"...half a dozen of the other..."

Facebook is a great thing, but it does seem increasingly the case that my friends' status update/news page does seem to be the first place I read about people croaking it.

Today, it's probably the saddest one so far in that Patrick McGoohan, star of the 60s TV show, The Prisoner, has died. 

The bloke was a genius; he was probably also stark raving bonkers. The Prisoner is one of those shows that, even after all these years, isn't fully understood. Things seem, odd, random and bizarre, yet somehow in the context of the show, they work. McGoohan knew how it all slotted together, and what things meant. Unlike others, though, rather than have Basil Exposition explain the plot, he made the show in such a way that things could be interpreted, and argued about. That's what makes good telly. And that why, probably, the forthcoming remake (of which McGoohan had zero input; fools) will probably be a pale imitation.

The world will be a little sadder without him.