Thursday, July 17, 2014

Bizarrely Symmetrical -- Symmetrically Bizarre

     Those are the only words that fit.  So...  I'm a fan of of Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner, and when Danger Man (released on U. S. TV as Secret Agent) popped up on Amazon's streaming service, I watched an episode, since it's (somewhat -- McGoohan maintained that "John Drake" and "Number Six" were not the same man)  backstory for The Prisoner.

     Alas, at that time the release started with the second series, which ran two years after the first, and I wanted to get in at the beginning.  Last night, I discovered that the first series was now available, and in handy 25-minutes doses.

     So I watched the pilot.  Set in Italy, a bit of a gimme but not at all bad for a half-hour spy drama.  As the credits rolled, I caught the name of the location that had doubled for Italy in the various outdoors scenes: Portmeirion.

     Yes, the very same folly-built-large where the entire series of The Prisoner was set; there's only the one.  Patrick McGoohan's career as a TV spy began and ended in the very same place.

8 comments:

Comrade Misfit said...

The American run of the show as Secret Agent had the best theme song ever.

Drang said...

We watched Danger Man/Secret Agent on DVDs from Netflix. I never noticed that. Thanks!

Note to self: When the DVD set of The Prisoner shows up at Costco next time buy it!

Cincinnatus said...

I always thought that Danger Man / Secret Agent holds up well notwithstanding B&W

Anonymous said...

And he was born in NYC!

gfa

Drang said...

Robin, FWIW, the last two or three episodes of Danger Man were in color, and very Prisoner-ish.

Stretch said...

Big fan of both series.
Fascinated to learn of Portmeirion connection between the two.
Thanks for weekend dose of "How Cool!"

Windy Wilson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Windy Wilson said...

That video on Youtube with Johnny Rivers singing "Secret Agent Man" is absolutely fabulous.
Patrick McGoohan was in the Disney stable for a while as the Scarecrow, and also in the Three Lives of Thomasina