The memory of McGoohan as Danger Man and The Prisoner has stayed with me since watching these episodes on UK TV when they first came out --- so long ago I can't put a date on it. I can remember that I identified strongly with both characters although at the time I was never quite sure what was going on in The Prisoner. Still, I could see that he was arrogant and sardonic, but baffled and powerless. At the same time, he was never going to bend, break or crack. McGoohan filled this role to perfection. I thought the style and design of the series was exceptional, and I still do: it holds up remarkably well; and, as someone said, it is really timeless in theme and execution, which qualifies it as a genuine work of art. I get the message rather better now, forty-odd years later. Anyone who appreciates that the only worthwhile purpose of life is to maintain the struggle of the integrity and independence of the individual against the system --- bureaucratic, socialist, capitalist or any other -ism --- should own this series. Personal freedom is all that there is worth fighting for, but how to achieve it without submitting to the smothering forces that usually claim to have the same aim? That is the great problem. Never join them, even if you can't beat them. That's the answer.
Review of The Prisoner
