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Saturday 14 January 2012

The Prisoner's Question Time

No.2 "They'll want to know you know."
The Prisoner "Who will?"
"Those who are watching."
"What will they want to know, why I resigned?"
"Oh nothing as trivial as all that. No, they'll want to know what the screening order of the Prisoner series."
"Th........there isn't one."
"There msut be."
"No."
"Look, every television series is made up by a series of consecutive episodes."
"Mine isn't!"
"No, knowing you it wouldn't have. But the television viewers who will become fans of this series will expect there to be a proper screening order. They'll debate it, discuss it, and argue about it for years to come."
"It doesn't have to have an order to it, does it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well seeing as how each episode can be viewed independently, as a self contained story, it doesn't matter in which order you view them."
"But there must be a beginning and an ending, that's only natural."
"Well of course the Prisoner has a beginning."
"And an ending?"
"Well.......I, I, I, I......haven't written it yet!"
So we'll start at the beginning."
"Arrival, arrival is the first episode."
"Good, and what follows that?"
"It's difficult."
"Difficult! what's difficult about it?"
"It's difficult to say, it could be Dance of the Dead, or Free For All."
"Try to think."
"Yes I am............The Chimes of Big Ben!"
"What?"
"To be followed by this episode Degree Absolute."
"But I die at the end of this episode!"
"Yes....well it has to be one or the other of us, and if I die now, what price the conclusion?"
"Aggggggh!......Alright, alright. But what about all the episodes in between, try to put them in some sort of order."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"You've been told!"
"What about the library order?"
"Yeees.....you could use that."
"Good, now we're getting somewhere."
"But even if you do, when the Prisoner is shown in other countries, they may very well put the series in an order all their own. Even to the point of only using thirteen episodes of the series."
"Why......why should they do that?"
"I don't damn well know. Go and ask them!"
"And the fans, what about them?"
"Oh let them put the episodes in any damned order they like. It will be all the same in the end!"
"Agggggh!"

2 comments:

  1. Hello David

    "Each episode will be self contained but part of an continuing storyline." (Patrick McGoohan August 1966 L.A.Times)

    Sincerely

    Mr. Anonymous

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Mister Anonymous,

    Quite right, thank you for the quote, and I'm pleased you reminded me. However I was not using actual quotes in this off-the-cuff piece. It is for amusement only. But you knew that.

    Kind Regards
    David
    BCNU

    ReplyDelete