Weird but entertaining. It was too short-lived. In Secret Agent, Patrick McGoohan traveled all over Europe collecting babes and piling up a body count. Next thing we know here he is a prisoner in some prison. We don't know what's going on and we never find out. We don't even know if he is the Secret Agent Man!

I bought the complete set the other day at a DVD store and I am going to try to figure it out again!

Enigmatic, cleverly written stuff that is one of the best "closed ended" series ever to grace the small screen.

(By closed ended I mean that the series was designed to end, and can be viewed as a long 17 chapter film)

The more I watch it the more I am convinced that this is truly televisions first masterpiece. Possibly the most sophisticated and intelligent adventure series (only 17 episodes in total) to ever make its way to television. Patrick McGoohan plays a secret agent who resigns and is then kidnapped and brought to a village located on a remote island. The buildings and decorations are cheerful looking and everything is brightly colored but there is a dark purpose lurking underneath. All residents of the village have been brought there because they have some kind of valuable information. No one is safe from the eyes of their captors because the statues that adorn the grounds are actually cameras and everyone can be watched and monitored wherever they are, even inside their living quarters. Everyone is assigned a number and Patrick McGoohan is assigned the number six. With the exception of actor Leo McKern who appears three times (twice as number two and in the final episode as the defeated and dead number two) there is a new number two for each episode and his or her job is to find out why the prisoner resigned. The prisoner does not know which side is holding him so he refuses to talk. Every possible means is employed in an effort to make the prisoner talk including drugs, shock treatment, hypnosis, as well as old fashioned deception. The prisoner stands his ground defeating them at every turn and makes his every move a statement of contempt towards his captors. As number two (Leo McKern) is spying on the prisoner one morning he states that He even makes putting on his bathrobe an act of defiance. The main message of the program, beyond the prisoner trying to escape and find out who is the elusive number one, is that no man is a number. In the first episode he declares I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. Each show begins with the prisoner saying I am not a number, I am a free man followed by laughter from the actor or actress playing number two for that particular episode. The show has many little nuances which can be interpreted in different ways. For example, in each episode one of the characters always says the phrase be seeing you and makes an ok sign with his hand with the circle held up to his eye....... or is he actually forming a number six with his hand and reminding the prisoner that he is always being watched? There is also the threat of rover which is the sphere like security device that roars as it chases and captures (or kills) all those who might attempt to escape. If you have ever felt caught up in the conformity of the world and the sometimes useless procedures one must go through in order to get along, I highly recommend this program. If you feel as if you are just a number and not a free individual perhaps this show might inspire you to someday defy your captors and escape from the village that is holding you prisoner............be seeing you...........

Once upon a time, this seemed to go into re-runs every summer. I was intrigued by the premise - but I tuned in because McGoohan was so great to watch!

My all time favorite TV drama. Philosophical, action packed, sharp dialouge, and you never quite know what's going on. even the final two part episode, Fall Out, raises more questions than it answers. Questions are a burden to others. Answers are a prison for oneself.