Today marks the 77th birthday of Patrick McGoohan, the man behind what may well be the greatest TV show of all time, The Prisoner. Anyone who hasn’t seen this show is strongly urged to get their hands on the DVDs. Also available is a huge set of the complete run of Danger Man, a show known here in the States as Secret Agent, for which Johnny River’s classic tune “Secret Agent Man” was the theme. Although a much more orthodox spy series than The Prisoner, Danger Man is generally considered that show’s direct antecedent, with McGoohan’s Danger Man character John Drake being the actual identity of the latter show’s unnamed Number Six.
Also worth watching is McGoohan’s morally comprimised scientist in Scanners, his appearance in the Cold War thriller Ice Station Zebra, and even several superior episodes of Columbo in which he played the killers. Sadly, these aren’t represented in the currently released season one and two sets of the show. I think by the time of season three we’ll see one of his appearances.
Another of his best roles, as a prototypical spy/rebel in the year 1736, appeared in the mini-series Dr. Syn — Alias the Scarecrow, whiched appeared here The Wonderful World of Disney. Sadly, the show was once slated to be released as one of Disney’s tin encased special DVD collections, but was shelved before release, presumably because of rights issues of some sort. I keep my fingers crossed on this one, although it’s been years since I’ve heard anything about it. There was a video tape version, apparently truncated, that appeared quite some years ago, but it goes for high prices on the collector’s market.
McGoohan will always remain a fascinating actor to watch. Few could suggest and project raw intelligence and just the fact that his character was thinking as well as he can. In fact, Andre Braugher is perhaps his only equal in this regard.
