It’s not very long and it doesn’t show you that much, but here’s a promo for AMC’s remake of The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen. It’ll be showing in 2010 in the UK on ITV1 in case you were wondering.
The Prisoner
Monday’s golden news
Doctor Who
Books
- Winnie the Pooh: the sequel
Awards
Film
- Kristin Scott Thomas joins John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy
- Julianne Moore, Liam Nesson, Amanda Seyfried sign up Atom Egoyan‘s Chloe
British TV
- Beeb switching periods for future costume dramas
- Oona King to be Channel 4 head of diversity
- John Sullivan working on prequel to Only Fools and Horses
US TV
- More Prisoner talk: talk 1; talk 2; talk 3
- ‘TIl Death back for fourth season
- Both Ali and Hayden want out from Heroes?
- Bryan Fuller writes Heroes part for Swoosie Kurtz
- In Treatment season two to only air two nights a week
- Faye Dunaway to appear on Grey’s Anatomy
Friday’s surprisingly empty news
Doctor Who
- Eighth Doctor to meet granddaughter Susan in Big Finish play
British TV
- ITV Player coming to Virgin Media
US TV
- What Mark Verheiden’s doing to change Heroes, and one of the cast wants out
- Casting on True Blood, Eleventh Hour, Numb3rs and NCIS [spoilers]
- Some of the differences between new Prisoner and old
Wednesday’s I’m privileged news
Doctor Who
- More companion rumour-mongering
- What Doctor Who toys to expect this year. Spoilers?
Film
- Tr2n now just Tron, to star Garrett Hedlund…
- …while Olivia Wilde spills a few other secrets
- Japanese Watchmen trailer with extra footage
- McG to direct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Chris Morris suicide bomber movie gets the greenlight
- Shazam! not happening
Music
- Kraftwerk co-founder quits
Theatre
- Jimmy Osmond to star in Chicago UK tour
US TV
- Laurence Fishburne to visit CSI: Miami?
- More Dr Horrible promised
- Kelsey Grammer to star in ABC sitcom pilot
- Scrubs‘ Neil Flynn to star in The Middle
- NBC ready to make John Wells’ Police
- AMC starts streaming original Prisoner
- Sarah Connor to return to serialised story-telling
- A&E going ahead with Paranormal Cops
- NBC gives go-ahead to “music in head” drama Soundtrack
- Christine Lahti and Johnny Sneed join Operating Instructions
- Robert Buckley to join Privileged
Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Jools Holland in The Laughing Prisoner
Yesterday, we had a little look at the location of the remake of The Prisoner. We also had a look at an old sci-fi pilot of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie’s. If only there were some way to combine Fry, Laurie and The Prisoner…
Oh wait, there is! The Laughing Prisoner was the final (sort of) episode of popular Channel 4 music show The Tube, which was hosted by Jools Holland and Paula Yates. In it, Holland resigns from The Tube and is promptly taken away to the Village, where he finds the new Number 2 is Stephen Fry. Siouxsie and the Banshees are there, too, as is Hugh Laurie.
Given that Holland is a lifelong The Prisoner fan and somehow managed to get references to the show into just about everything he’s ever done, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to discover it’s desperately authentic and true to the original series, right down to being filmed in Portmeirion – it also includes plenty of clips from the series proper, so presents a good intro (sort of) to The Prisoner, if you’ve never seen it. And if you have seen, you’ll probably be able to name every episode that gets referenced, as it’s referenced.
Over to you, Mr YouTube. It doesn’t properly kick off until a few minutes in, though.