The Oscar winning director of Oppenheimer may be turning his attention to the classic 1960s series.

With a clutch of Oscars under his belt for Oppenheimer, you’d imagine the world is Christopher Nolan’s oyster. As the acclaimed director of three blockbuster Batman movies, as well as critical and box office hits such as Dunkirk, Interstellar and Inception, he can doubtless find partners for almost any movie project right now.

Interestingly, reports suggest that Nolan may turn his attentions to an adaptation of a classic 1960s television property. According to Variety, he plans to bring The Prisoner to the big screen. Perhaps there’s something in the water – back in January we learned of StudioCanal’s plans to resurrect The Avengers too.

Once Upon a Time

If you’re unfamiliar with The Prisoner, it follows the story of an unnamed secret service agent who resigns and then mysteriously wakes up in “The Village”. He’s assigned the Number 6 and endeavours to escape his incarceration on a weekly basis, all the while being subjected to increasingly bizarre scenarios by the authorities seeking to learn the reason behind his resignation.

The show starred Patrick McGoohan, with a succession of famous faces guesting as his tormentor, Number 2. In addition to its blend of stylish and surreal spy-fi, part of its appeal was the unique backdrop of Portmerion, a Italian style village in North Wales.

All 17 episodes of the original series are currently available to stream on itvx in the UK.

Many Happy Returns

Apparently, Nolan was attached to a version of the project back in the 2009, however that went off the radar thanks to AMC’s six-part television mini-series reimagining. Starring Jim Caviezel, with support from Ian McKellen, Ruth Wilson and Hayley Atwell, that version sadly didn’t set the world alight and failed to recapture the spirit of the original.

You can currently buy the show at various UK streamers including Prime Video.

A. B. and C.

The original was a psychological puzzler, with viewers not knowing what to expect from one week to the next. Nolan has form for elements of the psychological thriller, from his breakthrough with Memento to Insomnia and The Prestige, so should be on solid ground there.

However, taking on the challenge of The Prisoner will present Christopher Nolan with a few major decisions.

Firstly should it be a period piece or transplanted into the present day? He could do worse than to follow the route of the excellent Big Finish audio reimaging by Nicholas Briggs, which kept the show rooted in 1960s sensibilities, while modernising some elements. It ran for three volumes, adapting original episodes and creating new ones too. It’s still available to purchase with the first episode free.

Secondly, there’s the location – the oddities of Portmerion brought a distinct air to the show. Where could “The Village” be set in a modern, interconnected world?

Finally, of course, there’s the matter of casting. Patrick McGoohan had previously played the lead in the spy series Danger Man, before coming to co-create and star in The Prisoner. Surely some of the show’s success built on the audience’s familiarity of him in that role. A new version will need someone with the equivalent of those spy credentials… paging Daniel Craig!

We’ll keep posted on The Prisoner. Be seeing you.