Blast from the past

When I was a kid there was one evening in the week when I was allowed to stay up past my usual bedtime and that was the night Danger Man was on the telly.

For those who have no idea, Danger Man was a 1960s British spy show starring Patrick McGoohan as special agent John Drake. My mum and I were both big spy fans, ergo this special dispensation to go to bed later. (No way to tape shows for later viewing in those days.)

Eventually John Drake became The Prisoner. Or did he? It was never actually specified that John Drake was prisoner Number 6, trapped in the almost Felliniesque village, although fans always assumed they were one and the same. I remember watching the first episode and wondering where on earth it was filmed. I couldn’t believe it when I found out it was in the UK – the architectural phenomenon that is Portmeirion in north Wales to be precise. (Once most famed for its pottery, the village still does a fairly brisk trade in Prisoner souvenirs.)

Sorry, I digress. Or get ahead of myself. Or something.

When a US network decided to show Danger Man, they changed the name to Secret Agent, complete with a cheesy, catchy theme song by Johnny Rivers.

And last night, following Trump dubbing Mitt Romney as the Democrats’ secret asset, Stephen Colbert’s team rewrote that theme song to produce this.

Well, of course it made me laugh. But it also made me wonder who, under the age of 55, would have any idea where the song originated?

Anyway, in case you missed it, enjoy.