Just the other day, last monday morning in fact, I was listening to Stephen Fry's 'English Delight' on Radio 4, and suddenly I had what I can only describe as being a Prisoner moment. Stephen Fry was talking about Oscar Wilde and how he wanted to know how his latest book was selling. So he wrote a letter to his publisher, but with a simple question mark written upon the paper. His publisher, upon receiving Wilde's letter, wrote back to him with a simple exclamation mark written upon the paper! And so I wondered if I could apply this to a certain aspect within the Prisoner? Because almost instantly I was thinking of the Prisoner episode of The General, and that insoluable question to man or machine, which No.6 asked the General - WHY?
Over the years and decades, the question of WHY? has been written about, and debated by fans of the Prisoner, in attempting to answer this so called insoluable question. Fans came up with why did the General self-destruct like that, if the computer could not answer the question, there would simply be no response. Or perhaps the General could have responded with 'Why Not? But have I hit, although completley by accident, the answer to WHY? being WHY! If so, thank you Oscar, and thank you Stephen Fry, who is also a very dedicated fan of the Prisoner. Be seeing you.
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