There was some really sad news today: Patrick McGoohan passed away at the age of 80.  You can read a brief obituary on BBC News.  I know McGoohan had a long life and accomplished a variety of great things, but he’ll always be Number Six to me.  McGoohan didn’t just star in the classic 60’s television show, The Prisoner, he created, produced, directed and wrote for it.

It’s hard to explain how amazingly awesome this series was if you haven’t seen it.  It aired before I was born, but my father introduced me to it at an early age (thanks Dad!) when PBS would run episodes of it once a week.  The Prisoner had elements of spy thrillers, science fiction, and mystery.  It was a journey with many twists and turns.  Patrick McGoohan’s character was a secret agent who resigned for reasons which were unclear.  He was gassed and kidnapped by unknown operatives after his resignation.  Upon waking up, McGoohan found himself in a surreal resort/prison known only as the Village.  

In this very strange Village, everyone was assigned a number.  McGoohan was Number Six.  During each episode, Number Two (there was a new Number Two almost every episode) attempted to break McGoohan and get him to talk.  These attempts could be through trickery, force or stranger methods.  As Number Two would say, “by hook or by crook” they would find out what they needed to know.  The first question was always, “Why did you resign?”  But McGoohan resisted, outwitted and held strong, proclaiming, “I am not a number, I am a free man.”

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