As I post this entry, every one of the other four preexisting reviews make reference to this episode being reminiscent of Patrick McGoohan's subsequent series 'The Prisoner'. In this Wizard of Oz style episode, characters from real life (ambulance crew, et al) are juxtaposed into a dreamlike fantasy that leaves Drake wondering which end is up. Somehow he copes.
But it's true. This is the most Prisoner like episode of the entire run of the Danger Man series. Besides the similarities pointed out by the others (like a #6 on Drake's apartment door), what jumped out at me, beyond the whimsical funhouse-gone-wrong motif, is the scene about halfway through with Drake banging his fist on the desk of his supervisor Mr. Lovegrove in frustration. Prisoner fans of course know this scene is mimicked in the opening credits of The Prisoner. The unnamed but soon to be 'Number six' angry man is fed up, he's had enough, and tenders his resignation.
Now, we don't have to look very far to locate any number of Danger Man/Secret Agent episodes to find a John Drake disenchanted with his superiors. Just watch the ending of "It's up to the Lady", with Drake standing frozen at the airport terminal after the escaped bureaucrat he just recovered is snapped out of his grip to face the trial that was promised not to occur. Or the end of "Yesterday's Enemies", when the spy who came in from the other side is assassinated by M9 rather than returned to England as promised. And of course there is the masterpiece "Whatever Happened to George Foster", where Drake's entire organization abandons him when he attempts to dislodge a corrupt industrialist from the country whose government the man is trying to overthrow. It's just business you know.
Drake was in fact just the kind of spy to be to be intercepted and sentenced to a term on a remote island when he had finally had enough of that demoralizing system!
So did the theme of this episode become something of a template for The Prisoner? Is fist-pounding Drake launched from here into the Village as Number 6? In later interviews McGoohan insisted that Number 6 is NOT Drake. That assertion is mitigated though upon learning that due to the legal ramifications of the show's creator Ralph Smart owning the name "John Drake", Patrick may not have been in a position to confirm the connection between the two characters.
None the less, we the audience *know* the answer, don't we? Number 6 IS Drake! So, just as McGoohan was inspired to shoot The Prisoner at Portmeirion Village in Wales after discovering the location in the very first Danger Man episode "View from the Villa" did the actor in a similar fashion take inspiration from Danger Man episodes such as 'The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove' when creating The Prisoner? It certainly can't be any more than mere inspiration because after all, McGoohan didn't write the Lovegrove episode.
Or did he? The writing credit goes to a 'David Stone'. But who exactly is David Stone? If you check IMDb, Stone has almost no writing credits, EXCEPT seven 1 hour Danger Man Episodes (including "Whatever Happened to George Foster"). Who is this guy that wrote mostly for Danger Man? My take is that David Stone may well be Patrick McGoohan. I posed this question in the IMDb forums, and someone pointed out that McGoohan did in fact write, and that when he did he would often use a pen name. So is Patrick McGoohan to David Stone possibly an analog of Samuel Clemens' Mark Twain?
Perhaps instead of asking; 'Is Number 6 Drake?' (of course he is), we should instead be asking; 'Is David Stone Patrick McGoohan?' If so, we would indeed have a direct connection between the two series. :>
But it's true. This is the most Prisoner like episode of the entire run of the Danger Man series. Besides the similarities pointed out by the others (like a #6 on Drake's apartment door), what jumped out at me, beyond the whimsical funhouse-gone-wrong motif, is the scene about halfway through with Drake banging his fist on the desk of his supervisor Mr. Lovegrove in frustration. Prisoner fans of course know this scene is mimicked in the opening credits of The Prisoner. The unnamed but soon to be 'Number six' angry man is fed up, he's had enough, and tenders his resignation.
Now, we don't have to look very far to locate any number of Danger Man/Secret Agent episodes to find a John Drake disenchanted with his superiors. Just watch the ending of "It's up to the Lady", with Drake standing frozen at the airport terminal after the escaped bureaucrat he just recovered is snapped out of his grip to face the trial that was promised not to occur. Or the end of "Yesterday's Enemies", when the spy who came in from the other side is assassinated by M9 rather than returned to England as promised. And of course there is the masterpiece "Whatever Happened to George Foster", where Drake's entire organization abandons him when he attempts to dislodge a corrupt industrialist from the country whose government the man is trying to overthrow. It's just business you know.
Drake was in fact just the kind of spy to be to be intercepted and sentenced to a term on a remote island when he had finally had enough of that demoralizing system!
So did the theme of this episode become something of a template for The Prisoner? Is fist-pounding Drake launched from here into the Village as Number 6? In later interviews McGoohan insisted that Number 6 is NOT Drake. That assertion is mitigated though upon learning that due to the legal ramifications of the show's creator Ralph Smart owning the name "John Drake", Patrick may not have been in a position to confirm the connection between the two characters.
None the less, we the audience *know* the answer, don't we? Number 6 IS Drake! So, just as McGoohan was inspired to shoot The Prisoner at Portmeirion Village in Wales after discovering the location in the very first Danger Man episode "View from the Villa" did the actor in a similar fashion take inspiration from Danger Man episodes such as 'The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove' when creating The Prisoner? It certainly can't be any more than mere inspiration because after all, McGoohan didn't write the Lovegrove episode.
Or did he? The writing credit goes to a 'David Stone'. But who exactly is David Stone? If you check IMDb, Stone has almost no writing credits, EXCEPT seven 1 hour Danger Man Episodes (including "Whatever Happened to George Foster"). Who is this guy that wrote mostly for Danger Man? My take is that David Stone may well be Patrick McGoohan. I posed this question in the IMDb forums, and someone pointed out that McGoohan did in fact write, and that when he did he would often use a pen name. So is Patrick McGoohan to David Stone possibly an analog of Samuel Clemens' Mark Twain?
Perhaps instead of asking; 'Is Number 6 Drake?' (of course he is), we should instead be asking; 'Is David Stone Patrick McGoohan?' If so, we would indeed have a direct connection between the two series. :>
