YMMV / Danger Man

• Awesome Music: Both Edwin Astley's original theme, "High Wire", and Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man".
• Bizarro Episode:
  • "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove" which one could almost say (what with Don Chaffey directing, and all) that it was a beta test for The Prisoner. (Though the episode "Colony Three" is even more a beta test as it pretty much anticipates the format of the later show.)
  • "Koroshi" and "Shinda Shima" which featured rather Bondian OTT situations and villains. Frankly, if that was the direction they were looking to go in, no wonder Patrick McGoohan wanted out.
• Critical Dissonance: Numerous reviews of the series, both contemporary and modern, label Danger Man one of the most violent series of all time, leaving fans of the series - in which the lead character employs violence only when absolutely necessary, and rarely holds a gun much less uses it - wondering what show they were watching.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The series is full of things that become either hilarious or portentous in light of The Prisoner. Assuming you believe Drake is Number Six (which a lot of people do).
  • An episode of Season 1 is titled "The Prisoner".
  • The lyric from "Secret Agent Man" that runs, "They've given you a number/And taken away your name." Considering Patrick McGoohan's next series...
  • In a similar vein, Drake tells a character in "Yesterday's Enemies", "I want information...and I know that you deal in it." As we all know, every Number Two in The Prisoner wants "information...information...information."
  • Drake works for M9 in the hour-long episodes. The real MI-9 existed during WWII and was dedicated to helping Prisoners Of War escape and evade detection in Europe.
  • Drake farewells another agent by saying "Be seeing you" in "Fish on the Hook". He will become very used to hearing this phrase later.
• I Am Not Shazam: John Drake is never called "Danger Man": in any episode. It is not a Code Name and doesn't even show up in a Meta capacity. It only appears as the title of the show. Nor is he ever explicitly referred to as a "Secret Agent", as that came around due to American localization replacing the original opening with the Johnny Rivers tune.
• Retroactive Recognition: The series featured many guest appearances from actors who would later become better known for other roles.
  • Patrick Troughton appeared in two episodes in the first season, six years before his debut as the Second Doctor in Doctor Who.
  • Donald Pleasence appears in two Season 1 episodes.
  • Lois Maxwell appeared as Sandi Lewis in the Season 1 episode " Position of Trust", two years before her debut as Moneypenny in the James Bond film series.
  • Honor Blackman appears in the Season 1 episode "Colonel Rodriguez", two years before she became famous for her role in another 1960s ITV spy show.
  • Charles Gray appeared in two Season 1 episodes. Ten years later, he would plat Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever.
  • Peter Swanwick appears in two episodes: "The Key" in Season 1, and "The Paper Chase" in Season 3. He would soon after become recognisable as the Supervisor in Patrick McGoohan's next series, The Prisoner...
  • Robert Shaw appears as Tony Costello in the Season 1 episode "Bury the Dead".
  • Walter Gotell appears twice in the first season: as Colonel Perar in "The Leak" and a receptionist in "Under the Lake". Sixteen years later he would make his debut as General Gogol in the James Bond film series.
  • Roger Delgado appeared in the Season 1 episode "Under the Lake" as Von Golling, ten years before he became known as the Master on Doctor Who.
  • Jean Marsh appeared as Kim Russell in "Name, Date and Place" in Season 1, ten years before she became known for Upstairs Downstairs.
  • Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan from Blake's 7) appeared as Jeannie in the Season 2 episode "Don't Nail Him Yet".
  • Paul Eddington played Captain Schulman in the Season 3 episode "I Am Afraid You Have the Wrong Number", 14 years before he became known as Jim Hacker in Yes, Minister.
  • Richard Wilson appeared in the episode "Koroshi" in Season 4, 23 years before he became known as Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave and 41 years before he became known as Gaius in Merlin!
  • An uncredited club barman from "The Colonel's Daughter" is played by Dino Shafeek, who would later be best known for playing Muhammed in It Ain't Half Hot, Mum and Ali Nadeem in Mind Your Language.
  • A business man from "The Black Book" is played by Edward Sinclair, who would later be best known for playing the Verger in Dad's Army.
  • A hostess from "An Affair of State" is played by Fenella Fielding, who would later be best known for playing Valeria Watt in Carry On Screaming!.
  • A police captain from "Find and Return" and Pepe from "The Hired Assassin" are played by Frank Thornton, who would later be best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served?.
  • Alvarado from "An Affair of State" is played by John Le Mesurier, who would later be best known for playing Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army.
  • Mrs. Harkness from "The Actor" is played by Patsy Rowlands who would later be best known for her roles in the Carry On films.
  • An anesthetist from "The Girl in Pink Pyjamas" is played by Richard Marner, who would later be best known for playing Colonel von Strohm in 'Allo 'Allo!.
  • Three guest roles from between 1960 and 1961 are played by Warren Mitchell, who would later be best known for playing Alf Garnett in Till Death Us Do Part.
• Values Resonance: "The Galloping Major", set an emerging democracy in Africa. The depiction of the Bulungi itself as Fair for Its Day would be damning it with faint praise, but the intricate nested conspiracy to maintain the colonial government despite popular support for self-rule is just as understandable to modern viewers as it was when it was made.

---