to escape from this gilded prison as did the original but that is where the similarities seem to end. This number 6 does have memories impinging on him when he sleeps but he lacks the bedrock certainty of Patrick McGoohan’s 6. His number 6 seems weak and ready to cave into the lure of what the Village offers its inhabitants and freedom is not one of the perks. Not having been a secret agent operative or spy he is far more helpless than I would hope even I would be under similar circumstances. Of course I would have had the advantage of seeing those 17 original episodes where he obviously did not even see The Matrix.


The rest of the mini series airs on November 16th and 17th 2009. Even though this will interfere with viewing House, The Big Bang Theory, Lie to Me and V, I will watch it. I’m still unsure if I like this show or not. Perhaps my biggest handicap is a forced comparison with the original Prisoner series starring Patrick McGoohan. Although, but a change in the paradigm of Star Trek didn’t prevent me from thoroughly enjoying the new Trek movie that came out in 2009. Imagine me being able to enjoy Zachary Quinto as Spock when for me the definitive Spock was Leonard Nimoy. And Chris Pine made Captain Kirk live once more. So I will withhold final judgment. After all it is unfair to give my verdict on how this stacks up against the original until I’ve seen where they are going to end up.

The Prisoner, AMC miniseries
Part 2

There are times when storytelling simply goes careening off the rails. I hate to say this when it is apparent that so much talent, time and money was invested in this miniseries but this is one of those times


The look and feel of The Prisoner miniseries simply shouts dream logic. That is why when “holes” started to appear, “holes” to oblivion, it became even clearer that this version of The Prisoner was dealing with states of consciousness rather than a physical Prison from which one might escape. There is no escape from your own mind except madness and some would say not even then. Certainly there was no escape from the Village for this number 6. How could there be when it was the refuge he had helped to create and populate. A safe haven for the broken of this world which he sees as fatally flawed. Of course I would say that defects will exist anywhere you have humans so why not accept and welcome your humanity? Live and love as best as you are able. Perfection belongs only to God. At the end Michael aka number 6 seems convinced he can make a better world. He has accepted the position as the head of the Village and those holes to nothingness have closed.

Remember when Dorothy wakes at the end of the Wizard of Oz only to find that so many of the people she knew in Kansas have also been over the rainbow? What about the strange atmosphere of Twin Peaks? Or flashback to the shower scene in Dallas when the television viewers were appalled to find that not only was Bobbie Ewing alive and taking a shower but that an entire season of Dallas was nothing more than a dream in the mind of Pam Ewing. For surrealistic storylines my favorite was the series finale of the series Newhart. The entire Newhart series (as well as the existence of the series central character, Dick Loudon’) is revealed to have been nothing more than a dream in the mind of Bob Newhart’s 1970s character, Dr. Bob Hartley. Now that’s chutzpa but it worked.


One great failure of AMC’s Prisoner miniseries was not having characters that the audience could connect with. Every successful story has one or more characters that the audience cares about and who seem to grow. Did I even learn anything of substance about the characters that would cause me to feel empathy for the situation they were in? No, not really. The creators of the miniseries gave no reason as far as I could tell as to why a mega corporation created and sustained the Village. The pacing was dreadful. I nearly dozed off during the second part and that means it didn’t even manage to annoy me enough to want to see it to its highly predictable ending.

by June K. Williams
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June Williams

June Williams

June, also known affectionately as Buzzy Lady #2, has been with the company since it began. She was born in Manhattan, raised in the Bronx (the first 12 years in the heart of the south Bronx) and spent most of her adult life living in Westchester County N.Y.

Always a Science Fiction fan and dabbler in writing she had thought herself too practical to pursue a career in the field. Before coming to Buzzy she spent over 30 years in the travel industry, then one day decided it was time to spread her wings and plunge into publishing. Everyone she knew thought she had gone slightly daft but as this was not the first time they had expressed that opinion she took the red pill anyway and now spends all of her time putting together projects that make each day a pleasure.

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  • Richie Silverglitz

    I think you are too kind. Personally I’m not sure I want to invest more time in watching the rest of it but if I don’t then I won’t know if it is just a poor rendering of the original television series. Maybe they should have used the concepts for something entirely new.

  • Lomax

    As you say “Casting two of the finest actors around helped.” but it didn’t get the job done. 2 was preformed brilliantly but look who was doing it - Ian McKellan. And I don’t even know who the other guys was. He was OK but how hard a role was his, really? I know I will not invest ANOTHER 2 hours into this show as the plot holes were big enough to drive the Queen Mary 2 through.
    1. Did he not ever think to ask once “what’s my name?”
    2. Where are all the supplies the Village is using coming from?
    3. Here is how to escape - follow the delivery truck after it drops off it’s next load of supplies. They shoot ya if you go through the mountains, but, apparently only the first time. After that you can bring anyone you like into the mountains to look for an escape, its OK. 93 should not have tried so hard on his first attempt.
    4. DON’T follow the towers! Rather walk in a direction that will not have poorly animated circles attacking you. Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time and apparently 6 does as he quit his job.
    5. Why are they all eating wraps? And is there even a point to it beyond driving home how he’s “not in Kansas any more” he really is?
    6. If they think he’s THAT crazy why is he allowed to run about and further undermine everyone around him.
    7. If they all are supposed to be from the Village has none of the locals noticed how they all have completely different accents?
    8. Did 6 not notice that no one is using cash to buy things like the map he otherwise stole, the coffee he never pays for, all the taxi cab rides he’s been taking, the tour bus tickets he’s not collecting and the apparent free medical care? How can I get to there?!?
    9. Here’s a great question - how the heck did 2 get Communism to work? There is no money so there is no need to work but folks do and no one ever takes more than their fair or allotted share.
    10. Is anyone really going to miss House, Two and Half Men and the Big Bang Theory just for this? I think not.
    11. Am I really supposed to believe that a corporation - no matter how big it may be - is behind all this? Really?
    12. Is it me or does that kid, 1112 look like he’s always about to let lose with a big old gassy burp?
    13. Classic TV mistake: they used the same artist to draw the picture of Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty. Different people, different artists.
    14. If 6 was no so lame he would sit down and tell ad nausem his life story to the doctor. with all the details that he could tell about everything how the heck could it all be a delusion? Crazy people’s stories fall apart when pressed for details.

    I could go on, but my point is well made and I feel like eating a cheese sandwich now.

  • Bobbie

    I tried, several times, to watch this show last night but was so bored, I ended up watching the Wizard of Oz. There was no suspense, no sense of paranoia (as in the original) and it’s lacking in any intensity. Iam McKellan is good, but I really don’t care about his family or anyone else in this show. The only interesting person was the waitress and they killed her off! I’ll be watching Big Bang Theory tonight.

  • June K Williams

    Bobbie, I don’t blame you. Through the wonderful aide of low tech I used my vcr to record the 2nd half of the Prisoner while watching House and of course BBT. Best comedy television moment this year has got to be the Sheldon and Penny Soft Kittie duet made possible by injury, drugs and Sheldon strict code of honor.

  • June K Williams

    Lomax As I said to Bobbie…I don’t blame you. Nevertheless there are a few points you brought up that I need to address.
    1.He doesn’t ask about his name because he can’t. They have messed up his brain and when he tries to say his name he simply can’t do it. When he is able to say Lucy’s name it is a sure sign that the mind control/conditioning is weakening.
    2.The supplies are coming from their collective imaginations. This is not happening in the physical world.
    3. 93 was representative of the number 6 in the original series. With his death the new 6 is born except that is hogwash because the old one was in the physical world and in the end there was an escape back to London.
    4. The purpose of his being allowed to do all sorts of stuff was to make him come to the realization that there was nothing he could do to alter his situation
    5.You think different accents should trouble them? What about creating nicknames? Did they call 1112 elevenzies when he was a little boy? Besides, New Yorkers have lots of different accents.

    All of your other questions are covered in my review of the 2nd and 3rd parts of the series.

  • Lomax

    my pint is that all of my questions were left unanswered by the tv show itself and THAT is the problem. The fact that /you/ know the answer does /me/ no good whatsoever when I am in my living room on the other side of the country wondering what the double hockey sticks is going on. The show had gaping holes in it and was just dreadful.

    Maybe the remake of the Wolfman won’t stink. Or Sherlock Homes. Or Solomon Kane.

    hahahahahahahaaaaaa!

  • Juliet

    i didn’t like it either. It was on last night. I didn’t even realise it was a series. I thought it was a one time thing.
    Jules

  • Andrew Gordon

    I was really disappointed in the miniseries. It seemed like a waste of talent and time to me. The original was a masterpiece and was captivating, this version is muddied and boring.