When this fan was of an age to appreciate such things, there were three main pillars of British television which formed the basis for life-long Anglophilia, namely Doctor Who, The Prisoner, and The Avengers. The first two were helpfully served up by PBS back when these stations took an interest in such fare, The Avengers was a show obtained, at least in the 80’s, by tape-trading. The Avengers was fun and stylish, The Prisoner subversive and strange, and Doctor Who… well it was all of that and more. And there was so much of it.! In any event these three formed the bedrock. Other shows followed (Secret Agent, The Saint, Department S, Man in a Suitcase and so on) but now and again–certainly not as often as this fan would like as the years pass, it good to go back and re-watch these series as a touchstone.
Now on Sunday the 15th the at 7pm the Tennant era begins the final phase in The Waters of Mars whilst, here in the central US, at 7pm the re-imaging of “The Prisoner” begins its limited run on AMC (and before you recognize the obvious about time-zones and the like–accept the premise and enjoy the bit, okay?). As much as I cherish the original McGoohan version of The Prisoner, there is a latent curiosity about what this could be like, so I’ll be watching. (Incidentally, I had much more confidence in RTD to bring back Doctor Who properly back in 2004-05 than I do in respectfully moving The Prisoner up to 2009).
Now all we need as for an obscure cable channel to show “A Touch of Brimstone” (IFC or OVTV anyone?) at 7pm Sunday and the THT Collective Brain Trust will summarily explode.
