The Prisoner (1968) – The Girl Who Was Death, Once Upon a Time, and Fall Out

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) is back to being a superspy in swinging London, as he matches wits with a deadly female assassin, Sonia (Justine Lord), who is looking to off him, and protect her slightly crazed father, Schnipps (Kenneth Griffith), who is planning on destroying London and establishing him as its new Napoleon-esque leader. All…

The Prisoner (1967) – It’s Your Funeral, and A Change of Mind

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) finds himself ensnared in an assassination plot in It’s Your Funeral. Written by Michael Cramoy this episode was first broadcast on 8 December, 1967. There’s a new up and coming Number Two (Derren Nesbitt), he’s a bit of a heir apparent, and a different type of Number Two than we’ve seen,…

The Prisoner (1967) – Checkmate, and Hammer Into Anvil

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) squares off against Number Two (this time played by Peter Wyngarde) in a layered scheme in Checkmate. Written by Gerald Kelsey, this episode first debuted on 24 November, 1967. Inspired by a life-sized chess game, Six begins canvassing his own pieces, fellow prisoners, as he’s reasoned out how to tell the…

The Prisoner (1967) – Many Happy Returns, and Dance of the Dead

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) gets quite the birthday present in this episode written by Anthony Skene and directed by McGoohan (who apparently also had his hand in the script for this episode). It first aired on 12 November, 1967. When Six wakes up, the Village is deserted, there’s no power, no water, and no people….

The Prisoner (1967) – The Schizoid Man, and The General

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) suffers a bit of an identity crisis this week in The Schizoid Man. Written by Terence Feely, this episode had an original airdate of 27 October, 1967. There’s yet another new Number Two (Anton Rodgers), and he’s got quite the plan concocted to finally break Number Six… He changes his number,…

The Prisoner (1967) – A. B. and C., and Free For All

Anthony Skene pens A. B. and C. which sees Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) dealing with a new assault, this time on his mind, as a new Number Two (Colin Gordon) uses dream manipulation to attempt to sift the truth of Six’s resignation. First airing on 13 October, 1967, it sees Six being drugged at night,…

The Prisoner (1967) – Arrival, and The Chimes of Big Ben

The Prisoner is a series I had long heard about, but, for some reason known only to some deep, dark corner of my psyche, I had never watched. Everything I heard about it suggested I would enjoy it, that it would be right up my alley. But I never dug in and screened it… ……

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987) – Stephen King

This week I continue my journey with Roland, the gunslinger, introduced to us in the first volume of The Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger. Roland is in trouble from the off when he wakes on an expansive miles-long beach that is the shoreline of the Western Sea, and immediately runs afoul of some of the…