The Therapy Zone

Everything Becomes Clear!

     The Prisoner, it's 44 years since the series was first screened on British television, and now the Prisoner has finally come home to ITV.

   In recent years the Prisoner has enjoyed a re-mastering of the 35mm prints, along with a re-re-mastering and further enhancement to give the picture far more clarity than it has ever enjoyed in the past. So much so, that comments like "The Prisoner looks as though it was filmed yesterday." Well of course it wasn't, was it?

   It's okay to re-master films and television series, and many look all the better for it. However with the Prisoner constant re-mastering, and enhancement of the picture quality has only served to bring out the series imperfections. For example, in The Schizoid Man when the pair of sixes are together in No.6's cottage. You can now clearly see the defining "split screen" line in the scene, which were filmed separately and then put together to place both No.6's in the same scene on the screen. Also there is a difference in lighting quality which can be clearly seen on the screen. Before all this re-mastering and enhancement it was difficult to discern on the screen the thin line between the split screen, and there was not so much difference in lighting. But now all has become clear, with a never before picture clarity, which makes the Prisoner easier to be defined, along with its imperfections

The Frankenstein Syndrome

    In creating the Prisoner, did Patrick McGoohan create a monster which eventually got out of control? When I say out of control, I mean it's fans have played their part, after all so much has been read into the Prisoner series, so many theories and ideas going down so many different avenuse over the many years, as I have myself, so guilty as charged. And all McGoohan wanted was to make us stop and think, to ask questions, but I think that's where it all got out of control, For McGoohan anyway.

Fall Out Was An Escape

    Well that's what it seems to appear to be for many. But for Sir, it was a case of being just as much a prisoner at the end as he was at the beginning, which of course Fall Out was.

   For the ex-No.2, well he went back to another kind of village, that of the political Village of Westminster, even if it was through the Peers entrance of the Houses of Parliament. As for No.48, well he is probably still out there, somewhere along the A20 trying to thumb a lift to somewhere or other!

   The village was being evacuated, upon the order of the President. So where would all those citizens go? Who would look after those old folk, those in the hospital who have been medically experimented upon, where would they go? And those citizens born in the village, what would life be like for them outside of the village? But we need not concern ourselves too much about their predicament, becasue they'll be back in the village before you know it. Look how fast the Butler returned after his entering

No.1 Buckingham Place

, and having packed his new masters bags for him! Well it was the Butler, and two suitcases had been packed by the Prisoners return to his house in the opening sequence!

I'll be seeing you.