TV Jots

But It Sure Is Confusing…

…remembering who’s who when all of the characters are identified by numbers instead of proper names.

If you haven’t heard, cable’s AMC recently decided to move forward with its long-anticipated reinterpretation of the classic 1960s cult drama The Prisoner, an intensely weird yet addictive science-fiction series first brought to us by the United Kingdom’s ITV network.

The original starred Patrick McGoohan as a British secret agent renamed Number Six after he’s held hostage at a deceptively peaceful-looking seaside location called The Village following his resignation from his job. His unnamed captors want to know why he left his position so suddenly, and no matter how many times Number Six attempts to escape, they relentlessly continue seeking that information.

It was first announced that AMC was working on an Americanized version of the 17-episode series way back at the end of 2006, but the initial co-production agreement with British channel Sky One fell through. Now that the network has forged a tight relationship with ITV, the six-part miniseries is moving ahead at full speed with a slew of new cast members to play assorted numbered characters.

• James Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Thin Red Line) leads the cast as Number Six
• Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, The Da Vinci Code) is Village leader Number Two (no nasty jokes!)
• Hayley Atwell (Mansfield Park, Brideshead Revisited) is Number 41–5
• Jamie Campell-Bower (Rocknrolla, Sweeney Todd) is Number 11–12
• Lennie James (Jericho, Snatch) is Number 147
• Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre, Capturing Mary) is Number 313

This is shaping up to look pretty darn good, despite the apprehension in some corners that the miniseries might focus too much on action sequences — to dumb itself down for American viewers — instead of the original series’ more psychological angle. Keep up with developments at AMC’s dedicated blog for The Prisoner.