Back
in the 1960s two of my all-time favorite British TV series were The Avengers
and The Prisoner.
The
Avengers was a tongue-in-cheek, very British, fantasy spy series that never
really took itself seriously.
While
the episodes were good they never required viewers to ponder or question their
context.
On
the other hand The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan, respected viewers’
intellects, challenged the status quo and often left questions unanswered, relying
more on the viewers’ interpretations of the events shown.
While
the show's run was relatively short it is considered by many to be one of the all-time
great TV shows ever made.
I
have a number of books about The Prisoner and they’re all good: informative, interesting
and thorough.
But,
what I really like about author Rick Davy’s The Prisoner The Essential Guide, published by Quoit Media Limited, is that is concise
and gets to the meat and bones of the series.
While
the book goes into detail it’s isn’t ponderous and overwhelming.
It
is as it its name implies: an essential guide.
And it’s just plain fun to read and look at.
Everything
about the series is covered: its
conception, execution, characters, settings, direction, credits, production and
there’s even an episode guide.
It’s
easy to navigate, filled with fun facts and ‘insider info’ and a wonderful way
to spend a leisurely afternoon reading it through.
What
a great vehicle by which those new to The Prisoner can discover all the fun
facts about the series and to those who are The Prisoner veterans who hunger
for more goodies about the cult classic.
Bravo!