Plot: What’s it about?
In the realm of television shows, few can match the action and intrigue of The Prisoner. The show featured Patrick McGoohan and provided some excellent entertainment, with some unique and offbeat moments in each episode. McGoohan plays Number Six in a prison known as The Village, where he knows his imprisonment and potential freedom both dwell within his own hands. As other prisoners attempt to quell his ever genius runs at escaping, we learn so much about Number Six, to the extent where we know he is much more than a simple number. We know Number Six was taken from his home and previous after leaving a government position, but we, nor his captors understand his reasons for leaving that post. But the unseen head of The Village, Number One has sent Number Two to uncover the truth about Number Six. As he evades allowing his captors to know the truth behind his actions, can Number Six keep his inner thoughts hidden and find some path to freedom?
I am very pleased that A&E has started to issue The Prisoner on our beloved format, but I can’t say that I am in love with their approach. As per usual, A&E has chosen to deliver this series in two disc sets, which I assume will be released in pairs, as that has been the case in other A&E titles. Each disc holds two episodes of The Prisoner and some supplements, which I just don’t think is enough in the end. I am a fan of entire season releases and in truth, I would prefer to purchase this series as a whole. I think seventeen episodes is low enough to warrant a package deal, but A&E has decided to issue them in these two disc editions. But when there’s much less than two hours of content per disc, this lowers the value somewhat. I think four episodes per dual layered disc would have worked much better, in terms of price and space on the shelf. But as it stands, these rather expensive releases will be recommended to adamant fans of the series alone. It is a shame, as this series deserves a wide base of availability, but perhaps down the road, we can pick them all up at once at a lower price. I am not pleased with this release pattern, but the series is so darn good, I can’t help but recommend these discs. This review covers the first two sets of The Prisoner, which means you’ll have to purchase both Sets 1 & 2 to own all these episodes. Below is a listing of the episodes included on these four discs.
Disc One
1. Arrival
2. The Chimes Of Big Ben (Alternate Version)
Disc Two
1. Free For All
2. Dance of the Dead
Disc Three
1. Checkmate
2. The Chimes Of Big Ben (Broadcast Version)
Disc Four
1. A, B and C
2. The General
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are shown in the intended full frame form and even though some age related issues surface, I am pleased with this visual presentation. Of course, some grain is evident and more than a little debris is present, but the episodes look much cleaner than you might expect. When you consider the age and nature of the source materials, this is a more than stable presentation. I do want to say however, the alternate version of The Chimes Of Big Ben looks worse than the other episodes, perhaps due to the condition of the changed footage.
Audio: How does it sound?
The original mono materials are used and even with a new digital spitshine, they show some wear and tear. There is more than a little harshness to be heard here and on the last two episodes, it gets pretty bad. But I was never taken back by those flaws, which means I can’t knock the score too much. I think the dialogue is a little muffled at times, but decent enough and the other elements seem up to the bare bones task as well. I’m giving this audio presentation a lower-average score, which I think fits the levels found here. All the episodes have been closed captioned as well, just in case you’ll need those captions.
Supplements: What are the extras?
These two discs each feature trailers for the episodes, selections of production photos, a trivia game, and a tough to use interactive map of The Village. The first disc of Set 1 also includes the alternate version of The Chimes Of Big Ben, which paints a much different picture of that episode. That disc also houses special textless introduction and close sequences, as well as an alternate look at the foreign used introduction.
