On The Trail Of The Prisoner by Catherine Németh Fraumerman (book review)
The full title of Catherine Németh Fraumerman’s booklet, ‘On The Trail Of The Prisoner’ includes the sub-title ‘A Walking Guide To Portmeirion’s Prisoner Sites’ but that would overfill the title heading. Fraumerman explains in the introduction that a lot of ‘The Prisoner’ TV series exteriors were filmed in Portmeirion but also at the MGM Borehamwood Studios. To tell the difference, look for the sharper lighting in the latter.
This is really more of an illustrated booklet but it is really a quality piece of work. You have photographs from 1966 and sometime photos showing how it was changed over the years. Not many changes. The design of the book is for you to wander around the Village, really a hotel, and fill in details at what you are looking at. It also works for those stay-at-home types like me. It isn’t designed to give much information about the series itself but the text does highlight which episodes it was used in and also in ‘Danger Man’. The comments for that should make you think about certain icons. I still like to know how they got the concrete into Rover when it was at sea to stop it floating away.
I know from the reaction of my parents when they visited Portmeirion that the buildings were smaller than depicted on TV. Less to do with how a camera lens changes the scale of anything but the ratio size to humans. In some respects, it would have been interesting to see people next to some of these buildings to prove the point.
If you collect all things ‘Prisoner’, and missed this one in the past 23 years, now’s the time to acquire a copy. If you visit Portmeirion, then you’ll also find it there. Whether you’ll be allowed to leave depends on your number.
GF Willmetts
April 2026
(pub: PrizBiz Publication, 2003. 44 page illustrated softcover. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 00385154)
check out: websites: www.prizbiz.com and https://theprisonershop.co.uk/product/on-the-trail-of-the-prisoner
