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You are, Number Six

So, The Prisoner is being remade by Sky One, and Christopher Eccleston is being heavily linked with the title role.

But I have to admit, it beggars the question... why? If it's an actual remake of the original story, then what's the point? The original series was so good that it's really quite difficult to improve upon it if all you're doing is retelling it. Now, if Eccleston (or whoever) was playing a new character in a different situation, and McGoohan's character was involved somehow... that would be interesting. If he's just playing Number Six, however - as good as he would be in the role - then there really doesn't seem to be a point.

The new series of Doctor Who, for example, isn't a remake. It's a continuation, and that's why it works. The last time something like this was attempted was Randall & Hopkirk... Deceased, which was without neither merit nor flaws, but which certainly wasn't a "success" by any means. The Prisoner was an extremely complex, carefully-constructed entity as a whole, and it's hard to see how a "reimagining" can truly work.

Now, if you ask me, a property from that wonderful era that could do with a revamped, twenty-first century version is The Champions. You could even do it in a way that included the original actors...

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I can see the motive behind it all, though. There's been a massively increase in attention for The Prisinor after the creators of Lost cited it as a huge influence to them, in the same way that pretty much all of Alan Moore's comics are being poured over by rabid Losties because of comments made by the writers.

By Cappsy
May 04, 2006 @ 3:11 pm

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There's been a massively increase in attention for The Prisinor after the creators of Lost cited it as a huge influence to them

So bloody show the original, then!

The two main things that will differentiate the remake from the original will be (a) it won't be made by Patrick McGoohan, and (b) it won't be made in the 1960s. Therefore, it will almost certainly lose all the completely out there, crazy, whacked-out insanity that made it so great in the first place.

And furthermore, we all know the twist. And what's the guarantee they'll be able to film at Portmeirion?

By Seb
May 04, 2006 @ 4:14 pm

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My two favourite TV series of all time, predictable as ever, are The Prisoner & Doctor Who. When I heard Doctor Who was coming back, and Eccleston was the Doctor, I jumped up and down on the spot for about five minutes. This just made me go "Oh.... no" under my breath. This really is the TV equivalent of remaking Casablanca (Peter Beardsley, etc etc).

By Andy M
May 04, 2006 @ 11:43 pm

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Bear in mind it's being remade as a six part series...not 17. So I'd imagine a plot / character reworking isn't out of the question.

>And furthermore, we all know the twist

We all know the twist at the end of the original version, yes. But you have to admit it's a bit unfair to assume that the new version won't have something new going for it.

By Philip J Reed, VSc
May 05, 2006 @ 2:56 am

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I just realized that my post sounds very much like a defense of the idea of remaking The Prisoner. It's not. I'm very wary of this project, because...well...as Seb put it, "Why?"

I am, however, of the "let's wait and see" faction...and it is unfair to think that because we can't see a way for it to be remade well that it won't be remade well...

By Philip J Reed, VSc
May 05, 2006 @ 12:21 pm

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I remember when someone was talking about the remake AGES ago, they mentioned that The Prisoner never got the 'proper' ending that it was going to get, and this was one of the motives for remaking it. But the mystery adds to the whole craziness and unique nature of the original. Lost riffs somewhat on The Prisoner, but I'm sure things will pan out differently as the show goes on. It's similar in that it's the mystery that sustains the show. Although fortunately with Lost it has proven that it has legs even if you forget about the whole island mystery.

By performingmonkey
May 05, 2006 @ 5:37 pm

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Any further news on this? All I can find is that Eccleston's agent denied he was considering the role and that it'd be called Number Six, and not The Prisoner. Which certainly implies the "new" version will be about the same Number Six.

Though maybe not. Number Six can possibly be a felt presence without ever actually appearing...

Who knows. Just wondering if anyone's aware of the status on this.

By Philip J Reed, VSc
November 07, 2006 @ 12:56 am

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> The last time something like this was attempted was Randall & Hopkirk... Deceased, which was without neither merit nor flaws, but which certainly wasn't a "success" by any means.

I liked it. Well, the first series, at least.

By Nick R
November 08, 2006 @ 2:37 pm

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