"Actor: Angelo Muscat"

• The Prisoner | DVD | (25/09/2017) from £39.92   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Part action series, part psychedelic fantasy, part allegory, Patrick McGoohan's masterpiece, The Prisoner, was initially touted as a sequel to his earlier spy series, Danger Man. But when it was first broadcast in 1967 TV audiences were puzzled; when the show was cancelled 17 episodes later due to declining viewing figures, no one was any the wiser. Shot in the picturesque surroundings of Portmeirion in North Wales, whose architectural fantasies provided an ideal backdrop for the show's surrealism, The Prisoner has subsequently been recognised as one of the most innovative and thought-provoking series ever to be broadcast. Despite the primary-coloured flower-power look, the show's bold ideas haven't dated at all, proving that The Prisoner was simply years ahead of its time.McGoohan is Number 6, a man whose resignation from the secret service (seen every week in a montage title sequence--itself an impressionistic TV landmark) triggers his abduction and imprisonment in "The Village", a sort of open prison for spies where everyone has a number not a name. It's a pretty comfortable place and the other inhabitants all seem passively to accept the situation, allowing the Village authorities to control and limit their actions without protest (escape attempts are thwarted by mysterious bubble-shaped guards called "Rovers"). Number 6, however, is an indomitable freedom fighter whose refusal to accept the status quo is a metaphor for the individual ego struggling against the forces of social conformity: "I am not a number I am a free man" is the series' most resonant catchphrase. The Village's allegorical microcosm of society is presided over by Number 2, played by a different actor every week, with whom Number 6 clashes repeatedly in a battle of wills as he continually questions the authority that has imprisoned him ("Who is Number 1?"). In turn the Kafkaesque authorities try to discover the reason why he resigned. His trenchant refusal to provide any reason at all is itself a powerful assertion of individual freedom. The series culminates in perhaps the most bizarre and psychedelic TV episode ever made, "Fallout", in which Number 6's revelatory discovery of the real power that keeps him imprisoned raises more questions than it answers. --Mark Walker

• Amazon Add: The Prisoner | DVD | (13/10/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Thanks to Network's fresh and vastly improved edition 'The Prisoner' can journey happily into the future.

• The Prisoner - Complete Series | Blu Ray | (28/09/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  The Prisoner is an extraordinary TV series that not only entertains but also offers you the chance to philosphise or ponder the human condition. It is highly regarded as one of the most famous the most acclaimed and most of intriguing of British cult TV adventure series. Staring Emmy award winner Patrick McGoohan as Number Six. A man removed from his position in a secret organisation and trapped in a nightmare village where his thoughts and movements are controlled by an unknown force- represented by the ever changing Number Two.

• The Prisoner - Complete Series | DVD | (26/05/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A high-ranking but un-named Agent in the British Government resigns from his post and leaves for a holiday. While packing he is gassed and is taken to a beautiful but deadly prison known only as 'The Village'. Everyone in the Village is being held there for 'security reasons' and are only known by their assigned numbers. The Agent is assigned the title of 'Number 6 ' but adopts the name of The Prisoner. However he is plagued by two questions: How can he escape and who is the real leader of the Village?

• The Prisoner - Vol. 5 - Episode 17 Plus The Prisoner Companion | DVD | (14/08/2000) from £6.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The most famous the most acclaimed and the most intriguing of all classic television thrillers starring Patrick McGoohan as a man with no name but with only a number.... Number Six. Trapped in an inescapable village Number Six is discovering that life is a battle with the ever-changing Number Two and that there may never be an end to the nightmare. Episode 17 - Fall Out: The Prisoner has won he has earned the rights to be an individual and not a number. The Alternate Chimes Of Big Ben: This is the USA press release version of The Chimes Of Big Ben with alternative opening and closing credits different theme music and different scenes. The Prisoner Companion: This US produced documentary tries to explain the many unanswered question posed throughout the short series.

• The Prisoner - 35th Anniversary Companion | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Primarily aimed at fanatic completists, The Prisoner 35th Anniversary Companion gives us an alternative version of the opening episode "Arrival" recently rediscovered from Canadian archival material, along with the broadcast version for comparison. The collection also has text files on associative material like the score for the music, the novelisations and the Dinky model of the mini-moke, clips of the interval bumpers, alternative clips of the opening credits and a sequence in which the opening credits shot of a filing cabinet labelled "Resignations" is reshot in a variety of languages for foreign markets. The episode included reminds us, in both its versions, what an innovative and sinister show The Prisoner was--George Baker in particular is an impressive foil to Patrick McGoohan. There are also text files on the careers of McGoohan and his collaborator George Markstein, as well as an extended interview with Bernard Williams in which he talks frankly about the difficulties of producing a show whose scripts were being written by the star as it was being shot, and tells us of the last-minute improvisation of the sinister balloon, Rover. There is also a short documentary about the show, its fans and the memorabilia shop at Portmeirion, plus a Prisoner parody Renault ad. On the DVD: The Prisoner 35th Anniversary Companion is presented in standard 4:3 television visual ratio; the mono sound has not worn well, especially in the alternative version of "Arrival" where it is at times painfully scratchy. The interface is user-confusing; if you don't already know the shape of The Village it is not immediately obvious that the menu continues on two screens. The packaging includes a lavish booklet that includes a facsimile of the production notes for the show. --Roz Kaveney

• Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 | Blu Ray | (05/04/2022) from £33.43   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A