No escape from The Village as The Prisoner returns

Number Six may have thought he had escaped from The Village but ITV shows otherwise this Saturday with a remake of the cult series.

Portmeirion - the location for Patrick McGoohan's The Village. The domed house was the residence of Number Two

Patrick McGoohan's sci-fi classic, The Prisoner, is set to return on Saturday (ITV 9pm). It's a brave person who tries to remake this 1960s' series about a 'spy who knew too much' and who is locked up in a village. I say 'locked up' but there are no prison walls. Instead he's in a luxury idyllic village (it's precise location seemed to vary during the series) where he can do anything he wants - except leave. Many people 'remember' The Village as being on an island but it was only ever shown as a coastal town. It was filmed in the delightful village of Portmeirion in Wales - now a hotel with each house being a hotel room. Patrick said he had the idea for the series when he heard about a Scottish World War II prison camp for foreign intellectuals. They had committed no crime but couldn't be left to just wander about Britain - so they were kept in a prison camp that had every luxury including its own money, its own cinema etc. I've never found the original camp. When Patrick stayed once at Portmeirion he realised it would make the perfect location for The Prisoner. Most will remember Rover, the white balloon that acted as a security guard and gave many children nightmares! Judging by the short clips previewing the show, Rover makes a return in the new series.

Two quick quotes from The Prisoner that I particuarly liked:

"The butcher with the sharpest knife has the kindest heart"
"Questions are a burden to others - answers a prison to ones self"

* I expect you have all been wondering about my - now - three-month campaign to get the street light fixed outside by house. I found a phone number for the street light department at Cumbria County Council (0845 609 6609) and a very helpful lady told me they had experienced problems with their too-clever-by-half web page for reporting problems. However, my complaint had been logged and was now registered as 'fixed'. I assurred her it wasn't. It seems it takes up to 14 days for street lights to be repaired (I've been waiting since February 4th).