Filming of the title scenes of The Prisoner

[LTNman]

Where was the location of the title scenes used in the making of the 60's series The Prisoner where Patrick McGoohan speeds down a runway? This has bugged me for years as I think it is Bovingdon but others in this link think it is somewhere else. The argument against Bovingdon seems to be a radio mast that appears in some photos taken at a later date. Does anyone know?

Location Spotting 84 (http://avengerland.theavengers.tv/spotting/spot84.htm)

[norwich]

I would like to suggest Hethel ! a few irrelevent reasons :-
Lotus cars are built at Hethel, on the airfield.
The car in your link is registered in Norfolk (EX suffix).
Hethel is in Norfolk, not Cambridgeshire, as mentioned in your link.
Within 2 / 3 miles of Hethel is a very large radio / tv transmitter tower (Tacolneston).
I hope this does not blur your challenge any more ?

Keith.

[LTNman]

The radio mast should be missing as it does not appear in The Prisoner.

The pictures in the 4th row are NOT from The Prisoner

[chevvron]

It was actually Booker. That patch on the runway was there for many years after the filming and makes it easily identifiable.
Bovingdon was used for a short sequence in one episode where No 6 escaped and was taken up in an aircraft ( Hunter or was it a Meteor?) to try to find the Village

[LTNman]

So where is the wood to the left of the runway, as I can't see it on Google earth? Does anyone have a photo looking along the runway?

[nacluv]

Just a thought, but if the camera angle was looking NE then it is entirely possible that the wood in question is now the M40!

[LTNman]

Found this recent picture on the internet of Bovingdon. It looks like the same place to me.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6146/air1gk3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/air1gk3.jpg/1/w280.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img8/air1gk3.jpg/1/)

[diddy1234]

I was led to believe it was Frogmore (old Handley Page airfield) as well.

Now its part of the M25 !

Actually trying to find any info about Handley Page is very hard.
Its like Handley Page never existed !

Hence I strongly suspect that Frogmore was the location.

[mustpost]

Some strong evidence for Radlett here - but he's passed on..
Unmutual Prisoner Locations Guide (McGoohan/Portmeirion) (http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/radlett.htm)

[XV490]

Yes, pretty certain it isn't Bovingdon, which was still an RAF station in 1968. As I recall, Bovingdon's main runway was properly white-lined until closure and, looking north-east from the boundary fence, had a distinct dip.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Using the Kar as a clue to reference sources, how about; KAR 120C (http://www.kar120c.net/)

[LTNman]

Some strong evidence for Radlett here - but he's passed on..
Unmutual Prisoner Locations Guide (McGoohan/Portmeirion)

Actually I took those photos seen on that website in 1973. The problem with Radlett is that the woods which can be seen in the opening sequence do not appear to match the tree line at Radlett but do match the tree line at Bovingdon.

If it was taken at Radlett then the camera must have been at the 03 end as there is a railway running parallel to the runway. If that is the case where is the control tower which would be to the left and why is there a building to the right when there should be no buildings but a railway line?

Look carefully at post 7 and now look at the link in the original post. By using the two woods seen to the left of the runway in both pictures as a reference, tell me it is Radlett as I say it is Bovingdon.

[XV490]

I can see why that treeline on the left is confusing. Is it me, or is there a structure within it, the roof of which is highlighted? If there is a building there, it's not Bovingdon.

Was the Lotus 7 sequence filmed in 1966 along with the first episode of The Prisoner? Being operational at that time, Bovingdon's main SW-NE runway was marked with broader centre white 'dotted' lines, and was much wider (standard 150 feet) than the runway in the still photo. There were also the usual lights/markers along each side, and the grass was cut very short, as befitting an RAF station.

I used to spend many hours watching planes from the boundary fence between 1965 and 1967, and recall that the first thing visible (looking NE) to the right of the runway were the tower and hangars - whereas the film still appears to show what looks like a haystack or something else agricultural.

In the film still, it seems that the left hand side of the runway has been broken up, with a couple of piles of concrete left. Again, that couldn't be Bovingdon in the 1960s. I'd be fascinated to know the true location.

[XV490]

Ha! I see this debate's been raging elsewhere for many years!

The B&W pic at britmovie.co.uk/forums (from The Avengers ?) of Bovingdon's 04 runway is exactly as I remember it right up to the RAF's departure in 1968 - i.e., fully marked, with a broad dotted centre line, short-back-and-sides grass and standard light fitments each side.

To me, the original Prisoner shots look like a long-deserted airfield, returned to farming and with part of the runway already broken up. When did Radlett close and begin to look run down?

If they were taken in 1966, they're too early to be linked to Lotus's tenure at Hethel. The only thing I can suggest is based on the fact that the clutch of film studios around NW London (Elstree, Borehamwood etc.) preferred to film as close to base as possible. So, if it's not Bovingdon, might it be somewhere like Cheddington or Hunsdon?

[LTNman]

Is THE PRISONER runway Bovingdon? - Britmovie - British Film Forum (http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/tv-locations/22139-prisoner-runway-bovingdon.html)

[XV490]

LTNman - have you tried the guys at AiX (Airfield Information Exchange)? They seem to relish challenges like this, and collectively know masses about all the UK's airfields.

Find them at: Airfield Information Exchange - The Public Forums of The Airfield Research Group (ARG) • Index page (http://airfieldinformationexchange.freeforums.org/)

[LTNman]

Well after consulting others the consensus of opinion is that it definitely wasn’t filmed at Radlett/Frogmore as the landscape / tree line is completely different regardless of which runway was used. Bovingdon has been rejected due to long grass, a missing aerial and a runway that appears to be disused when Bovingdon was still open in 1967.

The strange thing about Bovingdon is that the natural features of the landscape all point towards Bovingdon as the woods and tree line on the horizon all line up.

So it must have been filmed somewhere else but where is a total mystery.

Bovingdon was used for a short sequence in one episode where No 6 escaped and was taken up in an aircraft ( Hunter or was it a Meteor?) to try to find the Village

No that was filmed at Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, the home of Martin Baker

[aviate1138]

I worked [briefly] on a 1971 TV series called "Budgie" [Adam Faith]. We shot part of the title sequence [where Budgie's briefcase opens and 20 Pound notes spew out] at Radlett. In the hangar which included a Jetstream [with Astzou engines ISTR] the security man said that Radlett was used as a location for "The Prisoner" some years before [1966]. Based at Borehamwood the Production, under Bernie Williams would more likely have used nearby Radlett than distant Bovingdon. Bernie Williams was an ace at spending as little as possible to achieve good production values. Rumour had it he wouldn't give you the steam from his porridge.......

My bet would be for Radlett.

[LTNman]

Radlett runway 21

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9326/microrally4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/microrally4.jpg/1/w800.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img16/microrally4.jpg/1/)

Radlett runway 03

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/5015/photo0004.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/photo0004.jpg/1/w800.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img16/photo0004.jpg/1/)

Bovingdon

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6653/air1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/air1.jpg/1/w280.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img16/air1.jpg/1/)

The Prisoner opening shot

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/4748/pris08.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/pris08.jpg/1/w703.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img6/pris08.jpg/1/)

The Avengers filmed at Bovingdon

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1733/mousetrap001.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/mousetrap001.jpg/1/w697.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img515/mousetrap001.jpg/1/)

[dazdaz]

From industry contacts, from chats, and not 100%....Ex RAF Tangmere was the location.

[LynxDriver]

It's now been proven beyond any doubt that this part of the title sequence from The Prisoner was filmed at RAF Podington (now Santa Pod). See relevant thread over on Britmovie | Home of British Films (http://www.britmovie.co.uk) for supporting photographic evidence.

[XV490]

Looks like it's sorted at last. I can imagine there having been confusion over hearing 'Bovingdon' and 'Podington'.

There's some wonderful colour footage of Podington and the 92nd Bomb Group here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qVAHmO0AnA&feature=channel) on YouTube which was originally shot by the senior medic at the base, William E. 'Doc' Furniss. Check out all of the 'Topcameraman' clips to see various views of the base, and many visiting A/C.

Clips from Furniss's 16mm films are used at the American Air Museum at Duxford and at the Mighty Eighth Museum in Savannah.

[LTNman]

Yep I am happy the location has indeed been found.
Is THE PRISONER runway Santa Pod? - Britmovie - British Film Forum (http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/tv-locations/22634-prisoner-runway-santa-pod.html)

[chevvron]

Gawd all the times I've been to Santa Pod and seen that hangar in the trees, but didn't notice it in the 'Prisoner' sequence!
Podington was first used for Drag Racing in '65 having been used for several years by the Bedfordshire Gliding Club. Farmer Ernie Braddick (the landowner) realised the potential of developing it as a dragstrip along with the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association,(BDR & HRA) and it opened in early '66 with rudimentary buildings; I attended the first Whitsun 'Big Go' meeting there that year.
NB For you youngsters Spring Bank Holiday used to be called Whitsun until a PC government decided to change an ages old name (it stood for 'White Sunday' hence certain political persons didn't like it)

[norwich]

chevvron, Thats spooky, I was there on the first day also, I see we are the same age ! We were much younger then !!!

Keith.