The picture quality, scanned from an original 35mm negative, should be gloriously sharp and colourful. But I doubt if the term 'digitally restored' means that it's been taken from the original negative - way too expensive, though I would love to be proved wrong. There is nothing wrong with the picture quality of the DVDs (very little sparkle, robust colours and blacks) but I have seen some of these episodes in a cinema and had masters to work from while making the afore mentioned BBC documentary and it's my opinion that the masters from which these were 'digitally restored' were Digi-beta Masters, not film masters. This is a shame. You only have to look at Anchor Bay's region 1 release of Quatermass and the Pit to see how extraordinarily well 60s' 35mm can 'buff' up given enough care. Remember, 'digitally restored' is a double-edged sword. It can lull you into thinking that fans, passionate keepers of the flame who grew up to be TV and Film Restorers, have pored over every frame and lovingly removed every speck of dust. On the other hand it could just mean that a ropey inter-neg or even inter-pos has been scanned into a computer and slapped out again on to DVD with not so much as a dust filter passed over it.

The original mono sound betrays some hasty track-laying (background atmospheres jolt in and out as we cut from one person to another, a sure sign of a post-production rush)* and if you play the Dolby Digital processed soundtrack through a 5.1 set up, all you get is centre speaker mono - which is fine. It's clear and for something as interesting as The Prisoner, all you need is clear.

* Play the scene between the departing No. 6 and Alison at the end of The Schizoid Man for proof of this. The background atmospheres clunk in like steel doors. This sound was the actual background recorded with the sync dialogue and therefore inseparable from the words but if the sound editor has time, he/she should lay a smoothing atmosphere to cover making the clunk less jarring.

Side Note: the menus are not very intuitive. Returning to the main menu always takes you back to the button you've already pressed - annoying. Given choices of chapters in the episodes, the buttons are by default letting your first choice be to go back to the main menu - self defeating!

The box set, though 'restored' is not exactly crammed with extras. Yes, there are extras but to a confirmed fan, we know that the original Rover looked like a cherry topped layer cake that malfunctioned, we know that McGoohan was asked to be James Bond before Sean Connery and we don't really care to see the map of the village, copies of which real fans already own. To De'Agostini's credit (the company releasing the separate episodes with accompanying magazine), they gave away a Village map with the their first issue ("in colour, more expensive…") For the record, these are the extras:

Disc 1

1. Map (three separate views);
2. No. 2 Sections - actor info;
3. Prisoner Facts - odd often almost random details on the show;
4. Trailers: interesting to see how The Prisoner was sold to the 60s audiences.

Disc 3

1. Original Artwork Publicity Card - two views of a press blurb; the excitement just doesn't stop, does it. For those whose Prisoner ephemera collections are very, very low;
2. No. 2 Sections (as Disc 1 featuring Disc 2's No. 2s);
3. Prisoner Facts - more details on the show;
4. Trailers.

Disc 4

1. Original Artwork ITC Postcard - guess what, a single signed picture of McGoohan… There should be a rule that an extra cannot be an extra if it takes more time to read what the extra is than to view the extra itself…;
2. No. 2 Sections (as Disc 1 featuring Disc 4’s No. 2s);
3. Prisoner Facts - more details on the show;
4. Trailers.

Disc 5

1. The Chimes of Big Ben (Alternate Version)

   Falling prey to the "Oh, it’s different, it has to be (a) what was originally intended or (b) worthy of research for historical accuracy" virus, this is just a different version of the 2nd episode with some intriguing departures from what ITV eventually broadcast.

   It's also a cutting copy (the actual film that the editor works on before sending it to the labs to be correspondingly neg-cut to make the final version). As such, it's filthy. As cutting copies usually are. I believe it's also an NTSC transfer (which would make sense) which makes it longer than it would be played on PAL systems in the UK. It runs well over a minute and a half longer than all other 'normal' episodes. The opening McGoohan voice over seems like it's a different 'take' than the usual but this could be just the 4% slowing down that happens to film footage when transferred to NTSC. There are three 'new' Rover hassling No 6 shots in the opening sequence and of course for front and end titles, a new and radically different Prisoner theme. There's a 'Triquetrum' scene in which No. 6 tries to plot the Village's position by the stars. The closing animation featuring the universe and the word POP in giant letters may cast some light on McGoohan’s more surreal dialogue in Fall Out but it's a curiosity and not indicative of any in-house fighting for creative control.

2. Oh, are you going to have fun with this… The Prisoner Companion is an American produced clip led show that purports to be an examination of the themes and messages in The Prisoner. It's an idiot's guide and a paper-thin excuse as an extra. Among the howlers are (a) the statement that the Village is in fact an island (really?) and that (b) the architect who designed the Italianate location was pronounced 'Clow' Williams-Ellis (as opposed to 'Clough' as in Brian or rhyming with 'rough'). Another corker (c) is No. 6's London address - according to the 'Companion' is No.1, Buckingham Palace. I'm sure Elizabeth will not be amused for the placement of that rogue 'a'. It's No. 1, Buckingham Place.

3. I don't know why Carlton could not have trawled the world for a better, more worthy effort in the documentary genre about The Prisoner. There's a superb effort out there languishing on the shelves of BBC Wales called Prisoners of Enthusiasm about 6 of 1 members - what a welcome extra that would make. Ho hum.

THE CARLTON BOX SET

On the whole, the series is well represented by the Carlton Box Set. All the episodes are present and correct, in reasonably good condition with a solid mono soundtrack. The extras are not as comprehensive as they might be but to see what I consider to the greatest television show ever made in this condition is fine with me.

A commentary on any episode by producer David Tomblin would be wonderful. I assume McGoohan (who finds cults a bother but is pleased with the attention the series has garnered over the years) would not be willing to participate. In his defence, The Prisoner says what it says. We don't need the creator to muse metaphysically over his masterpiece. But some background stuff would be fun to hear from the Tomblin ‘horse’s’ mouth.

THE DE’AGOSTINI WEEKLY RELEASES

To my amazement, I found that the weekly episodes are not direct copies of the episodes from the box set. The dirt and sparkle are not identical on some episodes leading me to believe that the source masters were different - but still not the original 35mm masters. Using The Schizoid Man (at this writing the most current De'Agostoni release) as the comparison episode, there is sometimes identical sparkle on both DVDs and sometimes not. This may be because the De'Agostini were sourced from the Box Set Masters that had picked up further dirt and sparkle - but how could a video master pick up film defects? The debate will rage on and on…

So there's still a definitive "scanned from the master 35mm negatives" box set to come. Maybe they are waiting for HD TV to kick in. Incidentally, the 35mm image does allow for slightly more picture information on the right and left side of the screen - THhe Prisoner (almost) in true widescreen. Heaven.

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