This series has 3 very important things going for it:
1. It has 17 episodes. "So what" I here you cry. Well, 17 must be magic numeral because The Prisoner is the only other classic 60s show to have that number of episodes and just like McGoohan's masterpiece, once bitten you'll not escape the charms of "Journey to the Unknown". These are 17 slices of classic telly folks...
2. IT HAS THE BEST TITLE SEQUENCE IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION. PERIOD.
3 "The New People" episode is the "Rosemary's Baby" of TV (only much better) It is, along with The Prisoner's "Girl Who Was Death", the single best televisual segment of the 1960s. You probably don't believe me. Seek it out, prepare to be amazed...
It may have sprung from the Hammer horror stable, but this feels more like The (original)"Outer Limits" meets "UFO" meets, well, "The Prisoner"!. There's no silly costumes and Kensington gore here- this stunning batch of mystery thrillers, ghost stories and frighteners was a U.S. co-production produced by Hitchcock's close associate Joan Harrison (who produced Alfred Hitchcock Presents). Consequently, and uniquely, this TV production is of a markedly higher cinematic quality than any of the big screen outings Hammer produced. Indeed, many episodes were cut together for cinema distribution in the early 70s with linking narration from the likes of Joan Crawford and...Patrick McGoohan (umm..). Oh sure, the reliance on obligatory American guest stars in the (very) British settings is somewhat quaint, and the acting is often, ahem, variable. But the sheer force of imagination on display here commands your attention. A rare treat indeed.
1. It has 17 episodes. "So what" I here you cry. Well, 17 must be magic numeral because The Prisoner is the only other classic 60s show to have that number of episodes and just like McGoohan's masterpiece, once bitten you'll not escape the charms of "Journey to the Unknown". These are 17 slices of classic telly folks...
2. IT HAS THE BEST TITLE SEQUENCE IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION. PERIOD.
3 "The New People" episode is the "Rosemary's Baby" of TV (only much better) It is, along with The Prisoner's "Girl Who Was Death", the single best televisual segment of the 1960s. You probably don't believe me. Seek it out, prepare to be amazed...
It may have sprung from the Hammer horror stable, but this feels more like The (original)"Outer Limits" meets "UFO" meets, well, "The Prisoner"!. There's no silly costumes and Kensington gore here- this stunning batch of mystery thrillers, ghost stories and frighteners was a U.S. co-production produced by Hitchcock's close associate Joan Harrison (who produced Alfred Hitchcock Presents). Consequently, and uniquely, this TV production is of a markedly higher cinematic quality than any of the big screen outings Hammer produced. Indeed, many episodes were cut together for cinema distribution in the early 70s with linking narration from the likes of Joan Crawford and...Patrick McGoohan (umm..). Oh sure, the reliance on obligatory American guest stars in the (very) British settings is somewhat quaint, and the acting is often, ahem, variable. But the sheer force of imagination on display here commands your attention. A rare treat indeed.