10 TV Shows That Make You Question Your Own Reality

The Prisoner starring the incomparable Patrick McGoohan is a classic British series debuting in 1967. At just 17 episodes, this is a great series to binge on in short order, but has a lot of potential to turn you into a paranoid wreck extremely quickly.

McGoohan’s character is an unnamed British spy, who wakes up in an isolated, unfamiliar village shortly after resigning from his post in the secret service. Designated by his captors merely as Number Six, the series follows the ex-spy in his attempts to escape The Village while learning as much as he can about his captors. The series contains a lot of psychedelic hallucinations and combines this with terrifying chases by a giant featureless orb and loaded conversations with fellow members of the village, particularly the foreboding presence of the villainous Number Two.

McGoohan’s turn as the troubled Number Six is stern and his paranoia is darkly realised in a role which makes him regularly considered as one of the finest candidates that never became James Bond on screen. The Prisoner is certainly not one for viewers with trust issues, as the surreal setting of the picturesque Village is undeniably claustrophobic, made traumatically worse by the uncertainty of who can and cannot be trusted within the community’s walls.

You can visit Portmeirion where the show was filmed to this day, where the streets of The Village remain intact - just make sure you have an escape plan ready if you get too paranoid!