Thought For The Day

    The thing about the Prisoner is, that there is always going to be something which remains a puzzlement, for example where did No.2 think No.6 had got a bomb from in the first place? If he thought that it was in the Cuckoo clock, which was one of several "special" imports, then security in the Village wasn't as tight as No.2 wanted it to be. Its no wonder he called for an increase in vigilance. But again, what was it that originally happened in the Village, for No.2 to think that enemies against the Village were in their midst?  Yet when you think about it, the Administration bring people into the Village, those abducted there as in the case of No.6, who is top of the list of malcontents, who would not be happy about it, and not only rebel, but work against the Village. If there are enemies in the Village, the administration brought them there in the first place!
BCNU

Escape To The Totally New Renault 21

   Well the car was new back in 1989 when the television commercial was being filmed at Portmeirion. You may recall a previous blog on the subject, along with a link to the video of the commercial on YouTube. Well I spent a day in July with the film crew, as they filmed their commercial at Portmeirion, being there on holiday at the time. Here are a handful of the photographs I took at the time.

           

The director

           Actor Neil Duncan as 21.

  Actor Neil Duncan who himself was a fan of the Prisoner at the time, a relation had bought him the series on Channel 5 video. Neil would go on to appear in the Sherlock Holmes series on ITV in The Hound of The Baskervilles as Dr. Mortimer.

   At the time, I had never realized just how dull and boring much of film work can be, and all those members of the production crew who stood about doing nothing for hours at a time, or at least that is the impression they gave. But at least I got to meet and talk to Neil Duncan. I also enjoyed a conversation with the director, who allowed me to roam about and take photographs as I saw fit.

Be seeing you

THEPRIS6NER

   This is 16's family in the final scene of Harmony, as Six has arrived at their home to tell them about the death of 16, as it appears in the 2009 ITV transmission of THEPRIS6NER, and also of the episode in the ITV DVD box-set of the series. An ordinary looking family, but then why are they laughing at Six who has brought them such tragic news?
   So why is it, that in this very same scene of the AMCtv transmission in America, has 16's family wearing pig masks as seen in the following picture?

   I can understand the surrealness of the scene now, that 16's family are taunting Six because he doesn't like pork. What I don't understand, is why this scene was altered for the British screening! Did the AMCtv producers think that seeing the scene as this might upset some people on this side of the Atlantic, people who do not eat pork? But I'm sure that the same can be said on the American side of the Atlantic. Other than that it is quite inexplicable, and I don't undersatdn the need for the change! 
Be seeing you.

Arts And Crafts

A new arrival in the Village.

  BCNU

I Will Not Be Pushed-Filed-Stamped-Indexed-Briefed-De-Briefed-Or Numbered!

   Well that's what the Prisoner said to No.2 on the day of his arrival in the Village, but as we know it didn't work out that way.  The Prisoner was pushed into resigning his job, either by his superiors, meaning jumping before he was pushed. Either that or the Prisoner had become disillusioned by the kind of work he had been doing.
    Well the Prisoner was certainly filed, his card being x'ed out and filed away in a grey filing cabinet marked RESIGNED. Stamped, well that would all depend on ones definition of the word. Looking at it through the thoughts of the Prisoner, it would be that he will not accept, or settle down, conform, or adapt, or adjust to the ways  and life on the Village.
   Indexed, well his personal file was indexed, as he was in the Labour Exchange Managers ledger in Free For All. He had everything on the Prisoner, the Manager even knew that the Prisoner had given up sugar four years and three months ago on medical advice.
    Briefed, the Prisoner was briefed on the Village during the aerial tour of the Village in Arrival, just as he was de-briefed by No.2 back in his office in the Green Dome. And numbered? Well one might think that it was that medic who had numbered No.6, but it wasn't, it was some faceless Village Administrator. But to the television viewer, it might be said that No.2 gave No.6 his number, when in fact it was the Supervisor-No.28 who first used the Prisoner's number, when the Prisoner was trying to escape in a Village vehicle along the beach!
   Pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, de-briefed, and numbered, the Prisoner certainly has been. What's more there wasn't a thing he could do about it!
BCNU

Caught On Camera

    Here we see No.6 attempting to escape in Free For All. I think No.6 realised that he was being sucked into the system by having decided to run for public office. Anyway, here he is attempting to escape and being persued by No.2 in the helicopter. But the question is, who is it who lives in that house on the far side of the estuary from the Village? Post 14 perhaps!       Be seeing you.

Collectors corner

   Here is a curious item, I came across it recently on ebay. Its not really connected to the Prisoner, more about the fans of the Prisoner, made by the fans, if you see what I mean.

   Anyone who may have bought this, will not undersatnd it, unless of course they were around Six of One at the time the video was made. Its a rare item, but not for me, I didn't purchase it, nor would I. All the video does it take thr rise out of certain fans of the Prisoner, pokes fun at, and derises them, even at the time it was insulting behaviour I thought, and not even funny!  Be seeing you.

Postcard From The Village

    If you have ever wondered about the whereabouts of the Village, well I can tell you its in North Wales. Oh you knew that did you, well good for you. The Village is Italianate, its Portmeirion of course. Yet even in the Prisoner series itself there can be no doubt of the whereabouts of the Village, as in some aerial shots of the Village in the series, you can see the Welsh flag flying from the Belvedere Outlook, as seen in Dance of the Dead, when No.6 is busy tuning the transister radio.
I'll be seeing you

Thought For The Day

  In the question of the identity of No.6, it would appear that he would not put his trust in science, as he saw that it could be perverted. No.6 would rather be convinced by a human being rather than a machine. And I can see what he means, on the left is No.6's thumb print, so how can the thumb print on the left, being that of Curtis, be identical? Perhaps Curtis was wearing a thin, clear latex thumb print of No.6, in the same way as James Bond did when he was impersonating a guy called Franks in Diamonds Are Forever! Or maybe it is a simple case of perverting science, that what we see on the screen isn't what's on the end of Curtis' thumb!
  And when it comes to human instincts, No.6 got it wrong with Alison, as he did with most women in the Village. No.2 saw the mental link between No.24 and No.6, and having got to 24 used that mental link against No.6. I have often thought that No.24 betrayed No.6 so easily, that she could not have offered much resistance. However, one can only guess what No.2 promised to have done to No.24 had she not co-operated in betraying No.6.     Be seeing you.

THEPRIS6NER

   The Village may now have the feel of 1950's, but you will observe Two's futuristic lap top, the screen is made of glass - you can see right through it as Two spies on 11-12's activities.     Be seeing you.

Arts And Crafts

Potrtait of a Prisoner.

    BCNU

Pictorial Prisoner

   BCNU

We're Talking Piped Blazers

  Once upon a time there was only one way for a fan of the Prisoner was to have his or indeed her own piped blazer, and that was to make your own. Which would be in keeping with many of the home-made piped blazers seen in the Prisoner series, they're not exactly made to the highest standard, if you look at them closely.
   I myself purchased a blazer from Fosters, a store chain now long gone I believe. I went to a local haberdashery store and bought a length of piping, went back to Fosters and their people added the piping to the blazer for me. That was back in 1990, and do you know, that blazer still fits me today some twelve years on. Then in 1994 I had another piped blazer made for me. This time it was an actual school blazer from a school outfitters, yes you can believe it.
    But then from 2000 the Prisoner shop at Portmeirion began to sell piped blazers for around £60 I think it was, a bit on the pricey side, and they were not of the best quality for that price. But I suppose if you have the money and want a piped balzer badly enough...... for the past few years piped blazers and jackets have been all the fashion for women,and eventually for men, so I can wear my piped blazer because of the Prisoner and because they are the fashion. Now Debanhams are selling piped blazers, as seen in the above picture. And the price £99, that fashionable enough for you?
  Recently I purchased another piped jacket, a dark cream one with white piping, it's very subtle, and quite new Village. I purchased it from TKMAX for the price of £15, the original price being £69, a bargain.
Be seeing you

What's This Chap Up To?

  Has anyone seen Roland Walter Dutton? No, oh well no doubt he'll turn up.
   This is me actually, standing at the mouth of the cave in that very same cove in which No.6 found the dead body washed up on the beach at Portmeirion. Yes, there is a cave there, not the same one as seen in Dance of the Dead, not as large, more a slit in the rock, but a cave nevertheless.
BCNU

This Week I Am Most Watching - THEPRIS6NER

    Yes its that time again, to watch this much underrated series, and the fifth time of watching for me since its British premeir in 2010. I still have much appreciation for the series, although I think I have written all I can on the series in previously posted blog.
    Last night I began to see certain continuity errors in Arrival, the fact that at one point, just before the Prisoner helps the old man out in the desert, just for a few seconds, the Prisoner is wearing a different coloured shirt to the one he's wearing here. Then later after Six has stolen 147's taxi, he goes climbing the dunes and hills out in the desert, wearing a green jersey. He is still wearing that same jersey when 313 finds Six lying in the sand out there in the desert, and he's still wearing that jersey when he's lying in the back of 313's car. But as they arrive back in the Village, he's also wearing a green jacket, which he didn't have with him before! I suppose this goes to show how well I'm getting to know THEPRIS6NER09.
    A man wakes up in the desert, he doesn't know how he came to be there. Back in New York he has resigned his job from Summakor. The Prisoner tells Two that he wants to go back to New York. Two tells Six that there is no New York, there is only the Village. Inside Six knows that Six is Six, because Six is Village. That there is no out, there is only in. Six wants to escape, but there is no escape. To the old man 93 the Prisoner is a bloody miracle, because he doesn't come from there.
    Something else which I have observed - no-one in the Village actually pays for anything! In the Village of the original series, a taxi driver would have charged two Work Units for a taxi ride 'that will be two units' the dirver says 'Units?' asks the Prisoner 'Oh well, pay me nxt time, be seeing you.' But in new Village, 147 takes the Prisoner on two or three taxi rides, and never once attempts to collect the fare from his passenger! In the Village Shop, the shopkeeper asks the Prisoner what he can do for him, Six asks for a map and the Shopkeeper 37927 is only too pleased to be of service. In fact he tells the Prisoner 'Buy on map, get a second free, makes the perfect gift.' The Prisoner actually walks out of the Village Shop with one of the two maps in his pocket, yet once again the Shopkeeper makes no attempt to collect the money!
And there I was thinking I'd written everything there is to be written about THEPRIS6NER09, just goes to show you there's more to the series than first meets the eye.    Be seeing you
                        'Breathe in, breathe out, Village life goes on.'

Arts And Crafts

View from A Bell Tower

BCNU

It Could Be Imprisonment - It Could Be A Fine

   Those are the words of No.12 of Administration, and the choice facing No.6. Such is the price of deliberate destruction of official property, for which the full penalty is recommended.
    Well let us pause and consider for a moment. A fine, well what meaning would that have, after all Work Units are worthless are they not? Was it not No.2 playing the role of a High Court Judge in Once Upon A Time who fined No.6 20 Units for speeding? No.6 pleaded with the Judge that he couldn't pay. 'Twenty Units, nothing!' So I took it that Work Units are worthless as a currency in the Village, well it would have to be, wouldn't it. Have you ever seen currency, money, cash used in the Village? Citizens use a credit card, and never handle cash. So it's no wonder No.6 accepted the fine, to have simply handed over his credit card would have been the easiest thing in the world.
   So what about imprisonment? Isn't the Village already a prison? And that being the case, what is there for a  Prison within a prison? Solitary confinement for No.6, possibly house arrest! In any case I'd have thought solitary confinement would have been no punishment for No.6, seeing as how he much prefers to keep himself to himself, perferring his own company to that of others. See how in both It's Your Funeral and A Change of Mind No.6 has built himself a private gymnasium, after he used to use the gymn in the Recreation Hall. But then no man is an island, for at times later in the series, we see No.6 pacing up and down like a caged animal, unable to relax even to eat a ham sandwhich and drink a cup of coffee. No.6 may be a loner, but he cannot do without the day to day interaction with fellow citizens. I just wonder how long No.6 could stand solitary confinement? Perhaps he would not welcome it so well as I first thought.
BCNU

THEPRIS6NER

    The Prisoner, or I should say Michael Six's car, a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Not perhaps as iconic as that of his predecessors Lotus 7, but then the Caterham Seven, as the Lotus 7 became, are really ten a penny these days especially painted in the livery of the Prisoner. As for this Subaru, I've not seen a single one which in my book makes the car iconic, there not being so many about!
Be seeing you.

Caught On Camera

    That's one hell of a contraption, the canopied Penny Farthing bicycle. I bet it raised a few eyebrows of the general public in Portmeirion during the filming 45 years ago. Completely impractical, the canopy serves no purpose, certailny it affords no protection against inclement weather. But as a symbolic item, it works very well. Its iconic, eyecatching, memorable, and in that way it works superbly.    Be seeing you

Questions Are A Burden To Others Answers A Prison For Oneself

    So - how long was No.6 subjected to the altering his righthandedness to being left handed, and the general conditioning of liking flapjacks, and smoking black Russian cigarettes? His growing both a beard and moustache? It all began on the night of February 10th when he was taken from his cottage, and when No.6 woke up in a strange apartment, it was still February 10th, so what was the actual date?     BCNU.

Caught On Camera

Partick McGoohan 'What's going on here? I didn't say break for lunch!'
{People muttering amongst themselves}
'What's going on here?'
Voice at the back, 'I think they called for a crowd scene.'
 Woman, 'Well they got that bit right.'
Man, 'Who's the bloke in the piped blazer?'
'Don't you know, that's Patrick McGoohan.'
Voice, 'What are we queuing up for, have they brought rationing back?'
Man, 'Someone said we were going to get paid today.'
Woman, 'That can't be right surely. I think somethings going on over there.'
Voice at the back , 'What?'
Man 'I don't know, I can't see!'
'Isn't is exciting?'
'What?'
'Being involved in something which will one day become a cult, we'll be famous.'
'We won't be famous. We'll be just faces in the crowd, a figure in long shot'
'Yeah, either that or edited out and dropped on the Cutting Room floor!'
'What is it we're supposed to shout?'
'Haven't you been listening to the director?'
'I was on a toilet break.'
'Six for Two, Six for Two, Six for Two, with intermittent shouts of vote, vote, vote, and progress, progress, progress all at the right times.'
Voice at the back 'Did you see that 'thing' they rolled out of the back of that lorry the other day?'
Woman 'I did, a funny looking thing. A sort of dome with a blue light on the top.'
Man, I saw it too, It was a Go-Kart, the dome was put on top, and a man sat inside.'
'It kicked up an awful noise.'
'What was it supposed to be?'
Man, 'One chap told me it was supposed to be the Village Guardian.'
Woman, 'Well I was talking to a chap out of Properties, and he told me that it's Rover. It was supposed to climb up steps. Go on the land, up walls, on the water as a ship, and as a Submarine in the water.'
'What happened?'
'It sank!'
'They found it again, and put it back on the lorry. Now they've got a load of balloons.'
'Balloon's, what do they want ballons for?'
'Perhaps we're going to have a party!'
Voice at the back, 'I saw them practising with one of them balloons, they were trying to suffocate someone with it!'
'Who?'
'Oh I don't know, some chap in a pink blazer.'
'Tell me why we're queuing up again?'
Voice from the back 'We're going to be given costumes.'
Man, 'Some of us have our own already!'
Woman 'What like him in his old school blazer!'
Voice at the back, 'All this for just Two pounds ten shillings a day.'
Patrick McGoohan 'Can we get on with it Tomblin....haven't got all day you know!'

BCNU

Thought For The Day

    The Prisoner encounters an old colleague, Cobb, who is something of an enigma. Cobb doesn't know how long he's been in the Village - days, weeks, months, its difficult to tell. Cobb was in Germany, and according to him he went back to his hotel, he thinks he went to bed, he was here!

   The last we hear of Cobb, is from a hospital Orderly, who informs a doctor, after sounding the alarm, that Cobb jumped out of the window! I Know that the Village is very cosmopolitan, that you never know who you'll meet. But I have come to think that its a pity that it was not Chambers, 'late' of the Foreign Office, whom the Prisoner encountered on the ward of the hospiotal instead of Cobb, that would have made a little more sense continuity wise, for the Prisoner to meet someone the television viewer had heard of. You will recall the name Chambers from the de-briefing of the Prisoner by No.2. How the Prisoner had a meeting arranged with Chambers, whose mind he was hoping to change before the 'big boys' found out!  BCNU.

Arts And Crafts

   A portrait of Janet Portland, commisioned by her father Sir Charles.

   Well I've done my best, but Janet proved to be a difficult subject. She is not a girl of the sixties, well lets face it, it's been a long time since Janet Portland was a girl! I don't know what the Prisoner saw in her. I found it extremely difficult to find the Janet inside!         Be seeing you.

Who The Devil's This?

    Well he might be posing as the ex-Admiral No.66 by the pool and fountain in Arrival, but he's certainly not the actor Frederick Piper who played the role of No.66-Ex-Admiral who played chess with No.6 in Arrival, who told No.9 We're all Pawns me' dear.  This fellow dressed as the Ex-Admiral-No.66, is seen sitting on the edge of the pool and fountain, as the Prisoner is makes his way across the central Piazza to the Labour Exchange. Who this film extra is I've no idea. But surely the question must be, why isn't it actor Frederick Piper who sits there as the Ex-Admiral-No.66 as the Prisoner passes by?      Be seeing you.

The High Price Of Freedom!

    The episode Living In Harmony sees a Sheriff handing in both his badge and his gun both which went with the job, not to mention the possibility of his horse, seeing as how the Man With No Name is later seen carrying his saddle.
    Having been brought so uncermoniously to the American frontier town of Harmony, the Man With No Name goes into the Saloon, where regulars get the first one on the house, but the Man With No Name isn't regular, and pays for his drink with what sounds to be a wooden silver dollar!
   Leaving the Saloon the Man With No Name approaches an old timer at the Livery Stable and asks how much the Bay horse is, to which the old timer tells him $5,000, the rest, well they're expensive. It would seem that the price of horse flesh in the town of Harmony is extortionate, so much for the price of freedom!  BCNU

Number Six is Dead - Rover Got Him!

     What if, by some quirk of fate that the brief statement made to No.2 in The Schizoid Man, 'Number Six is dead, Rover got him!' was correct, that the Village Guardian did attack the wrong No.6, where would that leave Curtis, or No.2 far that matter? It would have been a piece of quick thinking on the part of Curtis, to see his fate laid out before him. Perhaps he would not be allowed to leave the Village. So what would be more natural for Curtis than to carry on maintaining the persona of No.6, in an attempt to escape the Village as No.6, thereby avoiding the wrath of both No.2 and perhaps even No.1. Of course Curtis would have to fool No.2 into thinking that he was No.6, and so would have to act accordingly, otherwise No.2 might smell a rat!
    But there was one flaw in Curtis' escape plan, in that he palyed the role of No.6 too well! Curtis might not have had to feign his somewhat nervous and strung up state, but he would have to pretend that he'd had no time to think about No.2's proposition, which No.2 had put to him since his arrival in the Village. To make nothing of the duff line about the General, Well not to report to him personally......For Pete's sake you know what I mean. Of course No.2 had never known Curtis quite so strung up, and remarked upon it, to which Curtis replied You mean I'm not as I was.
   Curtis' impersonation of No.6 was perfect, so perfect in fact that his performance put a nagging thought in the mind of No.2, who went off for a moment to have  aword with the helicopter pilot. After speaking with No.24, No.2 rejoined Curtis You won't forget to give my regards to Susan will you? I won't Curtis replied slipping on a blindfold. And that was the final flaw in Curtis' plan, and it would be enough to hang him! You see Curtis was too good, but although he knew that Susan had died a year ago he had to respond as No.6 would have done. After all how would No.6 have known that Susan had did a year ago? To answer No.2 any other way Curtis would have given himself away!
   So where did that leave Curtis and No.2? Well it would be an impossible situation. For No.6 to be so important to the Village Adminstration,perhaps for the very future of the Village, his death would have been unthinkable. So to save both No.2's bacon, and perhaps his own, Curtis would be doomed to go on living in the Village, not as himself, but in the guise and persona of No.6 in all respects, never once being able to allow his guard to fall in case he should be give himself away.   Be seeing you, whoever you are!

Caught On Camera

   Errr No.6, I hope you don't mind me mentioning this, but shouldn't that be a black Russian cigarette? You are about to light up a Senior Service cigeratte!
   I used to be a smoker, but I gave it up nearly twenty years ago. I used to like a cigar as well, a good cigar mark you, Cubans when I stayed at Portmeirion. I have smoked Black Russian cigarettes myself, but the trouble was, the tip part was always coming away from the rest of the cigarette!
Be seeing you

Village Pin-Up

   No.8-Wanda Ventham, who supervised the daily activity prognosis report on No.6 in It's Your Funeral.
   Lovely smile Wanda, and a lady who was not afraid to wear her cloak rightside out!.     BCNU

The Ebb Tide Of Dance Of The Dead

     No.6 tied a dead man's body to a lifebelt and set it adrift, so to be carried out to sea, but the body probably never got out of that cove, seeing as the tide was on the ebb at the time, coming in, not going out! In any case the body was recovered, if not washed up on the beach again, but if at sea, then it is suggestive by the Village motor cruiser M.S. Polotska!  Be seeing you.

Thought For The Day

   In Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, we learn that the Prisoner has a fiancee, Janet Portland. I think it a shame that we never know or hear the Prisoner name uttered within the series. After all the Prisoner's name might have been John, that then it would have been Janet and John, and that would have been another link to children in the series. Janet & John being children's reading books of the 1950's and 60's.  BCNU

Caught On Camera

  All the Prisoner had to do, was to keep walking towards the telephone kiosk, pick up the phone and say 'What exchange is this?' But no, director David Tomblin just had to go and say 'Cut.' Just a minute! Where's the telephone? There's no telephone at the telephone kiosk! In that case its no wonder that the telephone conversation between the Prisoner and the telephone operator was filmed later. But there was no reason to change location!














Its an archway, not the yellow and white Triumphal arch, a simple archway in a wall! Even if the scene in which the Prisoner speaks to the telephone operator had to be filmed later, there is no excuse for not using the orignal location for the telephone kiosk. What was Doris Martin doing? Doris was responsible for continuity at the time, and for 11 out of the 17 episodes. Other than that it was Josie Fulford, Anne Basselman, and Phillis Townsend.
Be seeing you.

Arts And Crafts

This I gave the title of After Cobb's Funeral.

       BCNU

60 Second Interview with No.12

No.113 'So, you were a conspirator with No.6 against the Village.' No.12 'If you want to put it that way.'
No.113b 'Smile' {click goes the camera}
'What other way is there Number Twelve?'
'We might have been conspirators, but against the General, and Speedlearn. We were simply following the Professor's lead.'
'Which was?'
'That Speedlearn is an abomination, that the General must be destroyed.'
'You are remakably open in your confession?'
'I can afford to be, given my new circumstances.'
'And you placed your trust in Number Six?'
'His only subject was getting away from this place!'
'You were kindred spirits?'
'I suppose so.'
'You told him to join the club?'
'What was wrong with that? Even Number Two wanted out, he said as much to Madam Professor.'
'What did he say to Madam Professor?'
'That Number Six wants what we all want ultimately, to escape.'
'Treasonable thoughts.'
'Expressed in words, which were not held against him.'
'You were a small cog in the machine.'
'In Administration, and without such small cogs the machine breaks down.'
'You didn't guard your words!'
'Against the Professor, no. Nor did I mince them. I was right though, wasn't I?'
'In what way?'
'I warned Number Two that the Professor was a crank, and that he attracts trouble makers.'
'You and Number Six both!'
'Yes.'
'You were not in favour of Speedlearn?'
'Well they were not getting it right, were they?'
'Wern't they?'
'What was the treaty of Adrianople?'
'September 1829.'
'Wrong. I said what, not when. You're like Number Six, you need some special coaching.'
'You supplied Number Six with two Security Pass discs.'
'Yes, and the uniform of a Top-Hat Administrator.'
'When he came to see you that time in your office.'
'Yes.'
'And sabotage?'
'A simple piece of fuse wire across the contacts of a lightbulb.'
Yet in the end you attempted to save the Professor's life.'
'It looks that way doesn't it?'
'What other way is there?'
'Attempted suicide.'
'And you.......?'
'Apparently I died in the attempt' the spectre replied, as like an old soldier he simply faded away.

Reporter No.113

Photographer No.113b

You've Never Understood Us Number Six - We Never Fail!

'Fill him with hallucinatory drugs. Put him in a dangerous environment. Talk to him through microphones. Give him love, take it away. Isolate him. Make him kill, then face him with death. He'll crack. Break him even in his mind, and the rest will be easy.'

    Well it wasn't, in fact nothing is easy when it comes to No.6. The porblem is that No.2's hands are more often than not tied with 'no extreme measures to be used yet.' They did try and trick the Prisoner into talking, but not even the tears of No.66 would move him. Then they allowed No.6 to try and escape, just to teach him a lesson. But they don't want No.6 broken, they don't want a man of fragments, well at least not in the early days. Then having only three days to gain the reason behind the Prisoner's resignation. Oh and of course we musn't damage the tissue! I mean what's all that about, No.1 looking after himself as usual I expect. Then the new No.2 told No.6 that they have many ways and means, but do not wish to damage him permanently. The doctor No.40 and later 22 both saw that everyone has their breaking point, and had they had their way, No.6 would have either ended up like No.42, or possibly as one of those brainwashed imbiciles in the Council Chamber, or worse docile and complicit! 'There are other ways' No.2 once said, and when they tried those other ways they failed to get it right, or they made the grave mistake of underestimating No.6.
   They tried to trick him. Experimented on No.6 with a new drug. gave him the opportunity for power. They took away his identity, and faced him with himself, on two separate occasions! Oh they saw to it that No.6 went on a nice little sea voyage, but made sure he arrived back in the Village in the end. They saw him sentenced to death at a trial. Allowed him enough rope to hang himself, in a manner of speaking, by selecting reliable men, and organising an escape, the Rook putting to No.6 his own test. No.6, then having been declared unmutual, saw to it that No.6 thought that he had undergone the operation known as Instant Social Conversion. They changed his mind, got him to tell a blessed fairy tale. Put him in a dangerous environment, making him kill, and faced him with death, then regressed No.6 to his childhood, and finally faced him with himself, they'd tried that one before. It didn't work the first time, and it didn't work in Fall Out! No.2 once said that No.6 has never understood them, that they never fail.....I think No.2 should take a close look in Visual Records, and then he might have revised his statement!     Be seeing you

Pictorial Prisoner

    Three hard bitten desperados you would not wish to meet, from left to right Bill 'lightfingers' Nick, Frank 'quick draw' Maher, and Les 'one gun' Crawford. Formally of the Dalton gang, later to ride with the James boys, now they work for the Judge as hired guns, creating chaos and trouble wherever they go.   Be seeing you pardner.

Thought For The Day

    Not only had they plugged No.8 into the alarm system in Checkmate, her reactions to whether or not she was going to lose No.6, if he was going to escape, so sending an alarm to Control. Not only that, but they even got her to make No.6's night cap of hot chocolate drugged of course, something which No.6's personal maid would have done for him!
Be seeing you.

Had the Prisoner Learned Nothing by The End Of His Ordeal?

    It would seem that the idea was to have the episodes of the Prisoner in such an order as the character of the Prisoner-No.6 developes, this according to the series librarian Tony Sloman. So why did they put the episodes in the order they did?
    At the beginng the Prisoner is confused, angry, and aggressive towards his captors, but then when isn't he? He refuses to settle done, and joins in only when it suits him. He is stubborn, refuses to conform to the rules of society. Rejects his numbered badge, and refuses to respond to his number, except when it suits him.
   He attempts to escape at every given opportunity. And at times pokes his nose in where it's not wanted, and conspires with others who like No.6 are disatisfied with their surroundings, or wish to bring something like the educational experiment of Speedlearn to an abrupt close. Nay, to save the innocent victims of the Village from mass reprisals brought about by the assassination/execution of a retiring No.2.
    Basically No.6 likes to keep himself to himself, much preferring his own company to that of his fellow citizens. And when he's not in his private gymnasium, he's pacing up and down like a caged animal!
    When No.6 thinks he's either escaping, or having escaped the Village, the first thing he does is go running back to his ex-colleagues, which each time avails him nothing! And when the Prisoner finally escapes with the aid of three confederates, what does he go and do......he drives off in his Lotus and sets the whole thing in motion again with his act of resignation!  Will the Prisoner never learn?
Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

  'You brought me back here.....'
                    {No.2 Once Upon A Time}

   No.2 wasn't at all happy at having been brought back to the Village for a second term of office, well more a one to one with No.6 really. More than that, Leo McKern was even less overjoyed with McGoohan for having brought him back for Fall Out!
BCNU

Karaoke Night At The Cat And Mouse

   'Once, long ago, there was a man who made a tv show.
Spent, all his savings every penny, so that we would know.
But this poor man had few friends,
and his boss wouldn't pay him so,
I thought a way for him to escape.
I I I I helped Patrick McGoohan escape...............................

Now you can watch the Video by Ed Ball and The Times 'I helped Patrick McGoohan escape' by clicking on the link below. If of course the link doesn't work, then go to YouTube and type in I helped Patrick McGoohan escape.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzUCCl9YaBQ

BCNU

Arts And Crafts

    This I've given the title of After The Evacuation.

       BCNU

It's Virtual Checkmate

                                 

   BCNU

You're Going In?

 'I have to make my report.' But surely No.2 makes her reports by telephone, as her predecessors have done, as her successors will do, as indeed this No.2 had done in a much earlier scene in the episode. So why the need for a teletype? If this is simply not another way for No.2 to make her report, as done by telephone, then to whom is No.2 reporting, and receiving instructions from via the teletype?
   The use of the teletype seems to have been an unecessary complication which makes no sense at all, save for the use as an instrument to demonstrate that no matter what No.6 does to try and sabotage the Village, the machine will always have a back-up system.
   Of course it is always possible that No.1 is simply a figure head for the Village, albeit unseen. That No.1 is responsible for the Village to an external agency, or governmental department who has overall responsibility for the Village. So that No.2 may report to No.1 by telephone, but more directly to some external agency by teletype. The trouble with the Prisoner is, that all things are possible, except escape!   Be seeing you.

Thought For The Day

    On the morning of his arrival in the Village, the Prisoner takes a taxi ride. He asks the oriental taxi driver to take him to the nearest town, but seeing as how it's only a local service, he asked the driver to take him as far as she could. The taxi driver spoke to the Prisoner in French, thinking he might be a Pole or Czech. So pardon my ignorance, if she thought that, why speak to him in French? 'French is International' the taxi driver said.  
    French might very well be seen to be International, because when in Free For All No.6 comments on his breakfast 'Nicely done, French?' 'International' No.2 replied. And then we're back with Napoleon Bonaparte again, an International community, a unified Europe, with France at it's heart!  BCNU.

Don't Do That!

'How!'
'Don't do that!'
What?'
'Enquire.'
'What's your number?'
'What?'
'Your number, what is it?'
Be careful.'
'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...'
'Quiet.'
'....nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen?'

    Such is the conversation between No.6 and No.86 in the early morning of Once Upon A Time. It is perfectly evident that No.86 is afraid of anyone enquiring about him. Afraid to give even his own number away to others, in this case No.6. Afraid to give anything away, to say the wrong thing, because someone might very well be listening and over hear what was being said. This is much the same as it was in Napoleon Bonapatre's France. His was a France of a police state, with a vast network of secret police and spies. Citizens were afraid to pass comment, or to express an opinion for fear of being denounced by a neighbour, and taken before the Committee, as was the case during the French Revolution.
   In the Prisoner epsiode A Change of Mind citizens of the Village are quick to denounce a fellow citizen as being Unmutual for not observing, or keeping to the rules of society. For simply not returning a citizens greeting can see one taken before the Committee. In revolutionary France, after being brought before the Committee, the next step was on the steps to Madame Guillotine. But in the Village, there is the operation known as Instant Social Conversion! There is much in common between revolutionary France and the Village, would you not say citizen?          Bonjour Chez Vous.

The Prisoner Shop

   I was thumbing through an old book of information the other day, whilst looking up a name from the past, and there was a number of photographs, this being one of them. This is the bay window of the Prisoner shop at Portmeirion, as it used to be up until 2000, after which the shop was completely refurbished, and the bay window replaced with French doors, as it was originally, and seen in the Prisoner.
   I have to say that at certain times of the year, when visiting the Prisoner
shop is was cold and damp, enjoying an atmosphere all it's own. But the shop, which was run by Max Hora, was always amply stocked with all kinds of Prisoner merchandise. But it wasn't always easy to gain entry into the shop, it didn't open until 11am, and closed promptly at 5pm, and during that time, if a keen fan of the Prisoner having arrived at Portmeirion, keenly making a bee-line for the Prisoner shop, then he or she was sometimes faced with this...

a hand writen note on the door handle 'Back soon.' There used to be a warning sign upon the door, warning visitors that the shop was to do with the 1960's television series the Prisoner, that it might be confusing for people not familiar with the Prisoner. Well people did go in not knowing what they were walking into, and from time to time visitors to Portmeirion would go into the shop looking for an ice cream or a cup of tea, and Max would have to explain that this was not the tea shop or ice cream kiosk. And others simply wandering in and wandering out, wondering what it was all about! For me, it was like a sweet shop, filled with all kinds of goodies to buy.  Be seeing you.

In An Emergency We Walk!

    Such is the slow pace of life in the Village, that those such as electricians, use a garden tractor such as this to get about the Village. Yet in an emergency - they walk! Well perhaps if the maids had walked carrying citizens breakfast trays in the opening scene of Dance of the Dead, then the breakfast would have arrived hot!
   Yet there is a variety of transportation in the Village, the Austin Mini-Moke used as the Village taxi. The Penny Farthing bicycle, which no-one in the Village is seen riding! The old faithful Tricycle. The canopied RWS 16 bicycle. The French Alouette helicopter. The Doughty Jet Drive boat, as seen in Free For All, used by No.6 in an attempt to escape the Village. And M.S.Polotska, real name Breda, original name DABII, which was actually one of the fleet of little boats to go across to help in the evacuation of Dunkirk in WWII.
   But remember, if you want to get anywhere in the Village in a hurry, then it's always qicker to walk. A taxi, oh no, I wouldn't use a taxi, local service only. Yes they'll take you anywhere you want to go just as long as you arrive back here in the end, that's why they're called local!
Be seeing you

The Most Irritatiung Man In The Village!

    Yes, this fellow here is the most irritating man in the Village! Why? Well by the way he pulls ridiculous faces when speaking on the telephone in the opening scenes of It's Your Funeral. More than that, in the way he keeps taking off and the putting on of his spectacles, during an interview with No.6! And what's more, how come actor Derren Nesbitt got away with not having to use that over-sized curved red telephone which both Colin Gordon and Patrick Cargill, both as No.2, were forced to use during their episodes? Because I would have liked to have seen Derren using that phone, and with good reason, as being the most irritating man in the Village, having been brought down to size!  Be seeing you.

The Spy Who Was Recruited........

.............Into The Banking Service!

    During Once Upon A Time the Prisoner was interviewed by the managing director of a Bank. Indeed the Prisoner was recruited into the Banking service, which was a cover for secret work. In John le Carre's novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold which was adapted as a film in 1965 starring Richard Burton as Alec Leamas. Alec Leamas was basically a field agent, but he aworked in MI6's Banking Service, being the Banker for many British agents around the world, but chiefly those in West Germany. Lemas would set up Bank accounts in false names in West Germany, mainly in Berlin, he would then deposit a sum of monies into the account, after which a British agent for whom the money was intended, would use his or her false name to withdraw the said monies from the account.
    Perhaps the above account is something on the grounds for which the Prisoner was recruited into a Banking Service. After all as No.2 said, such a man as the Prisoner with his talents would not be wasted in licking stamps!
Brrrrr its could out there! But not as cold as it once was.  Cor, that sounds like a password recognition response.     BCNU

What's That Patrick McGoohan Up To?

    'Alright, who's idea was it to use these damned balloons? Look who's got the foot pump, I can't stand about here all day you know. And tell my wife to get a move on, these things burst easily, we've got through 20 this morning already. So tell Joan to use the vacuum cleaner to blow them up with, it'll be qucker!'
Be seeing you

Why Did You Resign?

No.6 'I didn't accept, why did you accept?'
No.2 'You resigned!'
I rejected!'
'You accepted before you resigned.'
'I rejected!'
'Who?'
'You.'
Why me?'
    This is part of the conversation between No.2 and No.6 during their deliberations in the Embryo Room of Once Upon A Time. It would appear that No.6 rejected No.2, that he has something against him, but I don't know what. Unless of course we have been here before, and it was No.2 and the Village that No.6 rejected. It is also possible that they knew each other before they encountered each other in the Village. Or perhaps they are the same birds of a feather, in that No.2 was once a Prisoner in the Village, that what was so deplorable is that he resisted for so short a time! In other words, No.2 accepted.
   It is my opinion that after rejecting the Village, the Prisoner was on his way to hand in his resignation, but afterwards was adbucted back to the Village.................its a vicous circle you see. The events of the Prisoner being played out over and over again.
Be seeing you.

The Trial Of No.6

    The trial of No.6 during Dance of the Dead was heavily stacked against him it has to be said. A Prosecuter who was also his Observer, as well as being biased. A Defender who was a witness for the Prosecution! Three presiding Judges - Elizabeth the 1st who had a close friend and adviser beheaded at the stroke of a quill. Emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned, and Napoleon Bonaparte who never showed mercy to anyone.
    The final nail in the Prisoner's coffin was when he called a character witness, a man who the Prisoner thinks he once knew. A man who is scheduled to die, and therefore best suited to say the things that needed to be said......the only trouble was, the doctor-No.40 had gone too far with his experiments with No.42-Roland Walter Dutton. And so the Prisoner is sentenced to death - the Court sentence in the name of the people - the people carry out the sentence in the name of justice. Well we might have known that such a death sentence would not be carried out against No.6, didn't No.2 herself say that No.6 has a future with the Village? No, the Prisoner's trial was nothing more than an utter farce. What exactly was achieved by it is not clear, unless it is to show that whatever No.6 does, he cannot win!     Be seeing you.

Caught On Camera

   I was trawling through a number of photographs yesterday afternoon, when I came across this one. Yes Patrick is directing Alex Kanner, while others sit about waiting for the next scene. But just a minute......I didn't think there was  a bout of Kosho in Fall Out! Observe the man dressed in Kosho garb in the right of the picture.   Be seeing you.

Arts And Crafts

I'm still in my umbrella period, although it's not raining!

              BCNU

Number Six - An Inspiration?

    Is No.6 really an inspiration to anyone who is deciding to pack-in their job, or wants to show their rebellious nature? Well if you are about to chuck up a job, don't think for one minute you'll be abducted to the Village, no life's not like that, well not for ordinary people it isn't. You are more than likely to simply end up at the Labour exchange, or Job Centre Plus as they are called today. Mind you having said that, No.6 did find himself at the Labour Exchange, where he was asked to fill in a questionaire, and faced an aptitude test.
   In some ways the Prisoner can be influential, in making us ask questions, to see that we should not simply accept things as they are, but to question, to rebel even. It has been said that the Prisoner was a rebel, that he didn't accept. Well that's against the Village and his enforced incarceration there. But before his act of resignation, the Prisoner was an accepted, member of the establishment. He showed great enthusiasm for his work, being utterly loyal, these are not the acts of a rebel. But I suppose loyalties change, so do ideals. And if the Prisoner was the former John Drake, and I'm not saying that he was, then as a friend said to me recently in an email, I can see more and more why the Prisoner resigned!   Be seeing you

A Former No.2

   Yes, this person, a former Supervisor-No.28, is also a former No.2. You will recall how in Once Upon A Time he was promoted to the position of No.2, even if it was only for a week, by No.2 who was quickly on his way to the Embryo Room.
   But there is more to this former Supervisor/No.2 than first meets the eye, because in Fall Out we see him robe himself as one of the Delgates, and take up his seat in the Assembly.
   So the question is, who did this No.2 promote to the position of No.2 before he went to take No.6 to meet No.1? Perhaps No.2 was there all the time, a former No.2 who was brought back as the President, or Judge, to oversee the trial of three Prisoners. Because do not forget that it was the President who gave the order to evacuate the Village!
Be seeing you.

Collectors Corner

    This 1:43 scale die-cast model of KAR 120C was licensed by Caterham Cars, and is an exact replica of the original car in every detail. Save for the fact that originally KAR 120C was painted black, as the Lotus Car demonstrator. It was on of the desire and intruction of Patrick McGoohan that KAR 120C was resprayed in the livery were are so familiar with. But I digress, this die-cast model is currently on sale on Ebay, the bidding has reached £46 as two didders battle for the car. I myself would have once upon a time have joined the fray, as I used to collect anything and everything I could in merchandise and memorablia to do with the Prisoner, and pay almost any price. But these days I am more conservative and restrained in my collecting.   Be seeing you.

Pictorial Prisoner

   BCNU