December 1997. In London, where the series ran on Thames and subsequently Carlton Television, viewers were told after episode 598 on 20 August 1998 that the series would resume after a summer break however the series was then discontinued from screening in London. The last ITV Prisoner episode was shown on Meridian, which finished an initial run with episode 586 on 12 July 1999. Early on 31 March 1997 Channel 5, which had begun broadcasting at 6 p.m. the previous evening, began a full run of Prisoner while later episodes were still appearing in many ITV regions. Except for an airing of the fire episode (326), as part of a 1995 Channel 4 soap weekend, it was the series' first UK network broadcast and gave some areas their first full run of the series. Although the schedule varied during the Channel 5 run, episodes were typically shown about five times a week in the 4:40 a.m. slot. It briefly moved to a late-night slot, usually around 11:30pm, before returning to the 4:40 a.m. slot. The Channel 5 run ended on 11 February 2001, with a double bill of the penultimate and final episodes. Channel 5 have no plans to re-run the series, despite viewer requests. For most of the Channel 5 run the programme was sponsored by Pot Noodle, with humorous Prisoner-esque sequences (set in a prison cell and playing on the series' wobbly scenery and props) played before and after the episodes and in the leads into and out of commercial breaks. The Channel 5 broadcasts included commentary over the closing credits, usually from chief continuity announcer Bill Buckley but sometimes from deputy announcers such as Stuart McWilliam. This began in the early-100s episodes (when Prisoner briefly moved to the late-night slot), when Buckley would deliver a quip about the episode before making continuity announcements. This developed into humorous observations about the episode just shown, and the reading of letters and depicting of trivia sent in by viewers (which Buckley called "snippets"). Due to its early-morning slot, when most viewers relied on VCRs to follow the series, upcoming schedule changes were announced as part of the commentary. United States The series was first aired in the United States on KTLA in Los Angeles on 8 August 1979, initially under the original name, Prisoner. Shown Wednesdays at 8pm, it was the first Australian series broadcast in prime time in the