A life time fan and Prisonerologist of the 1960's series 'the Prisoner', a leading authority on the subject, a short story writer, and now Prisoner novelist.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Many Happy Returns - No.6!
I wonder why it is that a number of fans of the Prisoner are of the opinion that the Village was evacuated the day before Many Happy Returns? Because they say why wasn't the Village evacuated in Fall Out in the same way as Many Happy Returns? Well that's because the Village wasn't evacuated during the day prior to Many Happy Returns, because that would mean that No.6 would have to have been heavily sedated during that time, not impossible I know, but it would have been a logistical headache for the Village Administration. To evacuate the Village, to find somewhere to put the people, then to bring all the citizens back after No.6 had set sail on his sea voyage. And more, to evacutae the Village for a second time, so that the Village would be deserted upon the Prisoners return.....I don't think so. For me, it works to have the citizens heavily sedated, and for those who actually run the Village, to be kept out of sight until No.6 had set sail upon his raft. The question is, for how long? And of course that would depend on how long it would take No.6 to actually build his raft.........a day, two days? However long it was, one thing is clear, No.2 was sure of No.6's skills to allow him to undertake such a dangerous adventure. After all, factually speaking, to travel on a north-easterly course from the Village, would have taken No.6, if not through the Bay of Biscay, then certainly the Atlantic ocean, after all the Bay of Biscay is basically an exstention of the Atlantic Ocean. Somehow, and again factually speaking, I doubt very much that No.6 aboard his raft would have survived those 65 feet waves of the Bay of Biscay, nor those of the Atlantic Ocean! BCNU
Perhaps he was never on the raft at all, the sea journey might have been a controlled dream, as in AB&C or Living in Harmony. This would be safer than letting Number 6 loose on the sea and hoping he'd get back to London unassisted.
ReplyDeleteHello Mister Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteWell that's one way of looking at 'Many Happy Returns,' one which I had never considered myself. I suppose it's one interpretation which might explain it. But why should No.6 dream Mrs Butterworth as No.2? Unless of course Mrs Butterworth is No.2 at the start of the episode, which is information the viewer of the episode is not privy to.
It was once suggested that the Village was created in the mind, the subconscious, of the Prisoner-No.6, which would go hand in hand with the doctor-No.14's theory in 'A B & C' that No.6 is undergoing a persecution complex!
Regards
Dave
BCNU
Mr Anonymous again. Are names used here?!
ReplyDeleteI only meant that the sea voyage was created in No.6's mind. They'd get him safely to England, creating the illusion of a sea journey. And then let him wake up at Beachy Head and let him get to London. So his encounter with Mrs. Butterworth was "real", not imagined.
Another way to help No.6 get back to England by sea safely might be if Rover was underneath the raft, steering it through the choppy waters and unseen by No.6 !
BCNU
Hello Mister Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteSometimes names are used here!
Ah I see where you are coming from regarding only the sea voyage being created in the mind of No.6. But the question does remain, when does the dream start? Does No.6 actually construct his sea-going raft and take the photographs of the Village as photographic evidence, or is that part of the dream? But I can see that the dream would end, with a bucket of water being thrown over the Prisoner, to wake him up, as though being washed up on the beach at Beachy Head.
In the Prisoner's dream, he collapses from exhaustion, possibly suffering from exposure and hypothermia from the cold. It might be that the Prisoner is on the point of death. But as we know, one cannot die in a dream, you wake up just at the point of death. Perhaps that is the reason for the Gun Runners and the Prisoner's salvation from a watery grave. After all the Gun Runners did turn up at a very propitious moment.
I have to say that you have a quick and keen imagination, something we seem to have in common. I have now a mental visualisation of Rover just benaeth the raft, helping it along....that would make for a great cartoon image!
Regards
David
BCNU