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The Prisoner in Portmeirion by Roger Langley reviewed in issue 62 of DreamWatch |
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"The stated aim of this book is to present the 'definitive scrapbook' of the filming of The Prisoner at Portmeirion. This being a fairly modest task to accomplish, the author pads things out with a mishmash of predictable
features - a somewhat verbose episode guide, a production history, some quotes from McGoohan... 'More has been written about The Prisoner than any other series,' Langley states earnestly; which makes it all the odder he can't find enough to say to fill even this modest volume, repeating the same information several times throughout. There's little here that's new, although a close study of Number 6's blazer or the differences between his sports cars may illuminate those interested in such ephemera. Combined with the flat, unimaginative design, one's left with the feeling this is a collection of old fanzine articles, dusted off and reproduced verbatim. The many pictures, whilst of undoubted historical interest, are unfortunately of a fairly poor quality (and even one of these is repeated twice for no apparent reason) and not displayed to their best advantage, set usually a regimented four or six to a page and quite small. The subject matter is often as samey as the design; by the time the thirtieth faded snap of a crowd scene from Free for All presents itself, you're desperate for escape yourself. The Prisoner in Portmeirion is a book written by an expert but presented by an amateur. When considering the book as a whole, one inevitably poses the same question that Number 6 put to The General - "Why ?" The book is then awarded a generous 4/10 by the reviewer, Stephen Cole. This excerpt is copyright DreamWatch Publishing Ltd. This review also appeared on the Prisoner newsgroup on the internet - Ed. |