Because a friend was rushed into hospital with a stroke, I only caught the last part of the first episode and thought the hero was too emotional, rather than fiercely passionate in his rebellion as with Patrick McGoohan (Ian McKellan's cake eating scene was the only thing that caught my eye).

Catching the repeat and seeing No.2 with a family amongst others, made me think of where McGoohan intended the second series of The Prisoner to go (The outside world). It also made me think of Star Trek and the way The Next Generation brought in 'family'.

I also saw a review in Metro that said it all seemed dream like. This angle of memory made me think of parallel lives as in dreams, where we seem to be living elsewhere, simultaneously. It also made me think of reincarnation and rebirth (Taking us back to McGoohan and the Christianity angle bandied about on the original series forum, some years back (born again Christians)). It seems to more mellow than the original but brings in more universal questions of philosophy that we all ask at birth 'Who am I?' 'Where am I?' 'What am I doing here?'.

As in The Matrix and taking the blue or red pill, we have a choice of remembering or forgetting our past lives - the cosy village life of delusions or freedom and harsh reality (American Free Enterprise or the British Nanny State: Note jailers mostly English and Prisoners mostly Americans). It is the evolution from crude to refined - rough and ready to smooth hypochondria, worrying about the smallest details.

Then of course this time round is desert as opposed to mountains and sea (Edge of the world/ here be dragons/ No life on other planets). In other words there is nowhere to escape to ('Don't leave me!'): No life out there, only life in here as No. 2 intimated. Whatever you do, you mustn't link, mustn't think (No thought outside the box).

The dreaded enemy is change - the loving friend is sameness. We follow the inward path to knowledge, in depth chasing mystery - until boredom leads us back out, seeking newness and generality (relief from the tension of perpetual hiding within and retreat from the greater reality without)and the cycle of exploration and experiencing begins again (search for God/ good - linking with greater whole) as self-imprisonment and self-exploration ends (ego/ self).

There is a ratio between perception and direction of consciousness. The more you're aware of that is good (macrocosmic/ futuristic/ freed energy), the more you're also aware of that is bad (microcosmic/ past/ pain, niggling for attention, enslaving it). The less conscious you are, the less aware you are of the problems you're suffering from (problems bigger than your consciousness can deal with (aches) as opposed to small beer that annoys you).

The more you concentrate on the good, the better you feel (extrovert your attention). The more you introvert your attention, the worse you feel (concentrate on the self and its problems, rather than the needs of others): The cure for the ills of the self are to be found in the search for/ service to the other.

Wow, what a great post, lots to think about in there.

Quite a few of the original episodes appeared in a dream-like way.

My fave Number 6 quote is "This is a dreamy party!"

Hello

A very good analysis ... however McG never intended the series to leave the world of The Village as he did not intend to go beyond the 17 episodes he was willing to produce ... at least as far as the adventures of No.6 was concerned. It has been claimed that McG may have entertained the idea of a series called The Outsider that would have featured that further adventures of No. 48 (Alex Kanner) and the Butler. The idea of a 'second season' of adventures was postured by script editor George Markstein but was never intended by McG.

The finale of The Prisoner 2009 leaves the disturbing impression that the best hope for humanity is a passive submission to benign corporatism.

BCNU

Tommcfearsom