The Prisoner reaches its 40th anniversary in September 2007, just in time for its reincarnation on our screens. The series has puzzled and intrigued millions of viewers since it was originally shown on ITV in the late 1960s. Only seventeen episodes were originally made; each one of them is riddled with mystery and poses unanswerable questions. The first Prisoner series captured the imagination as few programmes have done before or since and became a true television phenomenon. Here its unique appeal and history are examined in a fully updated edition with a new chapter boasting insider info on the new series.

Including interviews with Patrick McGoohan, Kenneth Griffith, Alexis Kanner and Anton Rogers, The Prisoner Handbook reveals more information than was previously known about the series, the characters portrayed, the cast themselves and what it was really like during production. Complete with a foreword by Alex Cox and a full episode-by-episode guide, as well as an examination of the significance of the series both forty years ago and now, this is the complete guide to the unique appeal and history of television’s most enigmatic series.