1. The BBC is remaking this, as a series with the guy who played Doctor Who for the first season.

Posted at 10:49AM on Aug 11th 2006 by Cross777

2. It's actually being made by Granada for Sky One (so you just know it's going to be appalling), and as far as i've seen, Ecclestone's involvement has only been rumoured

Posted at 11:11AM on Aug 11th 2006 by RP

3. The 40th Anniversary complete boxset of all 17 episodes of The Prisoner is now available at Amazon.com. Like the original Star Trek series you will pay a premium price for this set. But, it's worth it since The Prisoner is one of the very best things to ever have come on television. Unique and thought provoking, indeed, I was introduced to the series when it was playing on the local PBS station back in the seventies and beyond. I remember that after each episode there was a discussion panel to interpret and discuss what had just been witnessed. I don't recall that ever happening with any other television series. And 40 years later the show and the idea of the show still lives.

Patrick McGoohan was the star of a very popular television series called Secret Agent Man and was given a lot of leeway to do what he wanted with The Prisoner. It's admirable when actors break away from the safe things that made them popular and like Patrick McGoohan, use their fame and popularity to say something important. Through all the discussion and talk about what The Prisoner means my opinion is that it's about the struggle of man to maintain his dignity, freedom and values in a world that increasing has no place for those things. As you watch the show you recognize yourself and you identify with The Prisoner. It's just great.

As for the likelihood of a big screen version or the rumored television version I have my doubts. Rarely does a remake capture what was good about the original. I can't think of it ever happening and what we are left with is a pale comparision that usually, mercifully, fades back into the mist. For me, if I liked the original, I am already hostile to the remake and if I didn't like the original there is no way I want to see a pale remake of a show I didn't like in the first place. (I'm looking at you Dukes of Hazzard) The only exception I can think of offhand is Battlestar Galactica and that succeeds because it isn't a remake but a complete reimagining of the story.

Oh, and Patrick McGoohan, if you have trouble remembering where you've seen him, think Braveheart and the evil Longshanks, "If we can't chase them out, we'll breed them out!" Ohh, creepy. But well acted.

Posted at 12:15PM on Aug 11th 2006 by Gilbert Davis

4. A friend actually wrote his master's thesis on The Prisoner. I don't know if the philosophical implications can survive the transition to the big screen unless it's done as an art picture.

Posted at 3:21PM on Aug 11th 2006 by Cath

5. So this is SEPARATE from the Eccleston version? What bizarre timing

Posted at 1:18AM on Aug 12th 2006 by Emma Abraham

6. There is no "Eccleston version". It was all just newspaper talk about his involvement - he will not be featuring in the Granada / Sky One remake.

Posted at 5:01AM on Aug 12th 2006 by Anthony Weight

7.
Funny, considering the man that Chris Nolan SHOULD have picked to play the role of The Joker was previously rumored to be involved in a re-imagined television update. That actor being CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON.

Posted at 12:30PM on Aug 14th 2006 by The Jeremy