There Was A Video Game In 1980 For The Prisoner?!

Friends, for the article celebrating what would have been the late and great Patrick McGoohan’s 92nd birthday, I shared with you how I came to know of and fall in love with The Prisoner television series from 1967. A science fiction show that had a dose of Cold War espionage but became a cult classic for the overall bizarre and surreal elements of the series – that and the charisma that Patrick McGoohan radiated. After all it was thanks to his acting talent that he was offered the role of none other than James Bond in Dr. No – which as I’ve read online he turned down due to the violence and sexual nature of the character. Which might explain why in The Prisoner, while at times his character of Number 6 relied on violence, most of his ‘attacks’ against a rotating cast of characters acting as the new Number 2 and the minions of The Village were more cerebral in nature.

I was in my late teens when I was fortunate enough to enjoy The Prisoner but for someone who fell so hard for the series – it was a little disheartening to realize that there was very little merchandise for the show. Oh, there was certainly a few source book and novelizations, some pricey clothing options, and even a pretty fantastic mini-series from DC Comics that takes place years after the series ended – but it was still slim pickings. Which might explain why I never knew that in 1980 The Prisoner received a video game for the Apple II – sort of – thanks to Edu-Ware and programmer David Mullich (I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, Heroes of Might and Magic). I say sort of as Earl Green explains in his latest Phosphor Dot Fossils video – The Prisoner for the Apple II is more of an homage to the television series. Although it most definitely uses phrases and gives frequent tips of the hat to The Prisoner series – which might explain why it is so maddeningly difficult and has been said to have been used to train CIA agents back in the day.

In closing out this article as Earl mentions in his Phosphor Dot Fossils video for The Prisoner video game – he will be returning to it at a future date because there is just too much to cover in one episode. Until then… be seeing you.