Village Library

      Have you read this book? It was published in 2007. I had a friend buy a copy for my at a book signing session during the Prisoner convention held at Portmieiron of that year. Well I wanted to know what the opposition had to write about the Prisoner series, to know just how much Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore knew. As it turned out, I need not have bothered.
   The book is completely unauthorised, and contains the usual mistakes, but suffers even more through the lack of depth into the subject. And certainly the book reflects the fact that the two co-authors had not carried out much research into the matter of the Prisoner.
   I found the book a particullarly difficult read, perhaps because I know the subject so well, but also it was because of the size of font chosen for the text, it's too small. Anyway, I struggled through the book, trying to ignore the inevitable mistakes, and having arrived at page 142, being the end of Living In Harmony, I could read no more. I placed a bookmark between pages 142 and 143, and that is where it has remained, and the book back on the bookshelf. I have never had the compunction to pick the volume up again.   I'll be seeing you.

The Schizoid Man & Thought for The Day

    One observation regarding The Schizoid Man would be that No.6 does actually wear his badge, if ever so briefly, and just because it suits him to do so. Another observation would be, that Frank Maher, Patrick McGoohan's stunt double on the Prisoner, acted the role of both No.6 and Curtis just as mush as Patrick himself. Yet Frank went uncredited for the roles.
    Thought For The Day - Just when did No.6 start going about the Village wearing a cream blazer with black piping? Didn't citizens who knew No.6 not notice that he was wearing his numbered badge, something he had refused to do since the day after his arrival in the Village?
BCNU

Arts And Crafts

Portrait of a Prisoner

      BCNU

Village Pin-Up

     Here we have one of the attractive hairdressers from The Schizoid Man. Unfortunately I have not been able to track her name down. As for her number in the Village, it is unclear, although it is a triple number, the first digit 2.

    BCNU

No.6 In Round The World Record Attempt!

   Not for the first time we see No.6 taking part in another audacious plan. This time to try and fly round the world in record time, aided by a team of experts, which is headed by the Colonel, who himself is aided by Thorpe, and an RAF Group Captain who will fly the aircraft, while No.6 acts as navigator and time keeper during the flight. Here they are, in the Kitting Out Room at the aerodrome, just minutes away from flight time.

This is not the first time No.6 has been involved with an aeronautical project. Some time ago he was involved with an attempt on breaking the air speed record by helicopter, because No.6 couldn't get away fast enough! Which was a failure. But that didn't stop No.6 from 'having a go,' because soon  after he was sailing arond the world on the Amis Reunis or Stone Boat. Making an attempt on the water speed record, and attempting to cross the Bay of Biscay by raft!
  So here he is again, our intrepid hero, preparing to go off again, on yet another adventure.
  
   The aircraft is fuelled and prepared, a Gloster Meteor, as No.6 climbs into the navigators seat in the two man cockpit, with the Group Captain makes last minute checks, before climbing aboard himself.

  Both the Colonel and Thorpe were on hand to see the commencement of this, the final phase of the project. Evrything is set. The final checks made. Flight clearence has been given, while refuelling at RAF Gibraltar has been given.
     

   'He's an old, old, friend who never gives up' the Colonel tells Thorpe. The two twin Rolls Royce Derwent 5 Turbojet engines are fired up, and the Gloster Meteor jet aircraft taxis to the end of the runway. The Colonel and Thorpe look on and give a cheery wave to their old friend.

Just as the aircraft takes to the skies, the Colonel and Thorpe return to their car, and take their leave of the aerodrome, perhaps with but one thought in their minds, when next might they see their old friend and ex-colleague again?                                                                                                                                       

A few days later, it was reported that contact with the Gloter Meteor had been lost. That it is possible that the aircraft, and crew had been lost at sea. A search had been instigated at the command of the Colonel, but so far there has been no sign of any wreckage, or the crew. But the search will go on, but hope is now fast running out for the two man crew of the aircaft.       BCNU

What's That No.6 Up To?

    'What's the Book?' No.6 asks. 'Oh its not your sort of thing at all' No.9 replies thumbing through the pages. 'Try me' replies No.6 with an odd curiosity. 'Well it's about a man who resigns his job....' 'Is he spy?' asks No.6. 'I don't know, it doesn't say.' 'what's the man's name?' it doesn't say that either' No.9 replies still thumbing through the book for a name. 'Is he the hero?' 'He thinks he's Number One.' 'Who is the boss!' 'Yes, yes' No.9 agrees. But there's more to it than that. Its an enigma, because we don't know who the man is, whether or not he is the hero. Why he resigned, or where the Village is.' 'Its allegorical' No.6 hints. 'Oh no, its not as bad as that!' 'The Village?' Yes, its the place where the hero has been abducted to after he resigns his job.' 'really, go on' No.6 urges. 'The Village is a place where people turn up......' No.9 continued. 'People who know too much, or too little?' 'Yes, yes. But there's something else.' 'What's that?' No.6 asks smiling. 'The Village may not exist at all!' 'What do you mean?' 'Well the book hints that the Village may not really exist at all, that it's all in the subconscious of one man.' 'Who?' 'You!' 'Really, how interesting. It is an allegorical work then. How does the book end?' No.6 asks with keen interest. 'I don't know.' No.6 suggests that No.9 turn to the last page................'It's blank' utters No.9 in surprise 'there are no words on the last page, why?!' 'Perhaps because it has only just begun, and that the ending hasn't been written yet' No.6 suggests 'What is the title of the book?' No.9 looks at the Prisoner with a look of shock on her face 'The Prisoner' she tells him. 'We're all Prisoner's, so the book could be about anyone!' 'I think its about you' No.9 suggests. 'But if its all in my mind, then you, the book, the Village, none of which could possibly, physically exist.' 'No' was No.9's only worried reply.
BCNU

Die 6, Die, Die, DIE, DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE

    These are the words spoken by No.6 to No.2 as he lay dying on the floor in the cage of in the Embryo Room of Once Upon A Time. But why speak these words to No.2, and with such conviction? Well you will recall that in such a process like Degree Absolute used in psychoanalysis....the patient must come to trust his doctor totally. Sometimes they even change places, which as No.2 put it, 'Is essential in extreme cases,' it is also a risk. Because there comes a point in their deliberations when they do change places, No.6, the patient, becomes the doctor, No.2, and vice versa.....why don't you resign? So having changed places with No.2, and uttering the words 'Die Six, die, die, diiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee' with so much conviction, it's as though he has transposed the character of No.6 to the dying No.2, and so attempting to rid himself of No.6's character, to purify himself perhaps.     BCNU

Thought For The Day

    The music score used during the scene in The Chimes of Big Ben, in which No.6 is fellng a tree in the woods, comes from the 1964 television series Robinson Crusoe. No.6, like Robinson Crusoe, is a marooned survivor who has learned to survive in an alien environment.          Be seeing you.

It's Not As difficult As First Imagined!

    'Once we get started, even I won't be able to tell you apart'
                                            {No.2 The Schizoid Man}

   What the devil is No.2 talking about? No.6 is the one wearing the black blazer, and No.12-Curtis, who is impersonating No.6, is wearing the cream blazer, what's so confusing about that? But perhaps No.2's confusion stems from the fact that both No.6 and No.12/Curtis, were supposed to have worn identical piped blazers, as in the picture. No.2 even gave No.6 a password 'Gemini,' which I'm sure also stems from the original idea of having identical piped blazers. So it turned out it was the wrong password, according to two bully-boy guardians one evening, when No.6 was confronted and asked for the password. 'Gemini' said No.6. 'that's not the password' said one of the Bully-boys. But you see it wasn't. it was the right password which No.6 had given to him by No.2. So why then the confusion of the bully-boy guardians? Perhaps they were expecting the password Schizoid man! {Now I'm confused!}
   So for No.2 to have said 'Once we get started, even I won't be able to tell you apart' makes perfect sense in conjunction with the original idea of identical blazers, but clearly not after the change of blazer for Curtis. The change was made of course, because it was thought that the situation of having the same blazer for the two 6's, would have been too confusing for the television viewer at the time. I think it was rather presumptious of McGoohan and co to presume the mentality of the television viewer back in 1967. For myself, I think the episode The Schizoid Man suffers because of the change of blazer for Curtis. Had the original idea of having both No.6's wearing identical blazers been retained, then the television viewer would not have known who was the real No.6 right up to the very last line. As it is, it's all too simple to distinguish between the black and the cream!   I'll be seeing you.

News Headlines

    Have you noticed how often the number six appears in newspaper headlines, not 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, or 8, but 6, it's always six, for example here are ones which have appeared in newspapers over the years.   'Six Hurt In Road Accident.'    'Prison Escape By Six.'    'Six bound for the North Pole.'     'Rail Accident Kills Six.'      'Six Held For Questioning.'  'Six Charged With Conspiracy.'    'Six Involved In Fraud.' 'Six Arrested  After Shop Explosion.' 'Phew! Cleaning the Loo Lands Six In Hospital.' you get the general idea. So here is another one, taken from last Saturday's Times newspaper.

BCNU in the headlines!

The Meeting With No.1

    Remember the most recent and modern day television adaptation of Robert Louis Stephensons story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde called Jekyll? In Jekyll soon after Mr Hyde had made his first violent appearence, when Dr. Jakman was in the hospital toilets. He was Mr. Hyde but for a second only, then looking in the mirror he asked 'Who are you?'
   That is what struck me as being wrong when No.6 finally came face to face with No.1, himself in Fall Out. You see apart from tearing off two masks, chasing No.1 being chased around the table in the Control Room, and finally up the ladder into the nose cone of the rocket, there was no shock, no time for the realisation of the situation, and there was definately no verbal confrontation between the two men, no 'Who are you?' What are you?' from No.6. And certainly nothing from No.1, nothing save for his maniacle laughter. Mind you No.6 had had a verbal confrontation with himself in The Schizoid Man earlier in the series.
    I have often thought that it is such a pity that there is no verbal confrontation when No.6 finally gets to confront No.1. But then I suppose any questions No.6 might have had, would have needed an answer, and Patrick McGoohan was in no mood to give any answers. But No.6 might have asked 'Who are you?' at the very least, but he didn't. Perhaps he knew who No.1 was all the time, hence there being no shock at discovering that No.1 is himself! Therefore perhaps there was felt by McGoohan, no need for any further questions or answers. the most important one 'Who is No.1?' 'You are No.1 No.6.' As for the rest of it, it has been left to us unwitting viewers to figure it out for ourselves, to arrive at whatever conclusion we may.
Be seeing you, whoever you are. Whatever you are!

What's That Patrick McGoohan Up To?

     It would seem that a new machine has been installed at Portmeirion, and an orderly queue is being formed 'Look Pat you've had long enough now. We all want to have a look at what the Butler saw you know!'  BCNU

Pictorial Portmeirion

     This picture makes Portmeirion seem like fairyland, don't you think?

            Black and white is always more defining than colour I often think.

    And here we are back in fairyland. This picture reminds me of story book tales told on television during my childhood, Rag, Tag, and Bobtail for example. Now I am showing my age, not that I look it.

   BCNU

There Is More in The Prisoner Than Is Dreampt In Your Philosophy!

    It will be 45 years on September 5th since the Prisoner first went into production at Portmeirion, and you would think that all that can be written about the series has been written, well not yet it hasn't. What's more you would think that everything that can be seen in the Prisoner has been seen and realised, again you would be wrong. Now I know that there has been lengthy debate regarding the possible identity of the Prisoner being that of Danger Man John Drake, please, no comments as this topic has well been discussed and put to bed now, besides that is not what this posting is all about, although there is a definable link between that of Danger Man and the Prisoner. It might well be the entire production crew, it might be Norma West, the Observer-No.240 in Dance of the Dead, and Pauline in Danger Man's A Very Dangerous Game. Or even Sheila Allen No.14 in A B & C and Dian Eglington in Danger Man's Don't Nail Him Yet, and such a list would include any actor or actress who appeared in both series. However it is by sheer accident that Sheila Allen happens to appear in the Prisoner twice! There, try and work that one out, but don't expect me to tell you in what other episode it is other than A B & C, because it has to do with this definable link between the Prisoner  and Danger Man, and to be fair Sheila Allen's second appearence in the Prisoner was by sheer luck, and I'm sure that she was not aware of it herself, and as far as I am aware I am the only fan of the Prisoner to have made this discovery. It took me some time to spot this link, to fathom it's meaning, so I don't wonder that it has never been noted before in the annuls of appreciation for the Prisoner.

    That's one aspect which has never before been realised within the realms of Prisoner appreciation, what follows is another, one which did take me some time to realise that No.2 was speaking rubbish about the content of a certain photograph.

    Take that picture which No.2 shows 73 in the opening scene of Hammer Into Anvil. It is supposed to be a picture of 73's husband caught 'In flagrante' with the woman Mariah. Well that's utter rubbish! No.73's husband does not appear in that photograph, there is no woman Mariah, and certainly no 'In flagrante.' In fact I can say where that photograph comes from - who is actually in that photograph - when it was taken - and who it was who is supposed to have taken that photograph - and who actually it was who took it, but I'm not going to, where would be the fun in that? For you I mean, to hand such information on a plate would hardly be fair to be expected, dispite the freedom of information act which we all live under these days. If anyone else discovers what the photograph is all about, well the cat will be truly out of the bag as far as I'm concerned. But at least I will have the pleasure of probably being the first to have made the discovery, amongst a multitude of fans of the Prisoner.    Be seeing you.

Leader of the Gang!

    In the episode Checkmate No.6 is told the way in which to distinguish between the blacks and the whites on the chessboard, they looking all the same, you judge by attitudes, you soon know who's for or against you, the same way as it is in life, it's simple psychology.
    When I was a lad, I was in a gang once, oh not the type of gang you get today, one carrying guns, although we did carry guns, cap guns, and spud guns, you pushed the barrel of the gun into a potato, then fired the little pellet created in the barrel, all pretty harmless stuff. But every gang must have a leader, and so it was with ours.....you will recall with No.6's gang, that it was he who took charge and did everything, apart from constructing the radio transmitter. You will recall that it was No.6 who dashed off to see what was wrong upon hearing the distress signal stop, and leaving his men behind. If only No.6 had taken one man with him, he could have sent the other man back to the Green Dome to tell the others what was happening, and himself put out to sea on that pair of rubber lilos sending the distress signal, and bring in the ship. But he didn't. No.6 was brought to reckoning by the Rook who put to No.6 his own test. We eventually turned on our gang leader because he wouldn't let any other memeber of the gang do anything, because he simply didn't trust us enough!  BCNU

THEPRIS6NER

Every Picture Tells A Story

          The Village Shop
        For All Your Needs
   That's what the sign says, just as long as it's a map of the Village you want to buy - buy one get one free - makes the perfect gift for a friend. And the Village map is on everything from tea trays, cups, saucers, plates, teapots, coffee pots, to aprons, not to mention the maps themselves.
   But what about the milk, the butter and ice cream? The aspirins and potatoes, and food in general? There isn't any! No, the Village shop is more of the style of the Ship Shop at Portmeirion, which sells only fancy goods.
   There is also something else about this picture, Un-Two is about to enter the Village Shop, but who is that just passing by? A man who is a Two impersonator! Impersonating Two is an act of treason. In the event of a Two impersonator arising, you must seek him out and apprehend him. This man may look like Two, but you will know that he is not Two, because he is not Two. He may claim to be Two, but he is not, and must be treated as who he is, which is someone who is not Two. He is a danger to the Village.

   Pictured here, Two and the Shopkeeper 37927, who smoke an illicit cigarette together. Smoking in the Village is not permitted, yet cigarettes are sold in the Village Shop, but from under the counter! And this reflects what shall happen here in England from April 2012, I think it is, yes I'm sure, that cigarettes in shops and stores will have to be kept out of sight, and sold from under the counter, so that they are out of sight from the general public at large, but chiefly not seen by children!  'Pssst, got any cigarettes? Wrap them up in a plain brown paper bag.' Yes, just how it used to be with pornographic magazines, sold and wrapped up in plain brown paper bags.

  And finally, what I think is the saddest picture in THEPRIS6NER. I know that the school girl 1,100 had been caught spying on Two, and I do realise that because of that 1,100 had to be sent to the Therapy Zone for treatment, but even so.........You see Two had given 1,100 an ice cream, and told her that she had time to finish it before 'they' came for her, he lied!
      
  Two projects a kindly, benevolent image. The people love him, worship him, as Two only wants the best for the citizens of the Village, even though he would think nothing of having anything done to any citizen, and smile while it was being done. A kindly, family loving man, with the dark side of a sadist!     Be seeing you oh and don't forget to 'Breathe in............breathe out.....................more Village.'

Hit For A Six!

    The cricket match during the Girl Who Was Death, the supporters of whom are all female! There is not one male supporter amongst them, not even small boys!

  
    Perhaps it is a case of the women, and girls are relatives of the the cricket players, wives, mothers, girlfriends so on and so forth. But that still doesn't account for the lack of boys watching the cricket match!

   BCNU....fielding on the boundry, or in the slips.

Arts And Crafts

  The Alternative face at the window.  This one is for Anna.

      BCNU....................................

Thought For The Day

    Is Fotheringay a traitor? I suppose it depends on which side runs the Village. But during The Chimes of Big Ben he certainly betrayed an ex-colleague and old friend whom he clearly liked, the Prisoner, and could not wait to see again!  Fotheringay is but a pawn, used as window dressing so to make the Prisoner's arrival in that office in London far more plausable than it might otherwise have been.
    Might it not have been better in Many Happy Returns, if the Colonel had been played by Kevin Stoney, as during The Chimes of Big Ben, instead of Donald Sinden, and to have had Fortheringay instead of Thorpe? I wonder what might the Prisoner's reaction have been to have report to those two ex-colleagues? Would the Prisoner have behaved in a professional manner? Or would he be out for revenge? Certainly the Prisoner would still have questions, and both the Colonel and Fotheringay would still have been the only two to be able to help their ex-colleague. However if that had been the case, and considering the outcome of The Chimes of Big Ben, the Prisoner would have known that he was still in the hands of the enemy! But I think it makes for a curious thought for the day all the same.   Be seeing you.

60 Second Interview With No.56

    No.113 'Number Fifty-Six?'
    No.56 'Yes, what do you want?'
   'I am Number One-One-Three, and this is my photographic colleague Number One-One-Three b, we contribute to The Tally Ho.'
    'Well what about it?'
    No.113b 'Smile' {click goes the camera}.
    'Look what do you want?'
   'I didn't think that the position of Supervisor warranted an assistant.'
   'Its doesn't.'
   'Then why is Number Two-Four-Nine helping you, are you not competant enough, that you need an asistant?'
    'Who told you that?'
   'Its on the surveillance film footage, you and Number Two-Four-Nine, working together.'
   'Ah!'
  'But even with an assistant you weren't very good were you. In fact you are the only Supervisor to have his own assistant, in the same way as No.2 from time to time.'
'Well if you put it like that.'
'I do. Because even with an assistant you failed to observe certain occurances.'
'Like what?'
'Well you failed to observe the Rook stealing a surveillance camera.'
'I cannot be blamed for that.'
'No?'
'No!'
'Well the film footage disagrees with you.'
'What do you mean?'
'The camera that the Rook was stealing, is the one that you were looking through at the time, camera thirty-four wasn't it? The camera was actually tilted downwards by the Rook, which would have been reflected by the view on the wall screen here in the Control Room, just before the Rook rips out the wiring, and so the camera was kaput!'
'But the view on the wall screen didn't alter!'
'Precisely! The view on the wall screen should have altered, as the Rook tilted the camera downwards, why didn't it?'
'It's a mistake in continuity if you ask me!'
'Wasn't the fact of the stolen surveillance camera reported by the Electrician who attended the failed camera?'
'No.'
'What about the stolen telephone from the telephone kiosk?'
'No.'
'And the electronic circuits and screwdriver stolen from the electics truck?'
'Contrary to the general belief that Observers see and hear everything.......and continuity errors plaguing the Prisoner!'
'So the Electrical Engineer didn't report that either?'
'He may have done. The report hasn't reached me yet.'
'Report? the Electrician should have telephoned the thefts in immediately!'
'Well he didn't.'
'But it does get worse doesn't it Fifty-Six?'
'Does it?'
'Well there you and your assistant are, not particularly busy, when a mayday is picked up from an aircraft in distress.'
'Yes, Trans-Ocean flight D for Delta two five zero.'
'You didn't recognise the voice?'
'No.'
'No, and neither did Two-Four-Nine. It was Number Six.'
{A sudden realisation on the face of the Supervisor.}
'Even I recognised the voice of Number Six, even though he tried to disguise his voice by crinkling greaseproof paper to emulate radio static.'
'Look I don't have to put up with this.'
'Certainly not for very much longer, no.'
'What do you mean by that?'
'Only that Number Twenty-Eight will be back for the next episode, and you won't!'
'Yes, well we'll see just how long he lasts!'
'He's already lasted longer than you Fifty-Six. I'd say be seeing you, but that seems highly unlikely.'
{The pair of steel doors of the Control Room open, and from the steps of the gantry No.113b gets a final photograph before taking their leave}.
'Smile everyone.' {click goes the camera}

Reporter No.113
Photographer No.113b

Village Pin-Up

                                                       Always a favourite, Nadia Gray.                 BCNU

Sign Your Number Here Number Six

   Just after the maid departs No.6's cottage, the Village Postman calls, he has a special delivery for No.6, for which he is asked to sign for 'Sign your number here Number Six.' Apart from the fact that it is No.6 standing at the door, how does the Postman know who he is, No.6 doesn't wear a badge! But I suppose in a small community as the Village, everyone knows everybody else, as was once the case with all English Villages. But never mind that, why is it that the Village Postman is wearing a Royal Mail peeked cap? I know the Ex-Admiral in Arrival wears a naval cap, and the General during The Chimes of Big Ben wore his military cap.

  

    It is always possible that this man's job, before he came to the Village, was that of a Postman, and so that is his job in the Village. So they allowed him to wear his old peeked cap. Which leaves just one thing - why is he pushing a Penny Farthing about with him on his postal round? I'm quite sure he doesn't ride it. In fact no-one is ever seen to ride a Penny Farthing Bicycle around the Village, they always push it! What's more, that large painted backdrop, of just outside No.6's cottage, in the top picture, isn't fooling anyone!            Be seeing you.

Caught On Camera

    I don't know whether or not that vapour is steam or not. It might be CO2 from a fire exstinguisher. But either way it seems to have hit the spot, judging by the expression on No.2's face, it's just shot up his trouser leg!           BCNU

Thought For The Day

    The man in the mask is Mister Anonymous. I've always been of the opinion that anyone who hides is afraid. Afraid of something, someone, or themselves. But then with very important people, anonimity has always been the dest disguise, or at least that's what they tell us. However, each time I look at No.2 here, as Mister Anonymous, I cannot help but be reminded of the logo for Sandeman Port, even though it is not an exact look-a-like.

    BCNU

'Report To The General...... That's A New One!'

    Is it by accident that the episode of The Schizoid Man is followed by The General? Because in The Schizoid Man mention is made of the General during the conversation between No.2 and No.6 {who was impersonating Curtis at the time} during their taxi ride to the helicopter outside the Recreation Hall.
    No.2 'Look old chap, we've been through many scrapes before, but we've never fallen out over them. The General's not going to behead you.'
    No.6 'We won't know...until I've reported to the General, will we?'
    No.2 'Report to the General.....that's a new one!'
    No.6 'I don't mean report to him personally.........'
    So the question is, is the General mentioned in that conversation betwen No.6 and No.2 in The Schizoid Man a reference to the General of the following episode, and that's why No.2 found reporting to the General a 'new one' because the General is a computer? Or is the General a title or rank like that of the Colonel of whom we have made the acquaintence of in the Prisoner from time to time. I don't think for one minute that he's the General of The Chimes of Big Ben, just for the record.
    I recall John Drake of Danger Man encoutering two Generals, one General Carteret in the episode of The Black Book. General Carteret's brother in-law, Sir Noel Blanchard was being blackmailed, and uses  Drake to achieve his own ends, and in that preserving both his brother in-laws reputation, as well as his own. Then in Such men Are Dangerous Drake meets a General who is dedicated to discipline, and for the moral authority that derives from that discipline. He sees that most men are honest and simple, but are by nature incapable of deciding their own destiny. {Incidentally both Generals are played by the same actor - Jack Gwillim}. But of course there is nothing to say that the General is directly behind the Village, or indeed Curtis's superior. Certainly the General is no-one to No.6, even John Drake' immediate superior is the Admiral! So it might simply be that the General is of a rank higher than the Colonel, who No.6 went running to to report on the Village in Many Happy Returns.
    So you pays your money and takes your choice, whether or not the General made reference to in The Schizoid Man is that of The General, it might very well be sheer coincidence, because the two episodes were written by two different script writers, those of Terrence Feely and Joshua Adams repectively. Besides which, even if Curtis was to have reported to the General in person, computer or not, why would he be leaving the Village, when the General could already have been in the Village! Which in turn begs the question, just when did the General arrive in the Village? I suppose that question would in turn depend upon the time lapse between The Schizoid Man and the General, and whether or not the General was created ouside the Village, or developed within the Village in some scientific laboratory.  
    'Questions, questions.....you don't expect answers!' as John Drake once said.    BCNU.

Caught On Camera

Look out Number Six, he's behind you!

    This picture taken at the 1998 Prisoner Convention held at Portmeirion. Yes, that's me as No.6, but who is No.1?        BCNU

Postcard From The Village

    I have a tale to tell, and it is this. It happened in 1988, when I was staying at Portmeirion in Lower Trinity Cottage. After returning to my cottage from a walk in the woods, and exploring the paths along the cliffs, I made myself a pot of tea, laid out several buscuits on a plate and settled myself down on the sofa to watch some television. I had only been sat down for a few moments when I thought I heard the outer door of my cottage open, yes I was right, because the second door suddenly opened and in walked a little old lady. I was astounded, amazed. Then she said 'Is this the ice cream parlour?' 'No' I said 'It damned well isn't.' She asked me to dierect her to the Ice Cream Parlour. Well she was a little old lady, and I wanted her out. So I helped her outside and directed her to the Ice Cream Parlour. Now I was only gone a matter of moments, literally moments you understand but hadn't locked the cottage door behind me, well I didn't see the need.
    I returned to my cottage, but when I got there I got the shock of my life........because there they were, a man and a woman with their two children in my cottage! What's more they were drinking my tea, and eating my buscuits...bloody cheek! I asked them who the hell they were, and what they were doing in my cottage, didn't they see the sign saying Private? They said that they had seen me leaving with the little old lady, and thought that I was here in Portmeirion to show people, what it was like to live here.  What! No I'm damned well not! I do live here, and this is a private cottage, now get out I told them, which they soon did apologising all the way!     BCNU

Thought For The Day

    I was listening to Radio 4 yesterday morning, a woman was talking about the fact that all manner of government files are being de-classifed, and have been brought into the public domain due to the freedom of information act and the removal of 'D' notices. Well isn't it about time the reason behind the Prisoner's resignation was put in the public domain? After all it's been almost 45 years now, and what with the advent of the freedom of information act......... What's more, perhaps it's time for 'D' notice to be removed from the Village, and all the information gathered there released!       I'll be seeing you.

Can You See What It Is yet?

      You may recall in one post about The Girl Who Was Death, in which I included something of an opitcal illusion, and was this.

     You still can't see it - well stand back from your computer screen and look deeply into the picture, in particular the Lighthouse.....did you do that............. oh you did, and you still can't see what it is. I suppose I shall have to tell you.....a sailing ship, perhaps a ship of the line in full sail. Now can you see it?
BCNU

We Thought You Would Feel Happier As Yourself!

   It was not only the Prisoner-No.6 who was allowed to wear his own suit of clothes in Fall Out, so too was No.48, pictured here on the left. Top Hat, frilly shirt, military tunic, as was most popular back in the 1960's by trendy young men living in London, and a pair of white boots.
   He may wear a bell around his neck, a flower in his Top Hat, but what happened to No.48 to bring him to the Village in the first place? What circumstance could it have been to see No.48 brought before the court of Fall Out? Was it a form of 'Ultimate Test,' and if it was, what form might it have taken? What's more, who was it carrying out that ultimate test against 48, because No.2 was locked away with No.6 in the Embryo Room!
    Was the promise made to No.48 for him to meet No.1, as it was to No.6? Whatever it was that brought No.48 to the current state of affairs of Fall Out, like the Prisoner-No.6, he too was allowed to wear his own suit of clothes. Why not so the 'late' No.2? Well obviously he hadn't time to change, seeing his own situation clearly made that impossible!       BCNU.

Photocaption

    I know it's cheating, but I am reminded of a line from Carry On Cowboy 'I'm from Texas, we've all got big ones down there!' {If only the Kid could talk!}
BCNU

Arts And Crafts

     You've heard of that term 'Alternative' as in The Alternative Arrival & The Alternative Chimes of Big Ben, well this is ALTERNATIVE Fall Out!

                                       BCNU

Village Transport

  On his way to Kandersfeld, the Prisoner/Colonel is in a queue waiting to drive onto a Ferry at the port of Dover in the Prisoner episode Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.
    Yet agents working for the Village are never very far away, 'Undercover' as seen in the parked van in the upper right hand corner of the picture.

  

   And again seen here, as the Prisoner/Colonel  drives into the Austrian Village of Kandersfeld, a Volks Wagon Camper van.

  Clearly Village transport of a bygone age, yet for the future!

I'll be seeing you.

Kandersfeld

  This is a picture of......well in Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling its Kandersfeld, a Village in Austria, which doesn't really exist of course.

          
   This frame of film on the left, is taken from that of the Prisoner/Colonel drives into Kanderseld along the main street of the Village. Then after a shot of the Prisoner.Colonel in his Lotus, and then the film in Kanderfeld continues, from which this next frame is taken. And no, before you ask, I've not been messing it about!

    I'm sure you have noticed that the second short film of Kandersfeld is the same as the first piece of film, yet mirrored! Note the cars in the above frame of film, together with the man and woman. The dark car in the top frame is just parking, as it is in the bottom frame. But then look at the woman, she has a dog with her, and the man has walked a few paces away along the street. To complete this film sequence, the next shot is re-mirrored, as in the top frame. This is yet another hole in the low budget production of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling. Perhaps they thought no-one would notice, and even if they did, who cares, which could also be said of this next frame, which is shown as Potter is approaching Kanderfeld.

  Because this short piece of film, from which the frame on the left is taken from, was also used in the Jamed Bond film Goldfinger. For those fans of the Prisoner who didn 't already know that.
I'll be seeing you

A Favourite Moment in The Prisoner Comes When................

....................the 'late No.2 in Fall Out says 'Be seeing you' just before he disappears into the vapour!

    Be seeing you.

We Thought That You Would Be Happier As Yourself!

  At the time of the Prisoner's medical examination in Arrival, he asked about his own clothes, when told that he'd be given new ones. 'What about my old ones?' the Prisoner asked 'They've been burnt.' the doctor informed him.
   Now why should the Prisoner's old clothes be burnt? Was it a case of the possibility of contamination of some kind? Most unlikely. But then upon leaving the Examination Room, the Prisoner looks in through the window of the Aversion Therapy Room. There, at the far end of the room, is a baldheaded man, uttering some incomprehensible jibberish, wearing the Prisoner's own suit of clothes, why? What's more, why did the doctor lie about the clothes having been burnt? Because clearly they weren't, as they turn up again in Dance of the Dead, specially delivered for the occasion of the Ball to be held in the Town Hall that evening. But soon after which,  the Prisoner's own clothes were taken away from him for a second time, stored somewhere until it was time to bring them out again in time for when the Prisoner would be his old self once more. Or at least when it was time for someone else to play the role of the Prisoner in Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, the Colonel.
   But the Colonel {Nigel Stock} is a different size to that of the Prisoner {Patrick McGoohan}, so surely it had to be a different suit of clothes which the Colonel wore. But if they weren't, how did the Prisoner's suit arrive back at the Village for them to adorn the dummy pictured here? After all when the Colonel was brought back to the Village from Kandersfeld in Austria, he was wearing a different suit, white shirt, and tie. Not attired as the Prisoner had been, although technically he was still that person, until Professor Seltzman put them through the mind transference for a second time. But thinking about it, perhaps the person who returned the Prisoner's Lotus 7 back to London, brought the Prisoner's own suit of clothes back with him to the Village, always providing that the Colonel had brought them with him on his journey to Austria in the first place. Either that, or collected from the Prisoner's London home. In any case, there they were, attired on a dummy of the Prisoner, waiting for him to be his old self once more, this time for good......or so we thought!
BCNU

'Our Exports Will Operate In Every Corner Of The Globe'

  These cereal or gumball toys produced in Argentina by 'Premium Toys', gifts for bithday parties, funfair prizes, and gifts at small Circuses.

     And also produced in Argentina, the Prisoner mini cards.

   I came across these toys on ebay a few days ago. The 'mini cards' appear to date from the late 1990's, judging by the cover design of the box.  If anyone residing in Argentina reading this, would care to make a comment on these Prisoner products, to give any information they pocess about them, then I would be obliged.     Be seeing you.