Be Seeing You. Patrick McGoohan 1928-2009

By Mark Kaufman

Patrick McGoohan, the actor and producer of the 1960’s television program The Prisoner has died at the age of 80. What does this have to do with illustration or design? Subject matter aside, The Prisoner was hugely influential in the annals of broadcasting for of its design sensibilities. The show was infused with a swinging 60s Britpop surrealism, from the penny farthing bicycle logo that was attached to every cast member and every surface and object, to it’s typography, costume and set design, the coolest gadgets of the burgeoning computer age, it’s cold war globalism, mod furnishings, and last but certainly not least the out of this world location of  Portmeirion, the Italianate resort in Wales

The Prisoner is one of the most analyzed and critially dissected series in the history of the medium, and no two people can put their finger on the meaning of the show, offer concise interpretations the series’ allegorical story arc, which side of the countercultural ledger it sits, or it’s politics. My simplistic take on The Prisoner is simply that it was a treatise on power, modernity vs. tradition and the free will of man. Other than that it is immensely enjoyable and endlessly though-provoking. Here is a particularly good article on the subject.

AMC currently has a remake of the series in production, featuring Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel. I’m not sure that it will ever top the original, but one great thing about this new project is that it understands the importance of the 1960s series to its legion of fans and has a great website devoted to it, where you can see all the episods online. Be seeing you Mr. McGoohan, and thank you.