THE
UNMUTUAL PRISONER LOCATIONS GUIDE
MGM
BACKLOT & ABPC STUDIOS, BOREHAMWOOD
Special
Photo Report: Dave Healey.
In
the 1960s, which saw the heyday of action adventure TV shows in the UK, principally
as a result of Lew Grade's ITC, the Borehamwood/Elstree area was a thriving
centre for feature film production with many studios situated within its boundaries.
These included of course MGM, whose massive soundstages were home to not only
The Prisoner but also landmark epics such 2001 A Space Odyssey.
While feature films often had budgets which enabled location work to be shot
around the world, most TV shows could not justify such extravagance. As a result
small screen film crews would scour Borehamwood for suitable backdrops in add
flavour to their productions. Borehamwood and its immediate area would be utilised
for all manner of exotic locations in order to keep production budgets under
control.
The Prisoner was somewhat different as it had an unusually long location shoot
in Portmeirion. However, it was back to Borehamwood for many of the non-'Village'
linking sequences, and these are included on various pages of this Locations
Guide.
The huge
MGM backlot also played host to several Prisoner scenes, including the town
of Harmony, the town of Witchwood from "The Girl Who Was Death" as
well as the Recreation Hall area from several episodes and the "French
Street" from "A, B, and C" and Kandersfeld in "Do Not Forsake".
The backlot itself made way for housing estate some years ago, after being demolished
in 1974. Below are some images of the backlot during demolition, thanks to Gary
Kent who visited the site at this time (click thumbnail for full image).
The images
below show the site some years later (1991). The left photo shows what used
to be the Witchwood location, the other two show what used to be home to Harmony.
Over the
years, there has been much discussion regarding the location of the tree seen
in the centre of the western village of Harmony from the "Prisoner"
episode "Living in Harmony", in which Number Six is fed hallucinatory
drugs. There are several large trees in the estate, and for years debates have
arisen as to which one, if any, is the one seen in the episode (from which Kathy's
brother is hanged). For a special page all about the location of the "Harmony
Tree", click HERE.
Borehamwood
as a film production centre is a mere shadow of its glory days with many of
the studios no longer in operation. Indeed, during the visit when the following
photos were taken demolition work was being carried out. On this occasion it
was a sad sight to witness the destruction of the once proud soundstages of
ABPC Studios. The studios can be seen briefly over McGoohan's shoulder as he
talks to Potter at the shoe shine stand in "The Girl Who Was Death".
Interestingly, the film crew parked a van in front of the studio sign so as
not to give screen time to a rival studio.
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