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Sunday 13 March 2016

The Prisoner At 50

   Getting on for 50 years after the event, and we think we know the Prisoner. Yes there are things we do know, and things we think we know, and yet there are still things that we can never know the answer to. Such as where did the maid in ‘Arrival’ hide? The maid the Prisoner saw standing on the small balcony of his cottage waving a yellow duster in the air. The Prisoner ran round to the door of his cottage, but there wasn’t any sign of her, not until he looked out of the window to se her scurrying away along the path and down some steps. The Prisoner should have met the girl coming out of his cottage, but he didn’t. And what made the maid leave the cottage of ‘6 Private’ so quickly? She couldn’t have been afraid to be caught there, after all she was only doing her job, even if the room didn’t need dusting!
    And Fotheringay, who seemed genuinely looking forward to seeing an old colleague again. It may be supposed that he had no choice than to do as the Colonel instructed. But what Fotheringay did was a betrayal, but let’s tell it like it is. The only reason Fotheringay was in The Village was to help egg the cake! If Number 6 had arrived in what he thought to be the Colonel’s office, without sight nor sound of Fotheringay, he might, he just might have smelt a rat. So Fotheringay was there merely to dress the scene. Once that had been achieved his services were dispensed with. So what were these embarrassing questions which might have been asked? Wasn’t Fotheringay meant to be away from the department? Perhaps he was working for another department within British Intelligence, and his superiors were not supposed to know about it. And the Colonel, he looked a worried man once Number 6 had discovered the deception. He was effectively doing the job Number 2 normally carried out, so perhaps Number 2 told Fotheringay that the Colonel would give him further orders when he returns to London……….. but perhaps he didn’t actually return to
London. After all it’s usually Number 2 who carries the can for failure. But in this case Number 2 hadn’t got it wrong.  So perhaps in this instance the Colonel paid the price for failure, whatever that price might have been. But this is all conjecture, because we simply do not know.
    On another matter, where did that bloke get to, the Prisoner saw up in the
Bell Tower in ‘Arrival?’ As a matter of fact a number of fans used to insist that it was a child! What’s more I once came across someone at a memorabilia event, who told me he had met someone who claimed they had been that child!
Be seeing you

5 comments:

  1. I sure would like to see a 50th Anniversary Tribute to Patrick McGoohan and The Prisoner!!! Have you heard any rumors????
    Happy St Patrick's Day!!
    Slan Paddy !! Be Seeing you....one of these days!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Karen,
      I haven't heard anything about plans regarding the 50th anniversary of 'the Prisoner.' But if I do I'll be sure to let you know. I would imagine that Six of One: The Prisoner Appreciation Society would be organising something. Perhaps The Unmutuals will organise an event. It would be a nice touch if ITV rescreen the series. But it might well be on the cards that only a 50th anniversary DVD boxset will be released.... yawn!

      Kind regards
      David
      Be seeing you

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  2. I think it would quite interesting to see how many of this younger generation would take the time to THINK about what the Prisoner has hidden away in it's visual splendor...don't you? Or do you think it's become too much for people to look beyond their noses? I believe that everyone needs The Prisoner every couple of years to remind them to THINK...don't trust too easily...and question everything.

    Be Seeing You
    Karen

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    Replies
    1. Hello Karen,
      I think that anyone drawn to 'the Prisoner' ends up thinking about it, how deeply is another matter. Is this younger generation drawn to 'the Prisoner,' a 50 year old television series in the first place? I don't know. But people do have enquiring minds, and can still see beyond their noses, otherwise its going to be a poor lookout!
      As for watching 'the Prisoner' every couple of years to remind them to think, not to trust too easily, to question everything. That in itself could turn into a form of subversive therapy. Yes 'the Prisoner' teaches us to think, to question, not to take things at face value. But let us not forget that basically Number 6 is against the system, he himself is a subversive, at least within The Village and yet even he must live in The Village. To some Number 6 is a hero, someone resisting coercion, fighting for the rights of the individual. While to others he’s the anti-hero, a troublemaker, someone who refuses to accept. For me, Number 6 is a man doing his best to survive the situation of his circumstances, and by that to retain his identity, his right to be individual.
      When it comes to ‘the Prisoner’ and thinking, Patrick McGoohan didn’t want people vegetating in front of the television watching soap operas, he wanted them to think. People do that anyway. And when I look back, I think Patrick McGoohan had a small opinion about people. For example, originally both 6’s in ‘The Schizoid Man’ were to wear identical dark blazers. But Patrick thought that would be too difficult for the general public, to discern between the two Number 6’s. I’ve always thought that was contradictory thinking of the man, because on the one hand he wanted people to use
      their brains, but on this occasion it was as though he thought they couldn’t! I think he should have kept his opinion to himself, and kept to identical blazers. That would have made ‘The Schizoid Man’ one of the strongest episodes in the series.

      Be seeing you

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  3. Hi David,
    Knowing the outcome at the end of Fall Out, I have to think that in a way Patrick was right, a lot of people don't want to think ...they want the show to be like baby food spoon fed to them a tiny bit at a time.
    You and I and probably most of the folks that are fans of The Prisoner to this day, would probably have "gotten" who was who if they were both wearing identical outfits.
    Ahhh, but there are always those 2 sides to everything!

    BCNU
    Karen

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