Village Day

  Village Day is a very special day in the Village calendar of annual events, because it celebrates Founders Day, the day when the Village was first founded. And this bust of the Prisoner, the former Number Six, was specially commissioned for the celebrations.
   You will no doubt be familiar with the term "Founder of the feast," well the Prisoner-Number Six, or rather that of Patrick McGoohan, is the founder of the Village!
   The bust was escpecially well produced for the film, in fact he is still with me, standing on a plinth in the study of my home.

I'll be seeing you

No.7's It Doesn't really Mean Anything!

    But what really is there to understand? The Prisoner is basically a television series to be viewed, or perhaps more appropriately, experienced. There is nothing more to it than what the viewer thinks, or feels while watching it - anything else is un-natural and contrived.

No.7

What's That No.6 Up To Now?

   "Number Six, allow me to introduce you to Mister Brian Cox."

    "Is he in the Prisoner?"

    "He is now!"

    "What's he doing?"

    "He's making a search of your cottage, in fact he's going to make a sweep of your entire cottage, that's what he’s doing."

    "The maids already flicked a feather duster about the place!"

    "Very amusing Number Six!"

    "Doesn't your man need a broom, if he's going to be sweeping my cottage?"

    "No, it doesn't work like that Number Six. Brian here is going to electronically sweep your cottage, with this metal detector!"

    "Isn't technology wonderful! What's he going to be looking for?

    "The Professor's recorder."

    "Why don't you get Brian here to look in the wardrobe?"

   "He will, in a moment Number Six. Do you realise that there will be those who will deny that Brian Cox here was ever in the Prisoner series. Yet here he is, if only for a few moments....."

    ............ "While he makes a search of my cottage in fact!"

   "Indeed!"

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

   In The Chimes of Big Ben we learn at the end that Number Six's British superiors are working for The Village - or at least they were a part of whatever system had incarcerated him. In Many Happy Returns, we're not so sure. Those British superiors appear authentic, and they seem honestly concerned about what happened to Number Six, well the Colonel perhaps, not so sure about Thorpe! Casual viewers may think that the pilot of the Glotser Meteor jet aircraft, the man who ejects Number Six from the aircraft and back to The Village, was working for the British. But a closer vieweing reveals that the airplane pilot first appears in the episode as a Milkman, driving a milkfloat which bears a sign "Pinta man Is Strong," which of course is a cover. The Milkman is working for The Village, who overcame the Group Captain, taking his clothing, and flew Number Six to The Village.

    That is exactly what happened in the original script. In fact, in the original script we are introduced to the character who is going to fly the aircraft, and we are privy to a scene in which the Milkman and this pilot confront each other. If this had been completed according to the original script, we would be in no doubt that the actual airplane pilot was different to the intended pilot. Why would the change have been made in the final version? Perhaps the script was going too long and certain scenes had to be trimmed. More likely - considering the importance of this detail - it was decided to leave the situation ambiguous. Although it is fairly clear that the British superiors weren't in on it this time, although we can't be certain."

                                                         

                                                                         **

    In the episode of Checkmate No.8-the white Queen offered to help No.6 with an escape attempt if it's a good plan, at least she could tell him what not to try, a sort of one woman escape committee. Incidentally in an unused script entitled Don’t Get Yourself Killed No.6 hears about an "escape committee" which used to be in every POW camp during both the first and second World Wars, who would assess and authorise inmates escape plans. No.6 joins the "escape committee" and meets the bottle man, who puts SOS messages in bottles and throws them into the sea. An attempt to organise a helicopter for an escape attempt is foiled, No.6 having been betrayed by the Miner, who had discovered "fools gold." And a man who had built a "pedal copter" hidden in a cave, and it was there that No.6 met the Miner.

    This script Don’t Get Yourself Killed was rejected, but I think it may have added something to the Prisoner series, because it shows that other inmates were actually involved with escape plans. After all in the actual series we only hear about escapes, or being too old to escape, apart from No.6 who does attempt four escapes from the village, other than that we only witness one escape which involves other citizens of the village, and that was in the plan drawn up by No.6 in Checkmate. Other than that there was only one other escape attempt, and one I do not count as it was "stage managed," that escape attempt of Nadia's who could not swim so far - how far? 30 miles, according to Nadia.

   Seeing as there are so many unhappy people in the village, you'd think that more people would try to escape, unless they are too old for escape, but even so the law of averages would say that sooner or later one citizen would succeed. But having successfully escaped, where would the escapee send the postcard? Anyone successfully having escaped POW camps during World war II, having made a "home run," would send a postcard to the POW camp from England. Ah, but then you would say that no-one knows the whereabouts of the Village to send a postcard. No.6 knows, No.6 knows.

                                                                           **

    "From the beginning of the series, the character called 'No.1' was responsible for death, torture, war. So the worst enemy of man is surely himself; the evil in him the worst thing on earth. One is born with an instilled sense of right and wrong, which is why one is a human being and not an animal. The Prisoner was a splash of objection on a canvas. It was an attempt that failed really to try a slightly different type of television series and at the same time take a stand on something I feel strongly about: numerization, mediocrity, this levelling of people by acceptance. It seems to me that part of the rebellion today is the rebellion against acceptance."

                                                    Patrick McGoohan

Be seeing you

Postcard From The Village

   The words "We want Six, Six is the One. We want Six, Six is the One. We want Six, Six is the One" suddenly spring to mind as the good citizens of the community chant for No.6 outside the Town Hall. Yes, I know that the former No.6, now the new No.2 is wearing a 2 rosette, but I have Fall Out in mind, and the possibility that Six and One are one and the same.
   It's a few days over a month for the Prisoner convention at Portmeirion {March 30th - April 1st}, and if I were there and taking part in the Election Parade re-enactment I would be chanting "We want Six, Six is the One" and in all probability be posted "Unmutual" for my time and trouble!

I'll be seeing you.......but not at the convention, been there, done it, bought the 'T' shirt.

Caught On Camera

   Caught On Camera is something nasty on the windscreen of the Mini Moke, and Tom was ordered by Pat to clean it off, as Pat laughed, "Someone’s got to do it, and it isn't going to be me!"

"That's better, I've got a clear shot now" the Cameraman said.

"What was it?" Pat asked.

 "Mmmmmm just as I thought, Sparrow shit!" Tom replied.

Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

    During the aerial tour of the Village in Arrival No.2 suggests to the Prisoner the possibility, that he may be given a position of authority, does No.2 think that wise? After all once attaining the position as the New No.2 in Free For All, having been the people's choice, what did No.6 immediately do? He tried to organise a mass breakout of the Village! Not having been in the position for five minutes, the former No.6 abused his position of authority.Of course there was never any chance that the new No.2's plan would work, but that's not the point. No.6 showed his true colours, and I'm amazed that in Fall Out No.6 is seen to be the person, individual, a man magnificently equipped to lead them, certainly after what No.6 had tried to do during Free For All. The transfer of ultimate power to the former No.6? I don't believe it!

   Perhaps it was No.1 who wanted out, to escape, and the only way he could do that would be to find someone like him, to play figurehead for the Village!

BCNU

What Life In the Village For No.1?

   No.1 could hardly go about the village dressed like this could he? After all he'd stick out like a sore thumb, people would whisper "That's No.1" as he passes by, but even at that they would not know who No.1 is, as he hides behind his anonymity. Anonymity being the best form of disguise with very important people!

   But where exactly does No.1 live? Surely he cannot spend all his time in the control room of that rocket?  And does he permanently wear that black and white mask, if he does, it must be difficult at meal times! And if he doesn't, then there must surely be those who have seen him without his mask, and know his identity. Unless of course No.1 only removed his robe and mask in the privacy of his own living quarters. After all No.2 may have his own residency in the village, but that is just an office, there are no living quarters in the Green Dome, save for the annexe round the back for the Butler. No.2's living quarters is somewhere beneath the Green Dome. After all No.2 in A B and C rises up through the floor in his chair, still wearing his pyjamas. So it's possible that No.2's living quarters are next door to No.1!

    So Iwould suggest that No.1 is No.6, they being one and the same, not quite a doppelganger, or clone, but each the alter ego of the other. Is that how No.1 enjoys the fruits of the village, through his alter ego?

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

   Fall Out - The Estate Agent's sign attached to the railings outside the Prisoner's London house, has the name of Lageu & Son, Estate Agents. This is something of an in-joke, as John Lageu was employed during the episode of Fall Out as the set dresser.

                                                               **

     Hammer Into Anvil - In the original script, at the end of the episode, Number Six visits the grave of Number Seventy-three, and places a bunch of Daffodils upon her grave. This was omitted from the finished episode. The scene may have put too much emphasis on Number Six's sympathies. But even with no final visit to the grave, it becomes apparent that Number Six is taking on a role within the community. He is protecting the people from the abuses of society or at least enacting revenge against wrongs. This is most evident in episodes like It’s Your Funeral, in which he saves innocent citizens from cruel and inevitable punishment. Which prompts the question………why does No.6 care?

           The Prisoner

    "I wrote the last script first. All the other stories were meant to lead into it. When there weren't any scripts I just had to sit down and write one. Of course, we had script problems. Everyone does. I asked one top writer to work for us and he wanted £10,000 an episode. But we didn't have that sort of budget. My job is to entertain the public. I wish I'd had more time, that's all. But I still wouldn't have told the story in strict black and white. I don't want to explain everything. If it doesn't come off, then it's my fault. As far as I'm concerned it's explained. But I admit, a great deal is still left open. Don't expect a final pay-off. There isn't one. There's no big tying-up of loose ends. You still want to know its message? Then it's this: the most dangerous thing in the world is an attitude of mind."

   "I was nearly lynched in England when the last episode came out. Everyone wanted to know what it was all about. Was I on the communist side or on the British side, or what? They wanted all the answers tied up with ribbon and handed out. If there are answers, as such, they are contained in the last episode. Number One-the horror-figure hanging over it all - is revealed by the Prisoner himself. This was exactly a one-and-a-half-second shot. I cut it until there was just enough to get it, if you wanted to. I could have lingered on the shot for ages."

                                      Patrick McGoohan
Be seeing you

What Happened The Day After Appreciation Day?

    During the episode of It’s Your Funeral, No.6, with the aid of the watchmakers daughter Monique-No.50, stopped the assassination/execution of the retiring No.2. I have often wondered what the implications might be for the following day, the day after 'Appreciation Day.'?

   I think we can take it that the 'new' No.2 would still be in place, even after his failure of It’s Your Funeral, in that his failure to see the retiring No.2 executed on No.1's orders. Because it would be something to bring in another 'new' No.2 to replace the current 'new' No.2 having only been appointed to the position.

   But certainly there would be no mass reprisals taken out on the citizens of the village. However I can think that the 'new' No.2 would make it very hard for No.6, through whose interference brought about No.2's failure. But then at the time of being the heir presumptive, the plan had been to involve No.6, so really No.2 only had himself to blame for his own downfall. Had he not involved No.6...... well who can say?

   What would take place on the day after 'Appreciation day' is down to anyone's imagination. No.6 certainly retired back into the woods with his home-made gymnasium equipment, keeping himself to himself, as was the case in A Change of Mind.

   It could be the case that No.2 looked to take out some reprisal against No.6 for his involvement in the plan to execute the retiring No.2 of the day before. What those reprisals might be, could range from some form of hospital treatment. A beating from No.2's 'bully-boys,' after all his subtle plan of the previous day hadn't gone so well had it. And what's more the 'Appreciation Day' monument had been removed, well certainly before the day dawned on A Change of Mind it had. My bet would be that the 'Appreciation Day' monument had been removed some time during the night, and that the events of the day before had been swept under the carpet. But No.1's trust in No.2 would certainly have been dented, and could not be trusted to execute another audacious plan, such as he had been previously given.

   The heir presumptive of the previous day had actually staked his life on the right result, of things going like clockwork, just as No.1 had said. It might be that after an interim time this 'new' No.2 did pay with his life, not having the ability to carry out a simple exercise as in It’s Your Funeral, for which it might so easily have been, had 'they' not involved No.6!

BCNU

No.7's It Doesn't Really Mean Anything!

   Ever since the Prisoner was first screened, people have wondered what it's all about. Then in 1977 Six of One: The Prisoner Appreciation Society was formed as a forum for debate, to search for answers.
    The Prisoner is not straightforward, it is frequently puzzling, that much is obvious.
    Many people, if not most people who have watched the series, in part or whole, are left wondering what it all means, I know I was. They probably felt uncomfortable when the series came to an end because they didn't understand what they had seen. Or rather, they didn't, or don't, see what everyone else seems to see, that elusive answer!

I'll be seeing you

Arts And Crafts

    The Schizoid Man!

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

    Many Happy Returns – the new Number 2 wears a badge with a black background, upon which is a white penny farthing and a white number 2. Previously we have seen citizens wear such a badge, but with a red number 2. No reason is ever given for there are "positive" and "negative" badges.

   This new Number Two-Mrs Butterworth, is the only Number Two in the series to wear the "negative" badge.

                                                                 *

    The General - The Professor is a tragic figure, a man with a conscience and genius who is manipulated ruthlessly by the village authorities. It again shows McGoohan's great respect and sympathy for men of science and his scorn for the manipulation and perversion of that science. This is a constant theme within the Prisoner and is best realised in the episode Do Not forsake Me Oh My Darling.

                                                              *

    The Schizoid Man - While Number Six does attempt to escape at the end of this episode, it is important to note that the focus of this episode is not escape, but on survival as an individual. Number Six is charged with maintaining his identity, and does this, victoriously. The boundaries of the struggle have changed. Escape is no longer the main issue with Number Six, as the focus is on the maintenance of his identity, his self.

                                                             *

    A B and C - The General - Number Two drinks a good deal of milk in both these episodes, which gives colour to the theory that Number Two is suffering from a stomach ulcer. It's certainly in keeping with his nervous state of mind, and probably why he didn't have a good night that one time in A B and C.

Curfew Time

   There is a piece of dialogue in the original script of Hammer Into Anvil which takes place as No.6 takes a large white envelope which he has hidden under the bed sheet, and hides it under his blazer.

   No.6 enters the lounge and goes over to the window. The street is dark and deserted, a voice over the loudspeaker announces   "It is quarter to midnight. Curfew in fifteen minutes. Repeat - curfew in fifteen minutes."

   Well that's a bit of an eye opener, as I always thought curfew time as eight o'clock. But in any case this piece of dialogue never made it into the completed episode.

Be seeing you

What would Life Be Like The Day After For.........

.......... The Professor's wife for example, the day after her husband had been electrocuted whilst trying to save the General. Up to now she had been occupied by two things, first in helping keep her husband the Professor alive by talking him into working for the administration of the village, to keep up with his lectures.  Secondly there was her art seminars, would she be able to keep these going? After all whilst the Professor was still alive his wife had some value, was useful to them up to a point. But after her husbands death, the Professor's widow would have little value, and be of little use. But for a prisoner, as now the Professor's widow would surely be, to have time on her hands would not be  a good thing. Best to keep busy with something to do each day, and so possibly the village administration, the 'new' No.2 would allow her to continue with her art seminars. And perhaps she would be allowed to keep the house, as it was a complete replica of her own home.

    Martha, Mrs Butterworth's maid, who would then take up her duties as No.2's maid, having been brought to the village along with her mistress of course. She would have seen that there was no need for a butler, and therefore would have seen to it that the butler is moved out, and she then moved into the annex of the Green Dome.

   But then once her mistress, Mrs Butterworth-No.2's term of office had come to an end, Martha would then have to move out of the annex as the butler moved back in, taking up his rightful place as butler, valet, and gentleman's gentleman to the 'new' No.2.

   As for Martha, she would not be allowed to leave the village as her mistress had done. She would now have to remain as a citizen of the village. New accommodation would be found for her as she had no such 'home from home' a replica of her own home, as in some case in the village, as well as a position within the community. Working as a maid, making beds, dusting, bringing meals to certain fortunate inmates. And of course making citizens their regular nightcap of hot chocolate in order to help them sleep.

   Then there's Janet Portland, she must surely have been distraught the poor woman. After losing her fiancé a first time, not being able to tell if her own father Sir Charles Portland for whom her fiancé worked, is telling her the truth or not. That he doesn't know whether or not he can get in touch, that he hasn't sent him on a mission, and that Sir Charles has no idea where her fiancé is!

   So then when she has come to an understanding, all be it a difficult thing to come to terms with, the fact that the mind of her fiancé is housed in another mans body. She has to lose her fiancé for a second time, because Janet would not see her fiancé, all be it in the form of the Colonel, again after he had come to see her at her birthday party, if only to collect that slip of paper, that receipt for the roll of film he had left at the photographic shop just over a year ago.

  And what could Janet ask of her father? He would not be able to tell her any more than she knew at that time, other than what had happened to him during his time away from her. And there would be no way that she could find him. Janet had lost her fiancé for a second time, she would not know what would become of him. If he were able to become himself again, or if......... her fiancé would remain as she last saw him, his mind wrongly housed in another mans body for the rest of his life.

Be seeing you

The Village Library

   In truth I have never been that interested in the production side of the Prisoner, save for some of the stories I have either read, or heard from members of the production crew in the past. So really it was quite remarkable that I should have decided to purchase, let alone read this book by Ian Rakoff. However I did read it, and what's more I thoroughly enjoyed it.
   Ian Rakoff worked as writer and assistant editor on the original series.

Be seeing you

Pictorial Prisoner

   Daily No.6 climbs the Bell Tower, constantly waiting, watching. You would think there would be a sign of life from 'his' world, a light, a boat, a plane. But the Village is very well situated on an estuary, tucked away unseen from any passing ships, and miles away from any possible regularly used airspace, so no aircraft, save for the Village helicopter!

BCNU

The Prisoner and Me - Me And The Prisoner

   British fans of The Prisoner may be interested to know, that the currnet issue of the Radio Times February 25th - March 3rd, contains the second of a two part pull-out feature of walks based on the location of television series. A brief guided tour of Portmeirion, alongside a drawing of the Village as above left, is included.
  There was a time when I would have rushed out to purchase one, perhaps two, copies of any magazine or publication to gain a picture, line of text, advertisement, or anything remotely connected to the Prisoner or Portmeirion in articles. Indeed I have a number of files containing newspaper and magazine cuttings and articles dating back as far as the late 1970's. But no more, as I have long since stopped that particular activity in the name of the Prisoner and Portmeirion. And so I didn't rush out the moment I learned of this in the Radio Times.

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

   What follows are extracts from a transcript of an interview with actor Peter Howell who played the role of the Professor in the Prisoner episode The General. the interview was carried out on 1989.

  Before the start of filming of the Prisoner Peter Howell and his wife made a visit to Portmeirion.

Peter Howell: Yes, it was, I suppose about five years before. My wife and I wanted a few days holiday and so we went up to Portmeirion. It so happened that the man who managed the hotel then was called Michael Trevor-Williams, who had been in the war with me in the same regiment, and I think that is why we chose to go there.

    And we had a marvellous time, staying in the hotel. The food was just stunning, and we wandered about this bizarre village, and of course we saw a lot of the countryside - went up Snowdon.

   So I knew about Portmeirion, and I remember I was terribly disappointed when we made the episode. At first I thought it marvellous because they would need me to go up to Portmeirion, and I should be able to go back to the hotel. But not a bit of it! My double went up and that stuff on the beach is with my double, not with me. So I never got my second visit to this extraordinary place.

   But I think one of the achievements of the series is the location. Portmeirion, because somehow the bizarreness of it.... you've got everything there, haven't you? You've got so much of what you need. It's slightly strange and other worldy, and also these great masses of beach you can use. It's a very good idea to use that. So that's my experience of Portmeirion - I haven't been back, alas.

Beyond Curfew

   When it comes to murder, they say the first person to find the body, is generally the person who committed the murder in the first place!

    Well it was No.6 who found the body when he woke up on the beach that morning, but I don't think he was the one who did it. Sure No.6's first thought was to go through the dead man's pockets, otherwise he wouldn't have found the wallet, or the radio from which he might hear word from the outside world.

  Later No.6 would use the cadaver for his own ends, to use it and send the outside world a message, to whoever may find it, that he was actually alive. No.2 would then have the body amended slightly so that it is No.6 who has died in an accident at sea! Very important this dead man has suddenly become, even if he wasn't very important alive.

   But who was he? A citizen of the village of that there can be no doubt, the picture of the dead man together with a young woman, sitting together by the fountain pool in the Piazza proves that. But how had he acquired the radio, and for what purpose?

   The radio message received by No.6 was obviously intended for the dead man, so could he have been a plant in the village? But that would still not account for the radio, unless there were two such plants in the village, the one in a position to gain the radio for the dead man. You will recall how No.12 in administration aided No.6 that time, in getting two security pass discs and "Top-hat" uniform for No.6 in The General.

   Of course we may never know just who the dead man was. All we do know is, that he was a citizen of the village, that he knew a young woman there, so it might be a good idea to track her down might be a good idea. That he had a radio cannot be denied, nor the fact that he was out and about either very early that the morning, or like No.6, he defied the curfew and spent the night on the beach. How did the man die? Well I think he died a horrible death of suffocation, by the village guardian, past curfew time or not.

BcNu

Thought For The Day

    Number Six may very well have been a "prize" Prisoner in the opinion of certain Number Two's, and in others that he has a future with them. That he's far too important, that the tissue musn't be damaged, perhaps even to be given a position of authority. Yet in the eyes of other Number Two's, they simply see Number Six as a piece of meat to be experimented upon, and if necesary........broken! I wonder why the value of Number Six fluctuates so, to be risked, especially in the latter episodes of the Prisoner's ordeal?

   It is reported, during the daily activity prognosis report on No.6, that daily he climbs the Bell Tower, that the reason is unknown. It is said that he is constantly watching, constantly waiting, perhaps he's still waiting to see a sign from "his world," as he was on the evening of Dance of the Dead, a light, a plane, ship. Maybe No.6 simply likes the view. On the other hand, perhaps No.6 is simply another of the Village's eccentrics!

   No.2 of The Schizoid Man makes the remark to the Butler "Lets see how Number Six is getting on shall we?" surely he didn't expect the Butler to answer.....did he?

BCNU

What's That Number Six Up To?

 It would appear that No.6 is still carrying about with him, that envelope he had to give to No.2 of A B & C, and now he's about to try the same trick on Mrs. Butterworth, the new No.2! You remember that envelope, No.2 thought it contained something the Prisoner had to sell, but contained nothing more than holiday brochures! Surely Mrs B's not going to fall for that one?

    Mrs Butterworth "What have you there?"

    No.6 "It's my last will and testament, I wonder if you would do me the favour of placing in the safe for me."

    "Safe?"

    "The safe set in the wall behind the television set."

    "Oh. What have you to leave, anything valuable?"

    "Nothing at all really. You've got my home, my car. I don't even own the clothes I'm wearing!"

    "Then what have you of value?"

    "Information."

    "Information! How mysterious."

    "Yes, it's the reason why I resigned!"

    "Resigned, from what?"

    "My job, former life, call it what you like."

    "I can see that you are a man in trouble. Look let me help you. You go and have a bath, while I put that envelope in the safe for you."

    "Mrs. Butterworth you're very kind."

    "Nonsense." said Mrs Butterworth, "Now give that envelope to me and go and have your bath and shave, and I'll take care of this burden for you."

    While Peter Smith is busy in the bathroom, Mrs Butterworth opens the envelope to discovers several sheets of paper - they are all blank!

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera

    Number Six is a very curious chap indeed, seen here in Living In Harmony the curious affair of the piped blazer.

  After discerning fiction from reality, Number Six comes round to discover the cardboard cut-out of the Judge. Observe that Number Six's piped blazer is clearly unbuttoned. Yet mere seconds later, as he dashed out of the Silver Dollar Saloon, the blazer is clearly buttoned! The reason whyNumber Six should pause to button his blazer before dashing outside eludes me. But not satisfied with with this most singular act, he does it again......

.....For having dashed into the Sheriff's Office Number Six has unbuttoned his blazer! And yet, having run out of the Sheriff's Office Number Six has once again paused to  adjust his blazer, as it is one again buttoned up!  Is it simply the case that while indoors a gentleman's jacket is unbuttoned, and while outdoors a gentleman's coat or jacket is always buttoned. So it would seem Number Six observes the proprieties at all times!
   By the by, have you observed throughout the Prisoner series, the strange and singular running motion Number Six has?

I'll be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

The Prisoner

   For years a number of fans of the Prisoner were of the opinion that when Number 6 put this message in the personal column of the next issue of The Tally Ho "Hay mas mal enel aldea que se suena", he had been overcharged. "Nine words. That's three units Sir."

   Well I could see how fans thought Number 6 had actually been over charged for 8 words. But then it struck me. The fans had made the mistake with the Spanish word "enel", as fans had made two words out of the one "en el".

    Originally in the script when No.6 pays a second visit to the General store he asks for a small note book and a roll of adhesive tape. The tape would be used to fix the coded message to the pigeon's leg. In the episode the pigeon had a ring attached to its leg. Which means there's actually a pigeon fancier living in the village. Either that or the bird is a racing pigeon miles off course!

    Also in the original script, instead of No.14 following No.6 through the village towards the Stone Boat, where No.6 eventually hides the white envelope he's carrying, No.6 is followed through the village by No.14 but first to the Cafe, and then to the stagecoach which is positioned near the electronic "Free Information" board you see in Arrival and Free For All, you can just see the stagecoach in those scenes.

   No.6 opens the door to the stagecoach and climbs inside and looks round the moonlit interior. He takes the envelope from his pocket, lifts the squab {the seat cushion} and puts the envelope underneath it. Then he leaves. No.14 reports to No.2 over the walkie-talkie, No.14: "He's come out Sir. He's heading towards the house." No.2 "Let him go. Wait for me at the stagecoach."

    No.2 moves off quickly to join No.14 at the Stagecoach. On the way No.6 passes the fish pond and is forced to hide as No.2 passes him. No.6 smiles to himself, and then walks on. At the stagecoach No.14 is waiting as No.2 approaches. "No.2 "He must have left it in here. Give me the torch."

   This scene had to be changed as the stagecoach had by this time been removed from its location, to the workshops in order to have restoration work carried out on it.

Be seeing you

Madame Engadine See's Everything!

   "As I gaze into my crystal ball, I see a tall dark stranger who rides a racing charger called Kar. Is the man on a mission, no he is on a journey perhaps, yes a journey which take him to London. He walks along a dark passageway. There is a man, a balding man wearing glasses. Oh there is anger, rage as the man bangs his fist down! The man then returns home, but he is being followed by two men dressed in black, they ride in a black coach, could they undertakers? The man returns home, there is a black coach in the street. The man collects two suit cases, travel documents, Two men step down from the black coach, one goes to the back of the coach, while the other approaches the front door of a house, a house in Buckingham Place. There is a brass 1 on the door. Now he is inside the house he has a gun, there is gas and the man falls backwards onto a lounger.............oh the picture is fading."

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The Professor's Lecture

   Ladies and gentlemen my lecture today concerns the 1972 Emmy award winning Spanish film La Cabina, in which a man goes into a telephone box, presumably to make a telephone call, the door closes behind him and the man is trapped inside. In time a crowd gathers, and a number of people attempt to get the door open and release the man trapped inside. Two policemen arrive on the scene and they try to get the man out of the telephone box, and fail, as do the fire brigade when they arrive. But then the telephone company arrive and remove the telephone box with the man still inside.

    It's a long journey into the mountains, and this man still in the telephone box, riding on the back of a lorry is not the only man on such a journey. Finally the lorry arrives at a depository inside a mountain. The telephone box, still with the man inside, is removed from the back of the lorry by crane and is taken deep into the horrors of the depository, where others have been taken. Telephone boxes which contain dead people, decomposing corpses, and age long skeletons........why? Trying to figure out La Cabina  makes trying to figure out the Prisoner look like child’s play! Watch for yourself by clicking on the link below, or if that doesn't work, type La Cabina in Youtube's Search box.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/isIgZ81lfnM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Professor

Arts And Crafts

    A portrait of Mister 'X', that's the Prisoner hiding behind the mask of anominity!

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Questions Are Irrelvent!

   No, I didn't say that, that was someone else several years ago now. Questions on whether No.6 is John Drake, where the village is geographically, why No.6 resigned, which side runs the village, are, as the author once wrote, "idle and unnecessary."      
    Well I would say that such fundamental questions are at the very core of the matter. The identity of the Prisoner-No.6 is of fundamental value to the viewer, that whether or not he is John Drake, he was certainly part of his previous life, Patrick McGoohan that is, if not to the village and other individuals associated with the Prisoner's former life. As is the location of the village. Although it has been said that the village is a place of the mind, there is equal argument that the village is an actual place, constructed out of bricks and mortar. And it's geographical location becomes more important to the viewer as we discover where the village is not! As for why the Prisoner resigned, well that is the most fundamental question of them all, and every viewer, whether at the very outset of the Prisoner series in 1967-68, or those new to the series in 2007-08, viewers and fans alike want to know why the Prisoner resigned. And now they probably do know. Well I hope they do, as much as they should know which side runs the village from the episode The Chimes of Big Ben.

   Apparently the only questions worth dealing with, or putting answers to are those relating to an underlying message - what is the meaning behind the penny farthing? Who is No.1? Does No.6 escape? Well the Penny Farthing represents man's failure to slow down and collate all what he has so far achieved. No.1 is ourselves, each and everyone of us who have the desire to be No.1. And of course No.6 doesn't escape the village, not if it's all in his mind. There can be no escape. And besides which, the Prisoner series itself is a vicious circle, the end is it's beginning, from which there can be no escape.

I'll be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

Escape

   It's surprising is it not, how many times No.6 attempts to escape the village. Once on the day of his arrival in the village along the beach in a village taxi, and once the day after by helicopter. The next time would not be until The Chimes of Big Ben when he was betrayed by Nadia-No.8. And instead of being taken on a long journey to London via Danzig and Copenhagen, when in reality it was merely a short boat trip back to the village...... but No.6 didn't know that of course, and neither did the viewers, not the first time of viewing anyway!

   The next escape attempt was some little time away for No.6, and that was by boat during that episode of Free for All, and we know how that ended, don't we readers. And No.6 wasn't any more successful posing as The Schizoid Man either. Well how was he to know that Susan had died a year ago!

   In The General No.6 was still as keen to leave the village, but there came no opportunity, the next opportunity for escape came on the morning of Many Happy Returns, when No.6 woke up to find the village deserted! So instead of hanging around to find out where all the citizens had gone, or to see what would happen next, our hero built himself a sea-going raft, and ended up washed ashore at Beachy Head. But the village has tentacles, agents and operatives everywhere, and so there is no place No.6 could go without the long arm of the village reaching out to bring him back for Many Happy Returns and a birthday cake specially baked for him by Mrs. Butterworth - the new No.2.

   Checkmate saw No.6 take a different attitude to escape. Not on his own this time, he looked for reliable men upon whom he could depend. and we know how that all ended don't we readers. There had been one almighty cock-up on the part of the Rook who put to No.6 his own test. And because of No.6's own authorities manner the Rook took him to be on of them... a Guardian!

   And so Checkmate saw the final escape attempt to be made by No.6, until Fall Out, when he escaped with three confederates, the diminutive Butler, an ex-No.2 and No.48 who they dropped off somewhere along the A20.

   Well after the episode of Checkmate there was no natural chance for No.6 to attempt an escape I suppose an outside chance might have been at the end of It’s Your Funeral, but who could No.6 have trusted enough to hold the explosive detonator for him, as he had for the retired No.2 so that he could escape?..... There was no-one, so if No.6 had tried to escape using the explosive detonator as a bargaining chip, well once the new No.2 had removed the Great Seal of Office from about his neck and shoulders, the detonator device no longer remains a bargaining chip, and No.6 escape attempt could only end in failure. And besides, No.6 was thinking of the good people of the community... just for once.

    Do Not forsake Me Oh My Darling could have turned out as an escape attempt by No.6, and could have been one of his more successful attempts, just as long as he disappeared and had not gone running back to his ex-colleagues as he had twice done before. But then he'd have had his mind trapped in a body not at all to his liking.... the Colonels. And where would he have been then? Possibly in a worse situation than being back in the village. I mean, what would you have done in No.6's situation?........Exactly!

    So all told is was a mere 7 escape attempts out of 17. But of course that is what we see during the Prisoners time in the village. That which we do not, what occurs between the 17 episodes, we cannot account for but that is what I find to be the most interesting these days.

BcNu

The Prisoner's Question Time

  "Time for our little talk Number Six."
   "Talk?"
   "Yes, now that all your aggressive tendencies and anxieties have been expunged...let us say forever, I know you'll be free to speak."
    "Feel free to speak?"
   "Yes, particularly about that little incident which has been causing you so much distress."
   "Well that's true, it has been on my mind for some time now."
   "Yes, well that's perfectly understandable under the circumstances my dear fellow. So perhaps now is the time to relieve yourself of such a heavy burden."
   "You think so?"
   "I just said so didn't I?"
   "Please don't be angry."
   "I'mmmmmm not angrrrrrrrryyyyy my dear fellow. That is how things appear to you."
   "I've been to the hospital."
   "Yes, that's right."
   "The doctor said that my haemorhoids are much better."
   "The doctor said what?"
   "You're getting angry again."
   "I'm not angry."
   "I'm irritating you."
   "I'm not irritated! Now isn't there something you want to get off your chest?"
   "Yes, yes there is."
   "Good."
   "It's Number Eighty-Six."
   "What about her."
   "She's very attractive. Looks more feminine in that blue dress of hers."
   "I'm not concerned with Number Eigty-Six!"
   "I didn't think you were."
   "What about the matter of your resignation?"
   "I'll hand it in in the morning if that's alright."
   "It isn't alright. You've resigned already!"
   "Have I, I don't recall......... Oh I remember."
   "Oh you do do you."
   "I just said so didn't I?"
   "Yes, yes you did."
   "I resigned prematurely. It was a question of time you see."
   "Oh yes, time, that was it was it?"
   "I couldn't stand my job, and I needed time to think."
   "Ah, now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty."
   "I suddenly feel very tired."
   "You certainly look very strained. The haemorrhoids playing up are they? Lie back and rest, lie back and rest, we can continue our little chat later on."
   "The doctors a bastard! I didn't have hemaroids until I went into hospital. That bloody doctor gave them to me!"
   "You shouldn't worry Number Six, you should see what he's done to Number Thirty-Four, he's still not got over the shock yet!"

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera

    Towards the end of Free For All, after the two motor mechanics had taken their revenge on No.6, why then did they bother to remove his piped blazer, as in the picture on the left. Surely the scene should have looked like the picture on the right, No.6 having been man handled into No.2's office.

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Teabreak Teaser

  "You......." said Dutton, "of all people."

   So why was Roland Walter Dutton so surprised to see the Prisoner No.6?

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Never Never Land

    The definition of "Never Never land" is an imaginary and wonderful place, a fantasy land. In the poem the never-Never Country by Henry Lawson {1906}

           "Called the Never-Never, the Maluka loved to say, because they who have loved in it and loved it Never-Never voluntarily leave it."

    And of course the best use is in J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan 1904.

    Wendy: where do you live?

    Peter: With the lost boys. They are the children who fall out of their prams when the nurse is looking the other way. if they are not claimed in seven days they are sent far away to the Never Land.

   "When Peter Pan was very little he ran away from the human world, and lived with the fairies in the “Never Never Never Land."

    And so it appears that No.2 of Dance of the Dead seems very apt in her costume of Peter Pan, in this 'never-never land' of the village. Although there seems to be nothing very wonderful about it, especially if you are a Prisoner there, left unclaimed, in what appears to be a fantasy land conjured up in the mind of one man, allegorically speaking of course.

   And No.2, her Elfin looks complimented by her Peter Pan costume, of a boy who never grew up. Who would sooner run away to live with the fairies, perhaps that is what the Prisoner did. Preferring his fantasy village to that of the real world. Because the situation the Prisoner has found himself in seems like a dream. even though he is described as being mad by No.2, the Prisoner still wished to hold onto his dream. His dream of the village, or the world he dreams of, the world beyond that of the village? Though many of the village's inmates would, like 'Never-Never,' voluntarily leave it.

    Yet there is beauty in the village, attractive girls as in the No.6's personal maid, and the beauty of the village itself, the decorative costumes worn by its citizens, of clowns, mannequins, historical, and figures of the theatre and fancy dress of all kinds. There is the Carnival festivity about the village, as there had previously been with the 'Mardi Gras' atmosphere during the celebrations of 'Seedlearn' of The General, which for No.6 turns into a nightmare trial, and the Carnival atmosphere into a malevolent setting that is the Dance of the Dead.

The village - one man's utopia, another man's - living nightmare!

The Therapy Zone

The Ebb of the Tide Of Dance of the Dead

   It's no wonder that the body of the dead man ended up in that long box in the mortuary so soon after No.6 cast it adrift in the sea. When No.6 set the dead man's body adrift so as to carry his message to someone from his world, he did so when the tide was coming in. No.6 should have waited until the ebb tide, then the body would have had a chance of being carried out to sea. But then chances are the body could have been picked up by the crew of M.S. Polotska seen in the next episode Checkmate.

The Prisoner – Where Did It All Begin?

    What if Patrick McGoohan was right, what if the Prisoner-No.6 was never intended to be Danger Man John Drake, as many believe what then? I mean such a thing would see the Prisoner through a whole new perspective, wouldn't you say?

   With the Quinn Martin production of The Invaders, we know where it began, it began with architect David Vincent too tired to drive. An empty road, and a lonely closed and deserted diner........ And that could be said of the Prisoner, but the Prisoner is different somehow, and I can't believe that it all began somewhere along that long deserted runway, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

   We know where the Prisoner was going, London and to hand in his letter of resignation. But we don't know from where he was coming, unless of course we are to believe that after returning to London the Prisoner, for that is what he remained, drove out of London, simply to drive back as we see during the opening sequence of Arrival. I suppose the question is, where had the Prisoner driven to after leaving, driving away having just returned to London after escaping the village in Fall Out? And I don't really expect to find the answer to that one!

   The prisoner-No.6 is like No.2-Leo McKern, and many before him, had been abducted to the village because he could be of use to them. The village's administration having recognised qualities in the Prisoner that would see him in having a future in the village. Yet the Prisoner rejected the village, rejected the offer of ultimate power, launched the rocket and escaped the confines of the village, and having done so, as soon as he returned to London, went to an office and handed in his letter of resignation to a man who was possibly an exterior agent working for the village.

   This would explain where the Prisoner had come from, which would mean that it is the episode of Fall Out where the Prisoner actually all begins, with his rejection of the offer of ultimate power. And not simply with a clap of thunder and a long deserted runway somewhere in the middle of nowhere!

Be seeing you

Village Psychology

    What's this sign all about then? Shouldn't that be "Don't walk on the grass?" Well that's village psychology for you, and this is just the beginning. Because by this sign they are inviting you to "walk on the grass" and in doing so you have the chance to demonstrate your non-conformity to the village. Or perhaps an invitation for you to break the only rule in the village you will be allowed to break during your time as an inmate.

   Or there could be another reason, a test to see who will actually obey the sign by actually 'walking on the grass.' The brass band walks across the lawn, as do the old couple who greet the Prisoner in the Piazza "Beautiful morning." and in his turn so does the Prisoner. But as you can see by the above picture, the Prisoner does give the sign some consideration. Perhaps because it is more usual to see a sign saying "Don't Walk On The Grass."

   Later the Prisoner-No.6 would meet with other psychological ways of the villages administration. In the way they keep the inmates busy with "Art & Craft Exhibitions" , painting competitions, Village festivals, Carnivals. Art seminars held by the Professor's wife. There's the "Palace of Fun" where citizens are allowed to join in with amateur dramatics, to gamble, drink, sing and frolic. Then there are human chess games, to satisfy the desire for power, the only chance one gets in the village, unless of course you are allowed to "run for office" as No.6 does in Free For All.

    Everything that the village administration does, has it seems, a psychological reason behind it. Even to the extent of the village itself, it's bricks and mortar, the colour of the buildings, its Italianate style given so that you could almost be anywhere in the world. This in itself has a psychological reason behind it, to confuse and cause disorientation to the new arrival in the village. As was the case with the Prisoner upon his first day in the village. He awakens in what he thinks is his own home. But when he raises the blinds and looks out upon a scene of the village....... he is instantly confused and disorientated. As was Nadia as she too woke up and looked out of the window upon the village. Although she was putting it on as an act. Nadia knew exactly where she was, and why she was brought to the village in the first place!

   And don't forget the almost holiday place atmosphere of the village. Citizens are free to enjoy the beach, swimming pool-lido. To sunbathe, build sandcastles, as in ones childhood. Sail plastic boats in the various pools around the village. And the Stone Boat wasn't for nothing you know. Psychologically she was good in any weather! Physically she couldn't sail anywhere, being part of the quayside as she is!

   Simple psychology, the way it is in life, you soon learn who's for or against you, you judge by attitudes. Mind you with some people in the village you instantly know who's for or against you. There was no mistaking the two doctors in Dance of the Dead and Checkmate. Those two were much one and the same. A male doctor-No.40, and the female doctor-No.22 respectively.

   That doctor No.22 wanted to carry out a leucotomy on No.6 after seeing the results of his psychological tests. A leucotomy to knock out the centres of the brain. Well really to isolate the aggressive frontal lobes. This so as to rid the man of his aggressive tendencies! Well that was a good idea wasn't it? That just might have put paid to getting out any of the secrets inside No.6's head, if that doctor had been allowed to tamper with No.6's brain in that way, let alone the reason behind his resignation!

   And how about that piece of psychology in Arrival during the Prisoner's interview with the manager of the labour exchange, that time in his office. When the Prisoner had to fit a round peg into a square hole in a table. the hole changed it's shape in order to make the round peg fit! A psychological demonstration perhaps, to show that if the Prisoner didn't change so as to fit in, then the village itself would change! But I couldn't really see the village being prepared to change simply in order to fit with the Prisoner-No.6, could you?

Yes you could say that    is completely 'Cycleogical'! Get it, cycleogical!

Be seeing you