Within his prolific career, Patrick McGoohan lived, and will forever be remembered, under the shadow of Number Six, the character he’s most famously known for, from the 60‘s avant garde sci-fi show The Prisoner. This despite the fact that he played another spy character on an equally popular show prior to it, called Danger Man, also known as Secret Agent in the US. On The Prisoner, the identity of Number Six is never revealed, but we know that he was a secret agent of sort, and there’ve been many hints dropped on the show pointing to the fact that it is in fact John Drake, McGoohan’s character on Danger Man. For this reason, The Prisoner is largely considered to be a reaction, if not an outright sequel to Danger Man.
I prefer to consider it a reaction, not because there aren’t enough connection to consider the two part of the same canon, but because it’s much more philosophically interesting that way. Danger Man, as a show, was never as ambitious or challenging as Prisoner. Its format is that a self-contained problem or mystery will be introduced in the show’s teaser, Drake will hear of it or be assigned to it in the first scene, then by the end of the episode he’d have solved the problem through lateral thinking and well-placed judo throws. Because McGoohan wanted to keep it a family show, sex is nonexistent and violence is kept at a bloodless bare minimum (Drake doesn’t even use a gun, preferring to punch the bad guys). Mostly, Drake disguises himself as something and tricks people into giving him what he wants. Pure espionage, which sets it apart from the more exploitative/explosive James Bond.
There’s not much in the way of plot twists or dramatic shifts, nor are the mysteries that intricate, but there’s plenty of McGoohan charm, sassy banter and entertaining fisticuffs. Just don’t always expect some satisfying pay-off at the closing. Often times, a long build-up on the episode’s outset would simply climax with a brawl, then John rides off into the sunset as his voiceover makes a snappy remark on how that problem’s over and done with.
This is especially amusing in the second episode, where a mysterious woman who claims to be a schoolteacher is introduced and John questions who she really is the entire episode. Instead of resolving this subplot, at the end of the episode John and the woman simply escape from danger together and John’s voiceover suddenly booms, “Later, I checked her out. She really is just a schoolteacher.” The end.
McGoohan really does carry the show, making a mostly one-dimensional character seem alluring to watch and very, very cool. Ultimately, however, the character is trapped within the constraints of a formulaic show, and that’s why the transition to The Prisoner proves so interesting, when the situations that arise there prevent Drake/Six from solving them in the fashion that he’s used to.
Speaking of transitions, there’s a pretty big change between seasons 1 and 2. Drake becomes British instead of American, no longer working for NATO but for the fictional M9, and episodes are longer. In reality, there was a 2-year break as the producers rethought the concept of the show, changing many aspects but keeping the tone and premise the same. This complete set contains all four seasons of its run, totaling 86 episodes in 18 discs, which is enough danger to last a while.
DVD Bonus Features
Included is the alternate US opening of the show, with the Secret Agent title and the cheesy “Secret Agent Man” song by Johnny Rivers. It’s a good thing that the main episodes on the set use the UK opening.
"Secret Agent AKA Danger Man: The Complete Collection" is on sale September 28, 2010 and is not rated. Action, Adventure. Directed by Don Chaffey. Written by Ralph Smart. Starring Patrick McGoohan.
