The Official Prisoner Companion by Matthew White, Jaffer Ali Summary and Reviews

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Book Reviews of The Official Prisoner Companion

Book Review: An excellent book for an excellent TV show
Summary: 5 Stars

The book is divided into seven major parts (five chapters and two appendices). The first is a guide to all 17 episodes, with 5 to 8 pages per show. The guide gives cast and crew credits for each episode, a very thorough synopsis of the episode, and the authors' observations and comments about production details, script changes, deleted scenes, etc.

The second part is entitled "Notes, Anecdotes, and Nonsense" and it provides trivia and more production notes. It is shallow, and you can find more detailed explanations about the facts and issues elsewhere, but since one could make a several hundred page book out of this material alone, the authors can hardly be faulted for being selective in their presentation.

The third part is absolutely invaluable for new-comers to "The Prisoner". Entitled "The Great Debates", this section summarizes the major points of contention among the show's fans. Among them are: Was the Prisoner really John Drake from "Danger Man"? Who runs the Village? What is the proper order to watch the episodes in? If you are new to the series, be sure to read this section before you start posting to discussion groups, it will save you the embarassment of repeating some well-known points.

The fourth part, "What Does it All Mean?", discusses symbolism in the show, the philosophical implications of it, etc. This is also a section which could be deeper, but it is another good introduction.

Next is a brief biography/filmography of Patick McGoohan (the Prisoner/No. 6 himself). The highlight of this section is a 1985 interview McGoohan gave to New Video Magazine, which he claimed would be the last interview he would do about "The Prisoner". (McGoohan has actually discussed the show several times since then, but the interview is fascinating nonetheless.)

Sixth is a section on further sources of information about "The Prisoner". Unfortunately, it is rather out of date, since the last few years have seen a resurgence of interest in the series. However, it still has such useful facts as the address for The Prisoner Shop in Portmeirion or how you can contact the major fan clubs devoted to the series.

Finally, part seven has excerpts of shooting scripts from several episodes, including much of "Arrival", the Prisoner's campaign speech from "Free For All", and the ultimate battle of wits between the Prisoner and No. 2 in "Once Upon A Time".

My only major regret about this book is that I got it before I had seen the entire series. The synopses do give away secrets and twists from the episodes, so I would recommend that you see all 17 shows before you read this book to get the full impact of the series.

A final note: New information has come to light which resolves a contradiction the book mentions. There had been speculation for years about the original nature of "Rover" (the security device). The book argues that there is no evidence Rover was originally a blue VW bug (as popularly claimed) and asserts that a weather balloon was planned to be used from the beginning. However, production photos have subsequently been found which *do* show a blue VW bug as Rover. Obviously, this is not the authors' fault, but readers should be aware of the error.