Few television series have made as indelible an impression on viewers as The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan. First aired in Great Britain in 1967, it reached the United States in 1968. Its 17 one-hour episodes allegorically explored the relationship of the individual to society ("...it takes a village..."), the nature of man, and the meaning of freedom-all the while entertaining the viewer with action-packed plots and intelligent, thought-provoking dialogue. It's no wonder, then, that 33 years later The Prisoner is still generating interest in fans old and new.

Both because the series was completed in just 17 installments and due to the intellectual nature of the show, there were never very many collectibles generated, aside from books and videotapes. The majority of items that are available have come primarily from The Prisoner Shop in the real village of Portmeirion, Wales (where The Prisoner was filmed) or through the society known as The Six of One (http://www.theprisonerappreciationsociety.com), which is based in England. The Six of One publishes a quarterly magazine that contains a free classifieds section for fans wishing to contact each other and to buy and sell collectibles.

A perusal of completed auctions on eBay on August 4, 2000, found a number of items relating to the series. Though most were either books about the series or videotapes of the episodes, I did find a few of the more elusive collectibles. These included a ceramic mug for $35.65, a role-playing game by Steve Jackson Games for $40, and a penny-farthing bicycle sticker for $5. One of the more interesting finds was a group of laser discs that sold individually for $10 to $76, the highest prices being for the later episodes.

Many of the books and videos up for auction sold even though most of the books are still in print and the entire series is now available on DVD. A check of Amazon.com revealed that the following highly recommended books are available:
1) The Official Prisoner Companion, by Matthew White and Jaffer Ali (Warner Books, 1988)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446387444/auctionbytescom;
2) Inside the Prisoner: Radical Television and Film in the 1960's, by Ian Rakoff (Brasseys, 1999);
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0713484136/auctionbytescom;
3) The Prisoner, a Television Masterpiece, by Alain Carraze and Helene Oswald (1996)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0863695574/auctionbytescom.

I have a copy of the Official Prisoner Companion, and I found it a great read, with a detailed synopsis of each episode followed by salient observations by the authors. There is also a section devoted to the "meaning" of the series, and another to the "great debates" (e.g., is the Prisoner really John Drake, Secret Agent?). The Appendix, "Sources of Information," is slightly dated as the book was published 12 years ago, but further investigation via the Internet proved that some of the information was still current. I have not yet seen the other two books, but several Web sites thought them at least on a par with the Companion.

One of the more interesting Web sites I stumbled upon while researching this article was that of The Unofficial Prisoner Home Page (~http://user.tninet.se/~srw159i/tp.html). Not only was this site a cornucopia of information, with articles dealing with almost every aspect of the series, but it also hosted a most impressive list of links to fan pages and official sites, including Six of One (see above) and Once Upon a Time (http://www.carol.net/dolphin/ouat).

It was from these sites that I learned that Universal Studios has engaged Simon West (Con-Air, The General's Daughter, and the now-in-production Tomb Raider) to direct a big-screen version of the original series. And with a major movie in the works, interest in The Prisoner can only increase - including the market for Prisoner collectibles!