What TV Have You Seen?

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I gave up watching The Prisoner (1969) after seven and a half episodes.

Yes, it's original, pretty cool and those suffocating watchdog 'balls' are brilliant and it's also set in the lovely Portmeirion which gives it a defined originality but the stories are so dull and repetitive.

Pretty much every episode has begun with our prisoner #6 (Patrick McGoohan) either drugged, brain washed or mind probed and the fact he's the only actor to appear in more than one episode really doesn't help either. In fact it was quite annoying that #2 changed actor every single episode.

Well that's an interesting take. You must be the first and only person I've ever come across to not venerate The Prisoner. I thought it was just me and I was missing something. I bought the Network boxset in a sale years back, never got past the first three or four episodes. There's no story being developed.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Well that's an interesting take. You must be the first and only person I've ever come across to not venerate The Prisoner. I thought it was just me and I was missing something. I bought the Network boxset in a sale years back, never got past the first three or four episodes. There's no story being developed.

Agreed. Seventeen episodes out of which i saw eight and there was no story at all other than the one from the first episode which had zero development after that.

[nosferatu42]

I think that's the point, he's the prisoner there is no developing story as he's totally at the mercy of his captors, people change, there is no point to fix on, it's the psychology of being captive and with no control over the situation.

Also is it just a reflection of his crumbling mind, lost in his own psychosis, not developing relationships, pushing against conformity.

Whatever he does to escape he finds himself back at square one, as the series develops we see how psychologically that takes its toll.

I see it as a reflection of humanity caught in a situation they can't escape, work, tax, government that it has no control over, he repeatedly says he's not a part of the machine, not a number.

I guess it's not as groundbreaking now, seeing as that's the reality we live in, we are all just numbers now.

As you can probably tell i'm a massive fan of the show, watching it as an impressionable teenager certainly helps.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

Apologies if it annoyed you when I pointed out your mistakes!!



If I was in teacher mode, I would have posted 'no' in red!

Couldn't care less about the mistakes, especially when it's bit part roles that nobody would notice anyway.

It's the superior high and mighty way you do it that annoys.

[nosferatu42]

It's true a lot of the episodes follow the formula of trying to escape and it going wrong, but there is more to it than that, it gets proper weird at points, I you can't hack the entire series I think it would still be worth watching maybe the last 3 or 4 episodes to at least experience the conclusion.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

It's true a lot of the episodes follow the formula of trying to escape and it going wrong, but there is more to it than that, it gets proper weird at points, I you can't hack the entire series I think it would still be worth watching maybe the last 3 or 4 episodes to at least experience the conclusion.

Got rid of it. Swapped it to Cex for The Fall of the Roman Empire today.

I never even looked at the two hundred and fifty page book that came with it.

[iank]

Only Murders in the Building. Steve Martin and Martin Short are out of work old luvvies living in the same high rise apartment building, and both addicted to True Crime podcasts, as is their much younger neighbour Selena Gomez. But when another neighbour supposedly commits suicide, the trio become convinced they're in a real murder case. Saw the first two eps of this comic murder mystery series last night, and really enjoyed them. It's slightly more serious than I expected, which does give the murder mystery a bit more of an edge, which is good, but it's as much fun as you'd expect and it's really nice to spend some time with some old favourite faces in something new and good. I picked up a foreign Blu ray of this and if the quality keeps up will almost certainly order season 2.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is a really sweet and endearing animated film. It's a short and quite minimalist story, though one with some very powerful bits of dialogue and great voice acting from Tom Hollander, interest older, Gabriel Byrne, and Jude Coward-Nicoll. I didn't know it was based on a book, but it was pleasing to see that the author, Charlie Mackesy, co-wrote and co-directed it.

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse was the only piece of festive TV i actually watched and i loved the artwork and it got my eyes a bit moist, if people actually gathered round and watched xmas tv i wouldn't be surprised if it became a perennial classic, but because people are more interested in wanky monarch baiting and serial killers nowadays it will be forgotten by next Tuesday sadly.

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I love the animation for this. I'm hoping it might get a Blu release in time for next Christmas

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I've spoken to a few people who loved The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and, like me, thought it was poignant and powerful, and will become a perennial Christmas family favourite.

It won the BAFTA in the 'best British short animation' category

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

It won the BAFTA in the 'best British short animation' category

A fully deserved award for a beautiful and moving piece of animated storytelling.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I gave up watching The Prisoner (1969) after seven and a half episodes.

Yes, it's original, pretty cool and those suffocating watchdog 'balls' are brilliant and it's also set in the lovely Portmeirion which gives it a defined originality but the stories are so dull and repetitive.

Pretty much every episode has begun with our prisoner #6 (Patrick McGoohan) either drugged, brain washed or mind probed and the fact he's the only actor to appear in more than one episode really doesn't help either. In fact it was quite annoying that #2 changed actor every single episode.

All this coming after a month long binge of all three series of Terry Nation's Survivors (1975-77) during January. Now that was excellent, gripping cult television about what happens to Britain following an apocalyptic plague pandemic across the globe. Ian McCulloch, Denis Lill and John Abineri excel in this. The ninth episode titled Law and Order is a gut wrenching piece of television.

I doubt i could have watched Survivors in the summer of 2020.

When I was in my teens my mother would always talk about the Prisoner that no matter how many times they showed it on TV she never ever got to see the ending so I was fascinated to see this show. Years ago I started collecting the monthly or maybe bi weekly collection they released an episode and a collector's book thing but like you I did lose interest after a while and through the power of the internet I was able to tell my mother what happened in the end putting her suffering to rest after all the years