John Drake

John Drake was the debonair and duty-bound secret agent played by Patrick McGoohan in the British television show Danger Man (1960-1962, 1964-1966) (also known as Secret Agent). Unlike James Bond, he never carried a gun, rarely used far-fetched gadgets, never got the girl, and rarely killed anyone.

Related Topics:
Secret agent - Patrick McGoohan - British - Television show - Danger Man - 1960 - 1962 - 1964 - 1966 - James Bond

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Drake's background was never explored in detail in the series, and also appeared to undergo an amount of retconning. In the first Danger Man series (1960-61), Drake speaks with a slightly exaggerated American accent and is described as being an Irish-American. In this series he is an operative working for a branch of NATO. In the second series (1964-66), Drake now speaks with a less pronounced accent that is more British with Irish undertones. In this later version, he works for a fictional British secret service branch called M9; no further reference is made to him being American. He is now said to be British, except in one episode in which he identifies himself as being Irish.

Related Topics:
Retconning - Irish-American - NATO

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In both versions of the series, Drake is depicted as something of a lone wolf and a maverick. In one early episode he initially refuses a mission that requires him to assassinate a man; he reluctantly takes the mission and is shown as being grief-stricken when his target is accidentally shot during a struggle. Other episodes (particularly during the later series) have him clashing with his superiors, or at least strongly disagreeing with their methods. In the history of the series, Drake is shown only once intentionally shooting anyone to death, and then only in self-defence. (He is shown shooting people on another occasion, but only during a dream sequence; the aforementioned early episode shooting is depicted as being unintended). Drake was not opposed to using lethal force when absolutely necessary, however, and on rare occasions did kill villains using other methods (throwing off a train, causing the collision of two airplanes, etc.).

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It is a common belief among McGoohan's fans that the character of Number Six in The Prisoner, the show that McGoohan did after Danger Man, was meant to be Drake, but McGoohan denies this.

Related Topics:
Number Six - The Prisoner

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