The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

The Prisoner set for Sunday release

Rehash promises 'reimagining of themes and characters'

Ensure Ease of Recovery with Asigra’s Agentless Software

The remake of classic 1960s Brit TV series The Prisoner will hit US screens on Sunday, when viewers of AMC will be able to enjoy writer Bill Gallagher's six-part "reimagining of themes and characters", as the New York Times ominously puts it.

Promotional poster for The Prisoner rehashJim Caviezel has the task of interpreting Number Six, with veteran Brit thesp Ian McKellen tackling the role of Number Two.

Fans of The Prisoner will doubtless wonder just how much of a "reimagining" Gallagher's effort is. He said: "The challenge of doing this show was to pay homage and yet be different."

In order to "tease the audience with the relationship between the two pieces and keep anchoring back into the original", Gallagher has retained some of the show's famous phrases - "Be seeing you" and "Local destinations only" - although whether Caviezel will bellow “I am not a number, I am a free man!” remains to be seen.

Caviezel will also meet the Rovers - the rather silly overinflated white balloons which proved so bothersome for Patrick McGoohan - but apart from that it's apparently all change.

For starters, the village has been relocated to Swakopmund, "a Bavarian-style resort in Namibia that is surrounded by desert and has an eerily striking collection of pastel A-frame cottages".

Number Six now works for "giant data-gathering corporation" Summakor* and, since he's an American and therefore a little less "straight-laced" than McGoohan, manages to become the "fulcrum of a love triangle" involving Number 313, a doctor played by Ruth Wilson.

McKellen's Number Two, meanwhile, is a single, fully-developed character throughout the series, rather than the original's various interpretations by different actors which represented the "embodiment of nameless bureaucratic evil".

That actor noted he “wouldn’t have wanted to play the original, because it would just be playing a caricature, an idea, a symbol", but that "here I felt I was playing a real person who had just as many personal problems as Number Six".

As for the ending of the reimagining, it won't leave viewers dangling or perplexed as The Prisoner did in 1968, because Gallagher "not only ties things up in the final hour of the new version, but also does it in a way that appears to reaffirm the importance of community".

Those of you who are getting that sinking feeling should look to Caviezel for assurance. He insisted: “I feel this project stands on its own. There’s a huge allegorical piece in the background, but there’s a lot of eye candy as well. It’s definitely a commentary on right here and right now.” ®

Bootnote

* The Summakor website is here, and it's a good piece of work. Try entering "Number 2" in the search box and checking the first result. Now, you'll just need to work out the key word...

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Latest Comments

I'm also trying to like this show

but I keep doing the comparison to the original (which I watched again before watching the new version.)

The original was almost an acid trip in its oddness, while the "new" version is sort of sneaking out behind mum's for a quick joint. I'll watch it through before making up my mind completely.

(This is the time I need a "meh" icon!)

0
0

Tried to like it...

...but I couldn't finish it. Patrick is spinning in his grave. More proof Americans can't remake British shows (and I'm American).

0
0

Oldies and Goldies

I remember the the original prisoner well most of it anyway.. Black n white TV and enough chemical stimulation untill the TV turned into colour. It all made sense then...

Blakes Seven again tonight.

0
0

More from The Register

Reg hack prepares to live off wondergloop Soylent
Our man puts eating people powder Food 2.0 to the test
Oracle's Ellison outlines plans for Hawaiian Electriclarryland
Solar-sourced eau d'Oracle the key to island revival
 breaking news
Who's to be the next Dr Who? Sherlock beats Maurice - says you
Cumberbatch EXTERMINATES Ayoade, Atkinson, Pegg - and Tilda Swinton
Chewbacca held up by TSA stormtroopers for having light sabre
'Mrauuun' 'Right, Chewie, giant man do need giant cane'
 breaking news
I told you I'd be back: Arnie set for another career revival
Don't worry voters, Schwarzenegger's talking about Terminator 5
Waving an Eye-of-Sauron pulsating mock cock? STOP IMMEDIATELY
Mains-powered sex aid recalled ... Ultimate O turns into ultimate OH NO
ROBOT COW teaches Saudi kids where milk comes from
Udderly ridiculous bovine intervention is beyond the pail
At #guardiancoffee, we can now TASTE THE FUTURE through a PRISM!
I have measured out my life in espresso spoons
Soylent days and soylent nights
Food 2.0 fails the post-pub nosh test
Google erases G8 venue from Earth: Microsoft doesn't
Cameron and chums to hold confab in empty field, apparently