The idea for Masque of Mandragora grew from a visit I made to Portmeirion,” recalled former Doctor Who producer Philip Hinchcliffe in the fanzine Ark in Space in 1983.
Before joining Associated TeleVision’s script unit at Elstree in 1968, Hinchcliffe had worked as a courier to Americans touring cathedral cities and other cultural locales. The Welsh leg of the itinerary included a visit to a grandiose hotel-cum-folly on the north-west coast – a venue that Hinchcliffe, preoccupied with his studies, hadn’t noticed was the setting for a recent ATV adventure series called The Prisoner.
Frederick Piper (as Number 66, left), Patrick McGoohan (as Number 6, centre) and director Don Chaffey prepare a scene for Arrival, the first episode of The Prisoner, on location at Portmeirion in September 1966. Photo © ITC Entertainment Group.