No Portmeirion for new Prisoner

Patrick McGoohan was creator and star of the 17-episode series

Fans of cult TV series The Prisoner are disappointed a planned remake is unlikely to be shot in its unique original setting, the Italianate north Wales village of Portmeirion.

The village became known worldwide as the site of the classic 1960s series.

Sky plans a new run inspired by the original, which starred Patrick McGoohan as a trapped ex-secret agent.

Roger Langley, of appreciation society Six of One, said it was difficult to imagine it being set anywhere else.

The Prisoner ran for only 17 episodes on ITV from 1967, but inspires fanatical devotion and helps attracts some of the village's 250,000 annual visitors.

In the series, Patrick McGoohan was unable to escape Portmeirion, which was populated by a brainwashed population held captive by a mysterious regime.

The prisoners were known only by numbers and McGoohan's character was famously called Number Six.

There's nowhere else like Portmeirion on earth Roger Langley, Six of One

There were no bars or barbed wire, but massive balloons would smother anyone attempting to escape.

The series was shown in more than 60 countries throughout the world.

"It's very disappointing news that they've ruled it out at such an early stage," said Mr Langley.

"Most people who remember The Prisoner remember that strange place where Number Six was and the landscape and architecture of Portmeirion.

PORTMEIRION FACTS Portmeirion was built between 1926 - 1939 and 1954 - 1972 by Clough Williams-Ellis The McGoohan character in The Prisoner famously declared: "I am not a number; I am a free man" The finale of the ITV hit show Cold Feet was filmed there in 2003 The village includes colourful cottages and examples of varying architectural styles

"You can't duplicate the visual attraction. You know it's a real place - you felt you were there. You could identify with the character being held there.

"There's nowhere else like Portmeirion on earth."

The fan club is supporting the proposed remake, however.

"We want it to succeed. If something as good as that can be made we would certainly welcome it."

"But they probably won't get anywhere quite like Portmeirion," he added.

The Portmeirion setting would hit the cutting room floor in the new series, according to Broadcast magazine.

The producers of the new series said they were aiming for a "radical reinvention" of the series and intended to take "liberties with the original".

But they said the themes of paranoia, conspiracy and identity crisis would remain.

A spokesman for Sky One said it was too early to say for certain what would happen with the series, which was still in the commissioning stage.

In May, a plaque was unveiled in Portmeirion by actress Fenella Fielding, who provided the unseen Village Voice, to honour the series.