Speaking in tongues:
NUMMER 6 - The German PRISONER

Moritz Peters of Koch-Media interviewed by 6of1 member Michael Brüne, shortly before the release of the first ever German PRISONER DVD box scheduled for Oct. 20th.

Q: Mr. Peters, the Koch-Media company is about to publish the British cult series THE PRISONER in Germany by mid-October. Can you say something about your incentive to that decision?
A: Judging by today's standards NUMMER 6 must be called a mystery series which in 40 years hasn't lost any of its appeal and validity. To us with Koch-Media it isn't just another action series to release. It's a genuine cult classic and the release of it has been a really personal concern.

Q: For the first time all 17 episodes are released in this German version. Are there any cuttings with the 13 initially dubbed German episodes, have they been preserved completely or was it necessary to replace missing scenes with subtitled ones?
A: All 13 dubbed episodes are intact, there are no truncations, no cuttings.

Q: The dubbing master tapes, did they come from Jupiter Film, the Vienna company that was commissioned by ZDF (the TV station that first screened NUMMER 6 in 1969) to produce the synch-version, or did they come from Kirch Media (a nowadays bankrupt company established by mogul Leo Kirch) who last owned the rights to it?
A: We got the German tapes from Granada Ventures. They do own the rights to THE PRISONER and they licensed us.

Q: Did you ever consider redubbing the four episodes that weren't shown in Germany?
A: That would have been too expensive, sorry. Besides, the German voice of Number Six, by actor Horst Naumann, is very different today from what it was 35 years ago. We decided to go for subtitling: OmU. Which (in German) means original version, image and sound, with subtitles displayed on the screen. So viewers can watch the action and the dialogues of all episodes in German.

Q: What about the image quality and that of the sound of those 17 "germanized" episodes?
A: Digital processing made our DVD even a bit better than the English original, regarding onscreen menu, image and sound. This is what we enjoy particularly.

Q: Which bonus features are included on this DVD?
A: We kept close to the English original version, and we were able to get licenses for almost all extras to be found on the Granada Ventures Edition. Except for the "Prisoner Companion" and the Renault ad.

Q: So the two "alternative" episodes which contain additional scenes and differing title music are in the box, too?
A: Yes, "The Alternate Arrival" and "The Alternate Chimes Of Big Ben" are included. But here there's only the original version, no German soundtrack and no subtitles.

Q: Why didn't you take all extra material for the DVD that the original offers, or perhaps some further additional bonus features?
A: You know, it isn't always easy to track down licence holders and to come to an arrangement with them. And sometimes their claims for items to get licenced turn out to be too high. Some extras that we tried to obtain weren't available to the German market. It's a fact that in Germany NUMMER 6 doesn't have the popularity of, e.g. THE PERSUADERS. This we need to take into account, too.

Q: There are two other German TV features. One is a 12-minute report made in 1986 by correspondent Wolf von Lojewski for his Great Britain feature series "Rund um Big Ben" ("Around Big Ben"). The other one, basically a Wales feature called "Wales - Krone, Küsten, Kauderwelsch" ("Wales - Crown, coasts, lingo"), was scheduled for early October but, as of now, was shelved. Both of them include PRISONER related material and Portmeirion footage. Couldn't this have been put on the German DVD?
A: Regrettably, the rights to those TV contributions aren't sold or given away for any video or DVD release.

Q: There was the intention by Koch-Media to put the documentary "Six Into One: The Prisoner File" on the DVD. This docu had only been broadcast once in 1984. What happened that the announcement for this bonus had to be revoked?
A: Well, this documentary would have been a perfect complement to our DVD box. Because it shows one of the rare interviews with Patrick McGoohan as he tells about the series. The contract had already been signed when the signal came to pull out.

Q: Who was it, who objected?
A: It was Patrick McGoohan himself. The actor doesn't want this programme to be used in any way.

Q: When did you first get to know the PRISONER series?
A: I knew about the cult around it. But it was only on our acquisition that I got closer to it. My expectations were very high and there was no disappointment. NUMMER 6 is special, really. A real hilight that I can only honestly recommend to any film and TV fan.

Q: What do you think of the translation work and the dubbing (originally) made by Joachim Brinkmann?
A: Today dubbing films or TV shows must be achieved quickly and costs must be kept low. By the time of NUMMER 6 this situation was different. A great deal of carefulness was put into it. You can see this if only you regard as to how the expression "Village" is paraphrased - and this means it's not just "Dorf" (remark: the literal translation). Except for a few flaws the German version is excellent.

Q: To you, is NUMMER 6 still on the agenda?
A: The issues dealt with in the series are still as up-to-date as they were by time the show was produced. McGoohan created one of only a couple of series that are actually timeless.

Mr. Peters, thank you very much for this conversation. I hope the NUMMER 6 DVD box will be a big success - with old and new fans.

English translation by Arno Baumgärtel

 

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