The Prisoner in other media


The Prisoner, a British television series that originally ran from 1967 to 1968, has been represented in several other media.

Novels

Ace

in the United States published three original novels based upon the television series.
In the 1980s, Roger Langley of the Prisoner Appreciation Society wrote three novellas based upon the series:
These books were made available through the fan club, and at the Prisoner Shop in Portmeirion and are long out of print individually. They were reissued and revised in one volume as the Prisoner Trilogy, available from the Prisoner Shop in Portmeirion as well as from online sources.

Powys Media

Independent UK publisher that obtained the rights to The Prisoner in the early 2000s. Its books were primarily available by mail-order only.
Additional titles were announced by Powys, but as 2015 have yet to be published.

Non-fiction

DC Comics

Shattered Visage is a four-issue comic book mini-series based on The Prisoner published by DC Comics. Illustrated by Mister X creator Dean Motter and co-written with Mark Askwith, this sequel series was later collected as a 208-page trade paperback, with the addition of a new prologue. The trade paperback remains in print.

Marvel Comics

The premise of the television series fascinated comic book artist Jack Kirby, who created a four-issue homage in 1969 in Fantastic Four #84-87, in which the superhero team finds itself in Doctor Doom's Latveria, a city like the Village in many respects. In the "Bullpen Bulletins" page in Marvel Comics cover-dated July 1976, Marvel announced a comic book based on The Prisoner, to be written by Steve Englehart and drawn by a then-unchosen artist and scheduled to be "starting this summer". The artist assigned to the project would be Gil Kane. When Jack Kirby returned to Marvel in the mid-70s after a run at DC Comics, the property was transferred to him. A test issue was put together but never completed. Original artwork from this comic still exists and occasionally turns up for auction. Some of it has been published in the comic book fanzine The Jack Kirby Collector. The surviving artwork suggests that the first issue, at least, would have been an adaptation of "Arrival."

Titan Comics

In 2018 Titan Comics officially published, for the first time ever, the unpublished comic pages of The Prisoner drawn by Gil Kane and Jack Kirby in a special hardback Original Art Edition. The book, which presented the pages as actual size, also included an article written by Steve Englehart who wrote the Gil Kane comic, a foreword written by Mike Royer and included scans of the original ITC Press Pack as a bonus. Mike Allred provided a fully coloured version of a Jack Kirby spread. Rick Parker also provided a letterered version of the Gil Kane comics based on Englehart's original script.
2018 also saw the launch of an all-new four-book mini-series Prisoner comic book also from Titan Comics. Called The Uncertainty Machine, the comic written by Peter Milligan from an original plot by David Leach was drawn by Colin Lorimer and coloured by Joana Lafuente. The new comic set within the world of The Prisoner introduced a Number Six in the guise of British secret agent Breen, who is given a mission to infiltrate The Village in order to rescue a fellow spy who had been taken prisoner by the mysterious and ultra secret establishment. The comic was critically well received.

Computer games

In the early 1980s, Edu-Ware produced two computer games based upon the series for the Apple II computer. The first, titled simply, The Prisoner, was released in 1980, followed by a remake, Prisoner 2 in 1982.

Role-playing games

' popular role-playing game system GURPS released a world book for The Prisoner. It included maps, episode synopses, details of the Village and its inhabitants, and much other material. For instance, it has suggestions for game scenarios with the premise reinterpreted for outer space, heroic fantasy, horror, and even complete inversion into something akin to Hogan's Heroes.

Television

The sixth episode of The Simpsons' twelfth season, "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes", makes a reference to The Prisoner. The episode's third act, which serves as a parody of The Prisoner, features several references to the series. When the secret organization finds out about Homer's discovery, he is taken to a secret location called the "Island". The "Island" is modeled after the "Village", where Number Six is taken in The Prisoner. While he is in the "Island", Homer is repeatedly gassed by unexpected objects, a reference to the way Number Six would often be gassed in The Prisoner. While escaping the "Island", Homer is chased by a "big balloon". The balloon is a reference to Rover, a floating white ball in The Prisoner that was created to keep inhabitants in the "Village". Patrick McGoohan himself provided the voice of Number Six for this episode.
The Pinky and the Brain three-parter, “Brainwashed”, pays homage to The Prisoner. For most of the first two-parts, Pinky and the Brain get trapped in a mysterious village known as “The Land of Hats” which takes cues from “The Village”.
British sitcom 2point4 Children also parodied the series in its "Seven Dials" episode. The episode sees the character Ben kidnapped and taken to Portmeirion, where he is menaced by Rover.
Numerous other series have featured episodes paying homage to The Prisoner, such as the 2000 version of The Invisible Man.

Film

A movie version of The Prisoner was in development hell for many years at Universal Pictures. At one point Simon West was attached as director, with Patrick McGoohan on board as an executive producer, script consultant, and possible cameo appearance.
Christopher Nolan has also been reported to be considering a big-screen version. As of 2015 no remake has been announced since the 2009 AMC miniseries.

Advertising

LBC used various concepts from The Prisoner, in an advertising campaign in the mid 1980s reflecting London's role as a 'village' for its residents and commuters.

Audio dramas

On 5 January 2015, Big Finish Productions, best known for its long-running series of BBC-licensed audio dramas based upon Doctor Who, announced that it will be producing licensed audio dramas based upon The Prisoner, with the first scheduled for release in 2016 and that Mark Elstob will portray Number Six in the new series. The first series, containing new reimaginings of three original series scripts and one new story and written/directed by Nicholas Briggs, was released in January 2016 and was well received. The first series also featured John Standing, Celia Imrie, Ramon Tikaram and Michael Cochrane as "Number Two" and Helen Goldwyn as "The Village Voice/Operations Controller".
A second series was released in August 2017, comprising four stories; "I Met a Man Today", "Project Six", an adaptation of "Hammer into Anvil", and new story "Living in Harmony".
A third series was released in November 2019, comprising four stories; an adaptation of "Free For All", and new stories "The Girl Who Was Death", "The Seltzman Connection", and "No One Will Know".
These audio dramas have been broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra as part of its The 7th Dimension programming.

Festival

The main character of The Prisoner, Number Six inspired the name of Festival N°6 which takes place since 2012 at the village of Portmeirion. This music and art festival is celebrating each year Number Six's way of thinking, that is reflection and independence of mind.

Music

Although the main title theme was composed by Ron Grainer, the incidental music used in the series came from a wide variety of sources, including library music and cues from established composers such as Wilfrid Josephs and Albert Elms.

Soundtracks

released two editions of soundtrack CDs, a three-volume set in the early 1990s, and another three-volume set in the early 2000s subtitled "Files" that included music not included in the previous issue along with dialogue excerpts.
A single-LP soundtrack release was issued by Six of One for its membership in the 1980s and is considered a collector's item; titled The Prisoner: Original Soundtrack Music from the TV Series Starring Patrick McGoohan, the album was later issued by Bamcaruso Records in a deluxe edition that included The Making of the Prisoner, a booklet on the series by Roger Langley, a map of the Village, and a poster featuring a hand-drawn image of Number 6 being chased by Rover.
In December 2007, it was announced that Network DVD would be releasing a new 3xCD set of the soundtrack, compiled by series music editor Eric Mival, which would include a facsimile of his "music bible" used during the making of the series.

Songs containing samples from ''The Prisoner''