This blog has had yet another change in style. It now focuses on four things (as seen in the logo above). DOCTOR WHO REVIEWS (as always, and Series II of my Reviews, as well as standalone reviews, are coming soon), NOVELS & AUDIOS (of all genres), OTHER CULT/SCI-FI PROGRAMMES and THE PRISONER. And this is my review for Episode One of the original series of “The Prisoner”.
If I’m honest. It isn’t that good. Normally I love cult shows from the 60s and 70s, that look tacky and cheap, and normally the stories are great. But this one is a little… slow. It begins with the title sequence, which has an interesting theme composed by the wonderful Ron Grainer. In fact, the theme tune sounds better on the credits than it does on the somewhat confusing opening sequence. The opening title sequence, while iconic, sets the story and introduces the programme. So, it does what title sequences should do, but it’s trying to tell us too much, and it’s the wrong format to be doing that. A prologue, or flashbacks (as I believe were used in the modern version) would have been better.
Number 6 (yet to be called this) then arrives in The Village. Where everything is written in lower case letters. The one thing that strikes me about the Village, apart from the clashing colours of buildings, cars, road signs and outfits, is that fact it feels normal. It feels like you could live there. And the fact Number 6 wants to escape is hardly justified, by the pretty colours of all the surroundings, and the general niceness, not to mention relaxed nature of the people who live there. Why are they so accepting of where they live, if it’s so bad? And why are they so – normal? (clothes not included in the ‘normal’ bit, cos frankly, the clothes are very odd).
The other things that makes this series (and the Village) seem less serious and sinister, are the music and the bad editing. The music takes nursery rhymes and songs (What Shall we do with a Drunken Sailor being one of them) and plays them through a variety of strange instruments and sounds. The music makes it feel childish, as if someone’s taking the mickey. The bad editing means we get cuts between action way too quickly. When Number 6 smashes the Sculpture in the office, it’s cut between three clips and it’s hard to see what happens. There are other scenes which are cut quite confusingly, including the scene of Number 6’s escape on the beach, and his fight with a man in a stripy top. There are scenes which have also been let down. The scene in the hospital could’ve been more weird and spooky, and instead it’s just odd.
There are moments which are excellent however, where editing is superb, where music doesn’t let it down, and where lighting and sets are just superb. The big room with the see-saw like chair is excellent, as is Number 2’s room, and the purple lighting and automated circles with chairs and tables are excellent. The scene where Number 6 plays chess with the man who can’t find someone to play with is also awesome, and almost heart-warming. But that scene in particular adds to one thing.
Confusion. This episode is confusion. I mean, it should be in a way, because we’re learning about this strange place. But that’s only a minor part of the confusion. The scenes are cut so they’re confusing, and the most confusing thing of all, is the fact Number 6 seems to be quite calm, strolling around his house, walking around the village, taking in the scenery, and only every now and then, all of a sudden, does he decide to escape. His escapes are sudden and don’t fit in with a.) how relaxed he seems most of the time and b.) the beautiful surroundings and the fact the Village seems too… normal.
It’s a good episode. It kept me watching, I wanted to find out about his escape, and why he’s so important to the people in the village. And the production values are great, it looks good – it’s just a shame this isn’t fully conveyed in the badly edited and cut scenes. Also, the fact it looks so good, and it looks so beautiful don’t make me think this is a horrible place, a weird place. And Number 6 seems so relaxed most of the time, playing chess and so on, and that, added to the surroundings, make the need to escape and escapes seem a bit – pointless.
More action, and a creepier village would have worked a lot better. Though, my favourite thing about the episode, is Rover, the big white ball. It’s awesome.
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