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theladyroseNow this is weird.
Does my current icon look like
to anyone? The writing certainly corresponds to the first frame of my default animated icon, but I've never used that background photo for any of my icons before. Perhaps my computer is posessed?
I have officially gotten into my twentieth "Is number six John Drake?" debate, and I'm trying to come up with some counter-arguments to "John Drake is obviously the same as number six." I first saw the Prisoner and then Danger Man, but the more I watch Danger Man, the less of a Drake vibe I feel from Number 6. But I need to come up with a more polished response than that. This is probably the most polished pro-Number 6 as Drake argument I've come across so far, and I'm trying to come up with a good response to it:
Personally, I am inclined to believe that the Prisoner really is John Drake.
Here is some information from the Prisoner Official Fact File that you might find useful.
Although the identity of the title character remains a mystery throughout, many have assumed that he was simply John Drake, the lead character from Patrick McGoohan's first ITC series, Danger Man.
The similarities between the two men are striking: both of them worked for British Intelligence as secret agents, both had an aversion to attractive women and firearms, both had an acute moral sense and were brought to life in a similar performance by the series' star.
Counter-Argument: Number six's "aversion" to women is much more pronounced than Drake's; then again, the Village tends to use women to engage number six's trust. Almost all of the women who come into number six's life are sent to aid the Village in breaking him down (Arrival, the Chimes of Big Ben, Free for All, A Change of Mind, the Schizoid Man and others), and the ones who don't end up dead (Hammer into Anvil, Living in Harmony). Drake at least is able to count on his fellow a fair amount of the time although he does come across female double agents. Drake is a very chivalrious man and subscribes to the "ladies first" attitude; he always offers to light a lady's cigarette, opens up doors, . In many episodes we see many excellent exchanges between Drake and the various women he comes across; while he never gets too emotional involved with any one lady, he certainly appreciates them. Plus, Drake does kiss two women (albeit on the cheek), Juana Romero in "A Date With Doris" and Leslie Vincent in "To Our Best Friend."
Interestingly enough, Drake mentions in "Are You Going to be More Permament?" that he is unable to marry and start a family of his own while number six is engaged to Janet. Drake is further disillusioned by secret agent marriages in "To Our Best Friend" when he discovers that his friend's wife has been selling out British intelligence.
Drake does hold a gun on several occasions, but to the best of my knowledge he only shoots someone (albeit in a dream) in "the Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove." Drake only wields a gun to intimidate the enemy long enough to make his escape; PMCG felt very strongly about fair fighting and relying on the hero's wits before employing brawn. Number six, if I remember correctly, never uses one.
Certainly Drake and number six both posess a strong sense of morality, but my impression was that number six was even more incalitrant than Drake. Number six's inability to be broken down and overwhelming desire for freedom is largely due to his unwilligness to compromise his morals. Number six simply won't play along with his superiors (i.e. the Village) anymore; he's fed up with all of the hypocrisy. Drake occasionally clashed with the authorities, but even when they double-crossed him he continued to work for them and grit his teeth when having to carry out missions he didn't like. I can't picture number six doing that.
So what further evidence is there to suggest that the Prisoner was simply John Drake?
Script editor George Markstein drew attention to the link between the themes of the two shows: "Danger Man was coming to an end and another series was needed for McGoohan, who wanted nothing more to do with Drake. It would cash in on a secret agent who wanted to get out and 'they' wouldn't let him. Stir, boil ten minutes and Hey Presto!"
The crossed out photograph in The Prisoner's title sequence is actually McGoohan's Danger Man publicity picture. Many people see this as evidence for continuity between the two series, with McGoohan playing the same character. This could equally be seen as yet another in-joke, of which the series boasts many. These usually involve members of the production crew. Shop signs in 'The Girl Who Was Death', for instance, feature the names David (David Tomblin, producer), Leonard (Leonard Harris, cameraman) and Brendan (Brendan Stafford, director of photography).
Counter-Argument: Perhaps the Prisoner had to be sold as a variation on DM in order for it to get sold to the Powers that Be. DM was an extremely successful show, and I doubt that Sir Lew Grade was entirely pleased that it ended when it did. Audiences and the powers-that-be probably assumed at the time that any spy-related show that starred Patrick McGoohan after DM was DM's successor even if this successor show's structure was nothing like DM. Certainly the Prisoner was guaranteed to have a strong initial audience if people assumed that Drake was going to return, albeit under a different name, in a new show that covered an unnamed secret agent's resignation. There's also an argument that number six is actually a government scientist researcher purportedly mentioned in some McGoohan interview.
Markstein and McGoohan had widely different views of how the series should go and who number six was. Markstein has always insisted that number six is John Drake while McGoohan has always insisted. You can go by the simplistic argument that since McGoohan was the driving creative force behind the series, we the audience probably should subscribe to the creator's original vision. Markstein and McGoohan had a major falling-out in the midst of the filming of the Prisoner (probably over this very issue over number six's identity) which caused Markstein to leave the series. This might account for the fact that number six's behavior becomes increasingly less like Drake's as the series progresses.
As for the resignation photo, I always assumed that this DM publicity photo was used because the production crew didn't feel like finding other McGoohan publicity photos to use. This could also tie in with the production crew, many of whom worked on DM, the Saint, and the Avengers (more "traditional" spy-adventure fare of the time), giving the impression that the Prisoner was supposed to be a DM successor in order to get funding.
But to be fair, Drake ocasionally said "Be seeing you!" on several episodes of DM. Whether this line came up again in the Prisoner and coincidentally appeared earlier in DM is unknown.
Continuity or copyright?
Physical similarities between Drake and Number 6 are only to be expected, given that Patrick McGoohan played both characters. They both favour three-button shirts, dark suits, narrow ties, lightweight raincoats and white caps. Some people see this as evidence for serious series-to-series continuity, others just as a result of McGoohan's personal tastes in fashion.
Counter-argument: Number six doesn't wear ties. Also, Drake tends to wear hats on a regular basis but as far as I can remember, number six remains pretty much hat-less the entire series. Number six never wears glasses, the prop kind nor sunglasses, either. Or perhaps Drake finally realized that his sunglasses are terribly unflattering and finally stopped wearing them. Plus, Drake has a greater tendency to appear in uniform as a cover and have his shirt partially unbuttoned.
And white caps? I don't really remember those at all...
Another superficial similarity between the two is that both Drake and number six tend to fiddle with their hands. Drake smokes much more than number six, though, and doesn't seem to have any aversion to sugar in his coffee or tea (I think).
However, there is evidence that the decision to make Number 6 a man with no name was taken late on. Film librarian Tony Sloman, who was on the set during the making of The Prisoner, maintains that the Prisoner was referred to as 'Drake' on the crews continuity sheets for the early episodes. Markstein gave a convincing reason for why this was changed. He suggested that using the name 'John Drake' would have meant a payment to the originator of the character, Ralph Smart: "Of course he was John Drake, but it's cheaper to have a number so you don't have to pay royalties." However, Patrick McGoohan denied that there had ever been a link, asserting to the TV Times when The Prisoner was first aired: "There is no connection with Danger Man. You won't see a continuation of that series."
Identifying 'Mr X'
The Prisoner episode 'The Girl Who Was Death' offers the most evidence for the Number 6-is-Drake theory. In a fairy story told to a group of Village children, Number 6 relates how he, as 'Mr X', stopped the 'very mad scientist' Dr. Schnipps from destroying London with a rocket disguised as a lighthouse:
'Mr X' meets an intelligence contact called Potter; Drake met a man with the same name in the Danger Man episode 'Koroshi'. They are even played by the same actor, Christopher Benjamin.
'Mr X' receives his briefing in a record shop, just as Drake did in 'Koroshi'. He wears a white cap and raincoat just like Drake did in 'The Paper Chase'.
Further credence is given by the tongue-in-cheek casting of an actor called...John Drake!"
As I mentioned earlier, many members of the DM production team came over to work on the Prisoner. Many of them were confused by the Prisoner's premise initially, so perhaps Drake was used interchangeably with number six in the earlier scripts to help adjust the production team to the new series. Drake and number six are similar in character in terms of background and superficially behave in a similar manner in the beginning. Also, we have much more of Markstein's influence in the earlier episodes.
As for the reappearance of Potter in "The Girl Who Was Death," it's possible that Drake and number six both worked in the same department and thus used the same contacts. Perhaps it was protocol to meet in record shops when trading information with this contact. We never see any of Drake's immediate recurring superiors appear in the Prisoner; after all, when number six goes back to London in "The Chimes of Big Ben" and "Many Happy Returns" he contacts different officials to warn them about the Village.
As for the actor called John Drake, I think that's just McGoohan being sly. After all, Ian Fleming also appears :)
Needless to say at this rate I'm never going to get around to studying for my French exam tomorrow.
Does my current icon look like
to anyone? The writing certainly corresponds to the first frame of my default animated icon, but I've never used that background photo for any of my icons before. Perhaps my computer is posessed?I have officially gotten into my twentieth "Is number six John Drake?" debate, and I'm trying to come up with some counter-arguments to "John Drake is obviously the same as number six." I first saw the Prisoner and then Danger Man, but the more I watch Danger Man, the less of a Drake vibe I feel from Number 6. But I need to come up with a more polished response than that. This is probably the most polished pro-Number 6 as Drake argument I've come across so far, and I'm trying to come up with a good response to it:
Personally, I am inclined to believe that the Prisoner really is John Drake.
Here is some information from the Prisoner Official Fact File that you might find useful.
Although the identity of the title character remains a mystery throughout, many have assumed that he was simply John Drake, the lead character from Patrick McGoohan's first ITC series, Danger Man.
The similarities between the two men are striking: both of them worked for British Intelligence as secret agents, both had an aversion to attractive women and firearms, both had an acute moral sense and were brought to life in a similar performance by the series' star.
Counter-Argument: Number six's "aversion" to women is much more pronounced than Drake's; then again, the Village tends to use women to engage number six's trust. Almost all of the women who come into number six's life are sent to aid the Village in breaking him down (Arrival, the Chimes of Big Ben, Free for All, A Change of Mind, the Schizoid Man and others), and the ones who don't end up dead (Hammer into Anvil, Living in Harmony). Drake at least is able to count on his fellow a fair amount of the time although he does come across female double agents. Drake is a very chivalrious man and subscribes to the "ladies first" attitude; he always offers to light a lady's cigarette, opens up doors, . In many episodes we see many excellent exchanges between Drake and the various women he comes across; while he never gets too emotional involved with any one lady, he certainly appreciates them. Plus, Drake does kiss two women (albeit on the cheek), Juana Romero in "A Date With Doris" and Leslie Vincent in "To Our Best Friend."
Interestingly enough, Drake mentions in "Are You Going to be More Permament?" that he is unable to marry and start a family of his own while number six is engaged to Janet. Drake is further disillusioned by secret agent marriages in "To Our Best Friend" when he discovers that his friend's wife has been selling out British intelligence.
Drake does hold a gun on several occasions, but to the best of my knowledge he only shoots someone (albeit in a dream) in "the Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove." Drake only wields a gun to intimidate the enemy long enough to make his escape; PMCG felt very strongly about fair fighting and relying on the hero's wits before employing brawn. Number six, if I remember correctly, never uses one.
Certainly Drake and number six both posess a strong sense of morality, but my impression was that number six was even more incalitrant than Drake. Number six's inability to be broken down and overwhelming desire for freedom is largely due to his unwilligness to compromise his morals. Number six simply won't play along with his superiors (i.e. the Village) anymore; he's fed up with all of the hypocrisy. Drake occasionally clashed with the authorities, but even when they double-crossed him he continued to work for them and grit his teeth when having to carry out missions he didn't like. I can't picture number six doing that.
So what further evidence is there to suggest that the Prisoner was simply John Drake?
Script editor George Markstein drew attention to the link between the themes of the two shows: "Danger Man was coming to an end and another series was needed for McGoohan, who wanted nothing more to do with Drake. It would cash in on a secret agent who wanted to get out and 'they' wouldn't let him. Stir, boil ten minutes and Hey Presto!"
The crossed out photograph in The Prisoner's title sequence is actually McGoohan's Danger Man publicity picture. Many people see this as evidence for continuity between the two series, with McGoohan playing the same character. This could equally be seen as yet another in-joke, of which the series boasts many. These usually involve members of the production crew. Shop signs in 'The Girl Who Was Death', for instance, feature the names David (David Tomblin, producer), Leonard (Leonard Harris, cameraman) and Brendan (Brendan Stafford, director of photography).
Counter-Argument: Perhaps the Prisoner had to be sold as a variation on DM in order for it to get sold to the Powers that Be. DM was an extremely successful show, and I doubt that Sir Lew Grade was entirely pleased that it ended when it did. Audiences and the powers-that-be probably assumed at the time that any spy-related show that starred Patrick McGoohan after DM was DM's successor even if this successor show's structure was nothing like DM. Certainly the Prisoner was guaranteed to have a strong initial audience if people assumed that Drake was going to return, albeit under a different name, in a new show that covered an unnamed secret agent's resignation. There's also an argument that number six is actually a government scientist researcher purportedly mentioned in some McGoohan interview.
Markstein and McGoohan had widely different views of how the series should go and who number six was. Markstein has always insisted that number six is John Drake while McGoohan has always insisted. You can go by the simplistic argument that since McGoohan was the driving creative force behind the series, we the audience probably should subscribe to the creator's original vision. Markstein and McGoohan had a major falling-out in the midst of the filming of the Prisoner (probably over this very issue over number six's identity) which caused Markstein to leave the series. This might account for the fact that number six's behavior becomes increasingly less like Drake's as the series progresses.
As for the resignation photo, I always assumed that this DM publicity photo was used because the production crew didn't feel like finding other McGoohan publicity photos to use. This could also tie in with the production crew, many of whom worked on DM, the Saint, and the Avengers (more "traditional" spy-adventure fare of the time), giving the impression that the Prisoner was supposed to be a DM successor in order to get funding.
But to be fair, Drake ocasionally said "Be seeing you!" on several episodes of DM. Whether this line came up again in the Prisoner and coincidentally appeared earlier in DM is unknown.
Continuity or copyright?
Physical similarities between Drake and Number 6 are only to be expected, given that Patrick McGoohan played both characters. They both favour three-button shirts, dark suits, narrow ties, lightweight raincoats and white caps. Some people see this as evidence for serious series-to-series continuity, others just as a result of McGoohan's personal tastes in fashion.
Counter-argument: Number six doesn't wear ties. Also, Drake tends to wear hats on a regular basis but as far as I can remember, number six remains pretty much hat-less the entire series. Number six never wears glasses, the prop kind nor sunglasses, either. Or perhaps Drake finally realized that his sunglasses are terribly unflattering and finally stopped wearing them. Plus, Drake has a greater tendency to appear in uniform as a cover and have his shirt partially unbuttoned.
And white caps? I don't really remember those at all...
Another superficial similarity between the two is that both Drake and number six tend to fiddle with their hands. Drake smokes much more than number six, though, and doesn't seem to have any aversion to sugar in his coffee or tea (I think).
However, there is evidence that the decision to make Number 6 a man with no name was taken late on. Film librarian Tony Sloman, who was on the set during the making of The Prisoner, maintains that the Prisoner was referred to as 'Drake' on the crews continuity sheets for the early episodes. Markstein gave a convincing reason for why this was changed. He suggested that using the name 'John Drake' would have meant a payment to the originator of the character, Ralph Smart: "Of course he was John Drake, but it's cheaper to have a number so you don't have to pay royalties." However, Patrick McGoohan denied that there had ever been a link, asserting to the TV Times when The Prisoner was first aired: "There is no connection with Danger Man. You won't see a continuation of that series."
Identifying 'Mr X'
The Prisoner episode 'The Girl Who Was Death' offers the most evidence for the Number 6-is-Drake theory. In a fairy story told to a group of Village children, Number 6 relates how he, as 'Mr X', stopped the 'very mad scientist' Dr. Schnipps from destroying London with a rocket disguised as a lighthouse:
'Mr X' meets an intelligence contact called Potter; Drake met a man with the same name in the Danger Man episode 'Koroshi'. They are even played by the same actor, Christopher Benjamin.
'Mr X' receives his briefing in a record shop, just as Drake did in 'Koroshi'. He wears a white cap and raincoat just like Drake did in 'The Paper Chase'.
Further credence is given by the tongue-in-cheek casting of an actor called...John Drake!"
As I mentioned earlier, many members of the DM production team came over to work on the Prisoner. Many of them were confused by the Prisoner's premise initially, so perhaps Drake was used interchangeably with number six in the earlier scripts to help adjust the production team to the new series. Drake and number six are similar in character in terms of background and superficially behave in a similar manner in the beginning. Also, we have much more of Markstein's influence in the earlier episodes.
As for the reappearance of Potter in "The Girl Who Was Death," it's possible that Drake and number six both worked in the same department and thus used the same contacts. Perhaps it was protocol to meet in record shops when trading information with this contact. We never see any of Drake's immediate recurring superiors appear in the Prisoner; after all, when number six goes back to London in "The Chimes of Big Ben" and "Many Happy Returns" he contacts different officials to warn them about the Village.
As for the actor called John Drake, I think that's just McGoohan being sly. After all, Ian Fleming also appears :)
Needless to say at this rate I'm never going to get around to studying for my French exam tomorrow.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-21 03:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-21 05:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-21 09:12 am (UTC)i do think that one could see how drake could evolve into six, given time and circumstance.
completely off the plot, i see six as an incredibly vulnerable figure. this may be because my favorite episode is dance of the dead, where i think PMG's portrayal of six as a fearful yet still valiant man, is an absolutely amazing piece of acting.
and PMG's fluttering hands are a bit of a 'tell' that i've always loved--a subtle betrayal of the nervousness he felt at being onscreen. it's still unbelievable to me that he was.
anyhow. ramblings brought on by your post. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-22 05:48 am (UTC)The finger fiddling around kills me, in a good way :)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-23 06:04 am (UTC)I think he started out as Drake in pre-production in order to sell the show, then the Paddy moved away from it as far as possible. I also think on some level he encouraged the Drake-Six link BTS while flatly denying it elsewhere because he knew it would get people to watch and debate.
I always see Drake as more of the Ian Fleming type from the General. The cog in the machine. Drake has the ability to step outside of his emotions to get a job done or gain someone's confidence, whereas Number 6 is ruled by his personal opinions and nothing will shake them.