Development The Prisoner was created while Patrick McGoohan and
George Markstein were working on
Danger Man, an espionage show produced by
Incorporated Television Company. The exact details of who created which aspects of the show are disputed, as there is no "created by" credit. Majority opinion credits McGoohan as the sole creator of the series, but a disputed co-creator status was later ascribed to Markstein after a series of fan interviews were published in the 1980s. McGoohan stated in a 1977 interview that, during the filming of the third series of
Danger Man, he told ITC Entertainment managing director Lew Grade that he wanted to quit working on
Danger Man after the filming of the proposed fourth series. Grade was unhappy with the decision, but when McGoohan insisted upon quitting, Grade asked if McGoohan had any other possible projects, and McGoohan later pitched
The Prisoner. In a 1988 article in British telefantasy magazine
Time Screen, though, McGoohan indicated that he had planned to pitch
The Prisoner before speaking with Grade. Further doubt has been cast on Markstein's version of events by author Rupert Booth in his biography of McGoohan, entitled
Not a Number. Booth points out that McGoohan had outlined the themes of
The Prisoner in a 1965 interview, long before Markstein's tenure as script editor on the brief fourth series of
Danger Man. Part of Markstein's inspiration came from his research into the
Second World War, where he found that some people had been incarcerated in a resort-like prison in Scotland called
Inverlair Lodge, near
Inverness. Markstein suggested that
Danger Mans main character
John Drake (played by McGoohan) could suddenly resign and be kidnapped and sent to such a location.
The Prisoners story editor, George Markstein, this source contends, knows of "the existence of this 'secure establishment. This "Scottish prison camp, in reality, was not, of course, a holiday-type village full of people wearing colourful clothing." Other sources indicate that several of the crew members who continued on from
Danger Man to work on
The Prisoner considered it to be a continuation, and that McGoohan was continuing to play the character of John Drake. The issue has been extensively debated by fans and television critics. McGoohan had originally wanted to produce only seven episodes of
The Prisoner, but Grade argued that more shows were necessary in order for him to sell the series to
CBS. According to a 1977 interview, Lew Grade requested 26 episodes, but McGoohan thought this would spread the show too thin, managing to come up with only 17. This location partially inspired the show. At the request of Portmeirion's architect
Clough Williams-Ellis, the main location for the series was not disclosed until the opening credits of the final episode, where it was described as "
The Hotel Portmeirion,
Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales". 's home (2011) Additionally, filming of a key sequence of the opening credits—and of exterior location filming for three episodes—took place at 1 Buckingham Place in
Westminster, which at the time was a private residence, presented as Number Six's home. The building is now a highlight of
Prisoner location tours, and currently houses the headquarters of the
Royal Warrant Holders Association. The episodes "Many Happy Returns", "The Girl Who Was Death" (the cricket match for which was filmed at four locations, with the main sequences filmed at
Eltisley in Cambridgeshire) and "Fall Out" also made use of extensive location shooting in London and other locations. At the time, most British television was broadcast in black and white, but the show was filmed in colour to reach the American audience.
Background of the Village Patrick McGoohan created a detailed guide for the writers of the series, detailing what the series was about, and how the village would work, the practical matters around use of phones and the numbers instead of names. According to the writer
James Follett, a friend and protégé of George Markstein, Markstein had developed a backstory explaining the origin of the Village and its connection to Number Six's resignation. Markstein's concept was that John Drake (of
Danger Man) had once proposed a strategy for dealing with retired secret agents who could still pose a security risk. Years later, Drake discovers that his proposal was put into practice, not as a benign means of retirement, but an interrogation centre and prison camp known as The Village. Outraged, Drake resigns, knowing he will be taken to The Village, where he planned to learn everything he can about how his idea has been implemented and find a way to destroy it. Due to the range of nationalities and agents present, Drake realises that he can't be sure whose Village he is in—his own, or one belonging to the other side. Markstein later commented:The prisoner was going to leave the Village and he was going to have adventures in many parts of the world, but ultimately he would always be a prisoner. By that I don't mean he would always go back to the Village. He would always be a prisoner of his circumstances, his situation, his secret, his background... and 'they' would always be there to ensure that his captivity continues. ==Reception==