DANGER MAN (aka SECRET AGENT) was an early 1960's British TV series featuring Patrick McGoohan as the mysterious secret agent JOHN DRAKE.
Despite it being a hugely popular programme, it never achieved the cult status of later series "THE PRISONER". None-the-less, it holds a fascination for all devotees of Patrick McGoohan and TV cultists everywhere.
'Danger Man' was created by Ralph Smart in 1960 at the behest of Lew Grade, then a director with ATV, part of the British ITV group of companies.
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Season four of "Danger Man" comprises of only two episodes - "Koroshi" and "Shinda Shima". They were actually shot at the back end of season three's filming schedule and were the first to be shot in colour.
The intention was that series four would use these episodes as an opener and continue in colour and in this new style. As it happened, McGoohan decided that Danger Man had run it's course and it was time John Drake retired. And so "Danger Man" gave way to "The Prisoner".
These last Danger Man episodes were difficult to slot into the schedules as there were only two of them. Some regions never did show them, others at odd times as fillers.
ITC eventually combined the two into a fake feature film and shot some additional linking shots. It was released commercially as "Koroshi". There were no closing "Koroshi" credits and no "Shinda Shima" opening titles, the two simply ran into each other except for the few minutes of linking footage.
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It didn't use the familiar 'positive to negative' Danger Man opening title sequence, or Edwin Astley's "High  Wire" theme. Instead it opens with some stock shots of Tokyo with the "Koroshi" titles superimposed over them, accompanied by an oriental music track. It actually works fine as a feature, and, while there's no reference to Danger Man as such anywhere in the whole film, the closing credits are accompanied by "High Wire".
The two have since been re-released as seperate episodes. "Shinda Shima" is perhaps the better of the two and actually resembles a "Prisoner " episode.  Many of the sets look as though they were re-used later on, the underground tunnels and the central arena in particular look very familiar. The style, colour and narrative flow is the same and of course a good deal of the cast and crew carried over into the later series. This included script editor, George Markstein, who argueably was as much responsible for creating The Prisoner as McGoohan was.
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The very last episodes of 'Danger Man' show a very definite shift away from the style of the preceding series - more rounded characters, more adventure-based and less dependence on gadgets. When the decision was made not to make any more, but to produce 'The Prisoner' instead, it was the same production crew that went to work. They probably didn't even break step. With only minor changes, 'Koroshi' and particularly 'Shinda Shima' could even have been 'Prisoner' episodes. Have a look at the frame grabs below and spot the similarities.
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Peter Brace, appears in 'Arrival' and 'Free For All' as a guard/mechanic.
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Two of Frank Maher's stunt regulars. They appear in various 'Prisoner ' episodes playing an assortment of parts, including gunmen in 'Living In Harmony'.
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Christopher Benjamin plays Drake's contact man "Potter" - as he does in "The Girl
Who Was Death". He also appears, in different roles, in "Arrival" and "Chimes".
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Kenneth Griffiths - 'Schnipps' in 'The Girl Who Was Death' and the 'Fallout' judge.
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George Colouris - played the 'man with the stick' in the 'Checkmate' episode.
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This looks familiar, especially that ramp - Number Two's office perhaps?
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Underground passage - is there a door marked 'Well Come' at the end of it?
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Is John Drake really Number Six? . . . Or are they both just Patrick McGoohan?
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Shades of 'Free For All' . . . as our hero goes on a short sea journey
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. . . and ends up walking down a familiar corridor - 'All you need is . . .'
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