The Prisoner series from 1967-68, is the topic of this episode.

The Prisoner series ran 17 episodes, and is considered one of the greatest series of all time. Its star, Patrick McGoohan, came up with the concept: a secret agent, not unlike John Drake, the character McGoohan played in “Danger Man” (1960 – 1968) retires, and those in charge want to know why he retired. He is drugged and wakes up in a place known as “The Village” and he is assigned a number: No. 6. He wants to escape, but can he?

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on The Prisoner, with special guest Mark Askwith (see author bio below).

Mark Askwith

Mark Askwith is a writer, Producer, and interviewer.

He is one of the Founding Producers of SPACE, Canada’s National Science Fiction and Fantasy Channel, where he co-created in-house shows including InnerSpace. He produced dozens of movie and television specials, including The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special; Watchmen; and, Orphan Black.

Prior to SPACE he was the creator of the award-winning Prisoners of Gravity, a consultant on the Genie Award-winning documentary Comic Book Confidential, and the manager of the Silver Snail.

His comic book stories have been published by Caliber Press, Spiderbaby Grafix, DC Comics, and Image Comics. Mark co-plotted and dialogued DC’s authorized sequel to The Prisoner.

Season 1
Episode 3
“Recent, Current, and Upcoming Sci-Fi”

Troy Harkin and David Clink discuss recent and current speculative (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, …) movies and TV. They will also provide info on what is upcoming. There is no special guest for this episode.

Spoiler alert: specific plot points may be discussed.

The 1968 Planet of the Apes film brought Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel to the big screen, and nothing has been the same since. From the first appearance of apes, right up to the final climactic scene, Troy Harkin and David Clink, with special guest Robert J. Sawyer (see author bio below), will talk about the film, its importance, its legacy, and where it fits in with the ACE (Ape Cinematic Universe). Spoiler alert: specific plot points in the film, the novel, the TV series, and other ape films will be discussed.

Robert J. Sawyer
(photo by Carolyn Clink)

Robert J. Sawyer has won the best-novel Hugo Award (for Hominids), the best-novel Nebula Award (for The Terminal Experiment), and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (for Mindscan), plus over 60 other writing awards. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name, and his 24th novel, The Oppenheimer Alternative, is now out. Rob holds honorary doctorates from the University of Winnipeg and Laurentian University, was one of the initial inductees into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and is a Member of the Order of Canada, his country’s highest honour.