The Prisoner [Blu-ray]

Boil It Down: A spectacular set that allows longtime fans and new audiences to appreciate every aspect of a legendary cult program.

After he resigns from Britain's intelligence community, a man (Patrick McGoohan) finds himself held captive in The Village, a sea side town with no telephones or access to the outside world.  Number Six, as he is called, is pressed in each episode to answer one simple question: "Why did you resign?"  His tormentors, always called Number Two, attempt to use any number of techniques to break him, yet he outsmarts them each time and poses his own question.  "Who is Number One?"

McGoohan, who had previously played the lead in spy series Danger Man, was the driving force behind this endeavor, wearing a number of different hats (executive producer, writer, director, actor).  Because of that, the show is squarely in his hands to rise and fall with the actor.  There are no recurring secondary characters for him to play against, only so-called day players on the set for each episode's filming.  A couple guest stars would recur over the course of the 17-episode series, though none would garner much of a personality or backstory.  The Prisoner does rise and fall, ebb and flow, as if McGoohan's behind-the-scene mood set the tone for that particular episode.  (More on that in a minute.)  But the great, enduring legacy of the show-on both sides of the ocean, as CBS aired the show in the United States-was its ability to weave complex moral and political messages into the very fabric of the series without so much as a whisper from the outside world.

Indeed, the series utilizes all sorts of then-modern day hot button issues in a nonchalant manner.  The introduction of Number 8 (Nadia Gray) in "The Chimes of Big Ben" highlights the unflinching way the writers used the Cold War and Eastern Block states-she's from Estonia, apparently-to propel the story.  There's no grand message buried beneath the story, aside from people working together toward a common purpose.  Just an episode or two later, "Free for All," not only tweaks the democratic system of government, but also the media's role in that government.  Both of those storylines, and many more, don't blatantly point out either of these allegories.  The Prisoner leaves the audience to figure them out, allowing for a superficial entertainment reading of the show, but also something deeper.

That "deeper" quality is perhaps best summed up as man's fight to retain his individuality in an ever increasing, homogeneous world.  At The Village, Number Two and the control center are able to watch any person do anything anywhere on the grounds.  It's a Big Brother-type of situation, complete with peeping tom statues, cameras in every home and a sweet yet stern female voice announcing the arrival of every new day.  Each person, from the top on down, are given number designations and not names (outside of a few exceptions).  They're expected to fall into line, take casual orders and not act independently.  When they do, a white orb is dispatched to track them down.  What happens afterward is anyone's guess, as the information is on a need to know basis.  McGhooan is credited with being ahead of his time in this regard.  The Village concept is analogous to the way people are distilled down to user names and brief snippets of information online rather than fully fleshed out individuals.  Also, there is no paper money, just credit and work units they can spend on whatever they want.  (Technology is also a major part of the show.  Wireless radios and telephones play parts in nearly every episode.)

One of the other hallmarks of this series is the villain known as Number Two.  The character is constantly recast with men and women to keep the episodes fresh.  What this does is create a revolving door of personalities for Number Six to work against, all with the same objective: answer the question.  They try mind control, romance, force, confusion and any other method they can find.  And when one is not successful, they are summarily replaced by Number One.  What can I say about Number One which isn't a spoiler for the series?  The ending, admittedly, is anti-climactic, demonstrating just how thin the plot for the series turned out to be.  That, unfortunately, falls on McGoohan, who injected so many caveats into the series, it could barely sustain itself for the eventual run, let alone the planned 26 episodes.  For starters, he would not engage in fake romance with the females on the set.  His religious beliefs prevented him from kissing a woman who wasn't his wife or getting into bed with them to formulate a relationship.  The actor also became tyrannical in the waning days of The Prisoner.  The term ego-trip comes up more than once in the bonus material; one actress says she hated working on the set because of him.  He eventually alienated many of the production staff, throwing out ideas, replacing them with his own and getting into a row with story editor George Markstein.  Especially during the production of the last handful of episodes, stories allege he became unbearable to work with.

That run, the originally planned 26 installments, was cut down to 13 plus an extra four when the shooting ran long and the budget was busted.  It's mentioned in the feature-length documentary Don't Knock Yourself Out that the series was an inherent downer, with neither the protagonist or antagonist really winning at the end of every episode.  Yes, Number Six kept his secret for one more episode, but he never did manage to leave The Village.  Any time he makes progress, the rug is pulled from under him, pushing Number Six back to square one.  The series most definitely could have gone on, all other factors being equal, as long as the plot morphed and changed as time went by.  Think of LOST, a similar program to The Prisoner.  Each season has it's own storyline, it's own endpoint.  The first year focused on learning about the island and getting into the hatch; the second, integrating the other half of the plane and fighting back against the Others.  The Prisoner didn't evolve the way it should have for long-term sustainability.  It did the same thing over and over again, albeit with a different setup.  How many times can the protagonist lose before it seems like he's going around in circles?

THE LOOK
Apparently sourced from a complete series set released in the United Kingdom in September, the Blu-ray release of The Prisoner is gorgeous with one or two extremely minor issues.  The original 1.33:1 aspect ratio is preserved here, much like Star Trek: The Original Series on the format.  Colors were excellently rendered in every set, particularly #2's control room.  The purple background stands out against the silver I-beam construction with perfect clarity.  As with programs of the era, The Prisoner was created with color television in mind.  And, as such, each set and location is a colorful tapestry.  Not psychedelic, mind you, which assault the viewer.  The plentiful blacks are well rendered, with as much depth and texture as a 40-year-old program will allow.  Even the inherent layer of grain is intact, most noticeable in outdoor scenes.  Shots of the sky or other bright locations have a slight haze to them.  Some of the issue could be the rear-projection used to create these sequences and it is a testament to the technicians it was not removed in the digital scrubbing process.

As I mentioned, there are a couple problems with the visuals, almost all originating in the native elements.  The most noticeable is featured at the beginning of each episode, when the title, guest cast and creative credits are shown.  There is a quick fade on the screen which then goes away when the words do.  This isn't a problem at any other point.  Also, there are a couple very brief pops sprinkled throughout the series while a vertical line or two pops up in the stock footage of Rover coming to the ocean's surface.  All in all, though, these issues don't amount to a whole lot in the end.   

THE SOUND
As with the Trek sets, there are two soundtracks available on every Prisoner episode: the original mono mix and an updated 5.1 version.  It should be noted the remixed edition is simply 5.1, not a high def track.  Not that it matters, as both are clean and free of any sort of distortion.  Dialogue and the soundtrack are appropriately separated with no overlap or threat of one drowning out the other.  In fact, at various points, the low end of the tracks become booming, expansive affairs.  Check out some of the trailers included on each disc for a demonstration of the difference between the audio tracks and the unrestored versions.  A great deal of audio fuzz has been taken out, along with pops and crackles.

The technicians who split the mono mixes do a fairly good job of spreading out the auditory material, but the enhanced version runs into a common problem.  It is noticeably lower in volume than it's more condensed cousin.  Dialogue gets split between the two front speakers (not the center), making for a disjointed effect.  This same effect can be heard on the Trek BD sets, a release this one will be undoubtedly compared to.  English subtitles are included.

THE STUFF
The complete series of The Prisoner is presented on four Blu-ray discs and one DVD (disc five).  It comes in a double thick BD case with discs 1-4 on hinged pages and the fifth attached to the back of the package.  An insert for AMC's The Prisoner mini-series is included; an episode and disc content listing is provided on the opposite side of the cover art (again, much like Trek).  Episode titles are included on each disc, with the generic "Bonus Material" on the fifth.

Spanning the entire series, there are seven commentary tracks on various episodes ("Arrival," "The Chimes of Big Ben," "The Schizoid Man," "The General," "Dance of the Dead," "Change of Mind" and "Fall Out").  The first, with production manager Bernie Williams and film librarian Tony Sloman is arguably the best.  Partly because it is the first and the information is brand new and partly because the two men have someone to play off of, the track is an easy listen, with plenty of behind the scenes stories.  Specifically, the two chat at some length about the upstanding McGoohan and the constant redressing of Number Two's control room.

On each disc is an image gallery with sections devoted to each episodes and the original trailers.  Disc four adds two generic promo's for the series, the original cut of "Arrival" and a music-only version of that original episode.  What's the difference?  Mostly music (the show did have three versions of the theme.), though there are some alternate shots and slightly different pacing.  Major kudos to A&E Home Video for including these, even if the die hard fans are the only ones who will appreciate them.  A side-by-side comparison of the original titles from "Arrival" shows the native elements and the restoration.  In a word: wow.

Then, on disc 5, is the mother load.  The crown jewel is the nearly 95-minute doc Don't Knock Yourself Out.  It's an engrossing, exhaustive look at the series from beginning to end with any number of participants: actors, directors, producers, music editors and editors.  They reminisce about their time on the show and, when combined with archival footage, can be more humorous than they intend.  Case in point, the original Rover.  The original design was a cart with blue light on the top.  When that admittedly looked stupid on set, the white balloon concept was dreamt up.  Somewhat ironically, the one person who would have the most to say about the series-McGoohan-is nowhere to be seen.  The announcer does mention he lives in seclusion in the United States.

The disc also hold a five minute featurette ("You Make Sure It Fits") looking at the music for the series; "The Pink Prisoner" is a sketch (9:24) combining an interview and comedy by Peter Wyngarde (he played Number Two in "Checkmate").  He riffs on the series and his involvement with it.  Over 200 exposure strips are also included.  The series was filmed for color, but the daily footage was in black and white.  The exposure strips were used to color correct in the edit bay.  A duo of bumpers (0:15) leading into and out of commercial breaks are next on the list.

Moving on, each of the three versions of the theme are included, each with their own feel.  Robert Farnon's version seems "happy" while Wilfred Josephs contributed a big band-style theme.  Ron Grainer's theme turns out to be full sounding.  For international audiences, the file room scene was recut with Italian, Spanish, French or appropriate wording.  These variations are included (2:29).  Stock footage of Rover (0:25) and a montage of photos used in "Arrival" of McGoohan (0:50) are next up.  The original version of "The Chimes of Big Ben" is available, featuring a different soundtrack and a few expository changes.  A series of promotional images (2:17), shots of the 1967 press conference (2:32), production design artwork (0:50) and the promo for the AMC miniseries (0:32) round out the disc.

But we're not done yet.  Stick disc five into a DVD-Rom drive and an array of scripts, crew memo's, promotional material and series-related documents are available as PDF files.  Each episode is broken down into 10 chapters, though there is no scene access menu.