Its either going to be brilliant or a disaster – but ITV plan to do a re-make of The Prisoner.  Ian McKellan is down to play the Leo McKern role but there is no word about whether Portmeirion will feature.  Any fule no that Portmeirion was the real star of the original show so they would have to do something really special to make it any good elsewhere.  On the other hand…  set it in Wales again and its a bit pointless: you could just watch the original.

The whole story will be updated to take into account modern paranoia about CCTV and surveillance and there has to be a risk that if it is set in any small, defined village, whether its Portmeirion or somewhere else, it could just end up like a big budget scripted episode of Big Brother or even a Truman Show rip-off.

I only saw the original Prisoner once, when it was repeated in the 80s, although I had been told all about it when I was a lot younger.  I can’t remember a lot about it, but I know it had a big effect on me. Apart from introducing me to Bizet’s l’Arlessiene suite it made sure that when I got to visit Portmeirion as part of a town planning summer school it becamea bit of a pilgrimage.  Thinking about what I can remember, the programme was ahead of its time by 4 decades.  Shows with long story arcs running through a whole series are now all the rage now (Lost, Heroes, and even the new Doctor Who) so the Prisoner will fit right in with that.

One small problem: this is said to be a six-part series even though it could easily be stretched out to a US-style 22-parter.  I wonder if they will have the nerve to come to a conclusion at the end, or leave it open for subsequent series?

When I first saw the news I had asort of “oh no” moment, but the more I think about it the more I think it could work.  After all, everyone thought that Lord of the Rings was unmakeable but that turned out OK – and it also had Ian McKellan in it.

One question though: are there any examples of classic shows being re-made and improved as a result?

Be seeing you!