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The Science of The Prisoner

To mark the 50th anniversary of The Prisoner, Adam Walton and guests reflect on the science and technology featured in the cult series.

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 1 Oct 2017 06:31

Village people

Even if you鈥檙e not old enough to have watched it first time around, in the sixties, chances are you will have heard of the ITV series The Prisoner.聽Its sinister,聽rather cryptic聽plots were filmed in Portmeirion village in Gwynedd and聽it was one of the most striking and visually bold programmes on the small screen. And while the series ended long before the internet came into existence, it was remarkably prescient in its themes of brain-washing and data gathering.

This week fans of the cult series will be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of The Prisoner's first screening at a special gathering in Portmeirion. And the event includes the showing of a new documentary feature, In My Mind, which looks at the series through the point of view of its enigmatic star Patrick McGoohan.聽In this week's Science Caf茅 Adam talks to the film maker, Chris Rodley聽about his rare and enlightening interview with McGoohan. He believes that聽there was a huge amount of real McGoohan in The Prisoner's聽hero ,聽No. 6.

Shon Lewis, Prof of Adult Psychiatry at Manchester University, was聽a big fan of the series in the sixties and he talks to Adam about its recurring themes of isolation, rebellion and brain-washing. And Dr Pete Burnap, an expert聽in cyber analytics at Cardiff University, explains how the show's data-gathering and spying themes might be compared to聽the collection of information through social media today.听听听听

Broadcasts

  • Tue 26 Sep 2017 18:30
  • Sun 1 Oct 2017 06:31

Adam Walton

Adam Walton

Adam's "other job" - tune in every Saturday at 10 PM for the best new music from Wales.