The Therapy Zone

The Prisoner Is Put To the test

The question was asked a number of years ago "Was the 16 episodes of the Prisoner specific tests?

   Well of course they were, and the ultimate test being Once Upon A Time. Yet in the 17th episode, Fall Out, the manipulation of No.6 went on, and which culminated in his meeting with No.1.

   In those 16 specific tests No.6 demonstrated such qualities as:

A sense of humour

Strength of character

Determination

A sense of identity

He cared about those in the village, once anyway

Ingenuity

Survival

Individuality

Cleverness

Trustworthiness - in some people

Suspicion

Friendship

A skill in using his hands, building a raft in Many Happy Returns, a coracle during The Chimes of Big Ben for two examples. Stitch work in making his own punch bag, and private gymnasium sometime between the end of It’s Your Funeral and A Change Of Mind.

He demonstrated how he can live by his wits

Quick thinking in how he was quick to come up with an explanation of his three piece sculpture to the three members of the Arts & Crafts committee.

Sportsmanship in the noble art of boxing, fencing, shooting, not to mention Kosho.

    No.6 had it all, then rejected it all in Fall Out, and it was the manipulation used against him in Fall Out that started it all in the first place. It's no wonder there was such a persistence with the question "Why did you resign?"

The Prisoner Is A timeless Series – Well Almost!

    It has been stated that the Prisoner is something of a 'timeless' series. It could have happened yesterday, perhaps today, and god forbid..... tomorrow!

And of course they're right, the village could be at any time, in any place such is it's mixture of architecture. Yet there are 3 episodes which do date the series, but which still holds firm today, Many Happy Returns, Do Not Forsake Me oh My Darling and Fall Out. These are the three episodes that actually date the Prisoner, back to the 1960's, but that is from outside of the village. By the cars, lorries, buses and taxis of the time. There is even an advertising poster displaying the late comedian Bob Monkhouse, stuck on the bottom glass panel of the door to 'World Cameras' in Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.

    But despite this the Prisoner does somehow remain timeless, and a joy to watch, attracting new fans the world over all the time. Had the outside world not have impinged upon that of the village, then the Prisoner would indeed have remained truly timeless. Nothing like the Prisoner had been seen before, or since, perhaps there are no longer any men with such drive and determination like that of Patrick Mcgoohan anymore. No one such as the late Sir Lew Grade who are prepared to take a chance! But then along came scriptwriter Bill Gallagher with THEPRIS6NER, and after years and decades of either a Hollywood feature film, or television series we were off again.

    There is so much rubbish on television in general these days, occasionally a television series in the form Jekyll or Cape Wrath, will come along of course. A new series of the Prisoner was long called for by many fans of the original series, I was one of them. While others said leave it alone, we have the original series. And in regard this is what I thought about a possible new series, one which sticks firmly to that of the original, but brought slap bang up to date, with a new No.6 having been abducted to the village, and filmed in the original setting of Portmeirion, extra locations in the village could be computer generated. Even some of the original cast members are still around, who could put in an appearance. All it takes is a little imagination, and some one out there willing to take a chance. But where the Prisoner is concerned, risk takers seem to be very thin on the ground, and with no imagination!

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