By Rick Davy

Quoit Media, available here 

A pocket-sized full-colour booklet that not only introduces The Prisoner to novices in its 50th anniversary year, but is also packed with crisp photos (many previously unpublished) to satisfy the most avid fan.

We Prisoner die-hards – Prisonerds? – have had to make the most of scant new production images over the years, instead having to content ourselves with the same old press pack shots. So it’s always a delight when you see something new, and we can thank The Unmutual’s webmaster Rick Davy for uncovering these gems. Quite whether he has been going through the bins outside of Number Two’s Dome or has been sent them from Whitehall by Potter, we’ll ask no questions.

While it may only be 36 pages long, the publication packs in a lot of info. To call it a booklet feels a bit reductive (I am not a booklet, I am a guide book!) and its more of an orientation guide to those entering the Village for the first time. There’s sections on McGoohan, Portmeirion, Rover, the Lotus, location shooting and background extras. Crucially there’s a pen portrait of each of the 17 episodes, including transmission date, synopsis, cast and additional facts.

Verdict: At £2.99 this won’t burn a hole in your piped blazer pocket and neither will its slender dimensions fill your bookcase. 9/10

Nick Joy