John returns to Derry & Toms as, following a drunken afternoon in Rochdale, we decided to take a look at Thomas M Disch’s The Prisoner, the first of three Ace tie-in novels commissioned in 1969. Disch was a New Worlds ace and a perfect fit for Patrick McGoohan’s world of surveillance, sinister bureaucracy, paranoia, slippery identities, and aggressive leisure.
We reflect on the TV show, McGoohan, the divisive series conclusion, the poetry of Roger Woddis, and all sorts of other guff, before we consider what happens when one of science fiction’s sharpest minds takes a holiday in television’s most oppressive seaside resort? Straighten your blazer, slap on your most unconvincing smile and join us to find out.
Be seeing you.
Breakfast in the Ruins Podcast 