I've been asked how come I am allowed to use my name here in the village? Well I'm not the only one you know. There was Nadia in ‘The Chimes of Big Ben.’ Alison and Curtis in ‘The Schizoid Man,’ Roland Walter Dutton in the ‘Dance of the Dead’ and Monique, the watchmakers daughter, in ‘Its Your Funeral.’ So I'm not all that unusual, save for the fact that I'm probably the only Dutchman here in the village!
So facts and information, where shall we begin, with the face behind the desk, the man who the Prisoner handed in his letter of resignation to in the opening sequence. That is scriptwriter George Markstein. And he appears in the same guise again in ‘Many Happy Returns’as the Prisoner having escaped the village returns to ask him "Anyone at home?"
The new No.2 played by actor George Baker is the only No.2 of his kind to wear a piped blazer as worn by No.6. Other male No.2's wear plain single or double breasted blazers.
Not every No.2's voice is used in the opening sequence dialogue with No.6. Those whose voice is not used, it is Robert Rietty's voice that is heard.
Actress Fenella Fieldings voice is that of the village announcer.
The first person to call the village guardian by name "Rover" is No.6 as Curtis in ‘The Schizoid Man,’ when he telephone No.2 with the news that No6 is dead "Rover Got him!" And No.2 is heard to use the village guardians name on a couple more occasions, but never again in the series.
The Prisoner goes to the cafe and asks the waitress if there is a telephone he can use. She tells him that there's a phone box around the corner. This is beneath the yellow Triumphal arch just around the corner from the cafe as the Prisoner approaches the telephone kiosk. But as he actually attempts to make a call the location changes to the archway at the top of the steps set in a wall opposite the wrought iron gates of Unicorn cottage.
In the aerial tour of the village of ‘Arrival,’ the roof is missing from one of the cottages Villa Winch, which was still being built in September 1966. But still fits in nicely with the village itself, indicating that construction work being carried out at the time.
The lettering for the various signs around the village is in Albertus font. The dot over the 'i' and 'j' are removed. However the open 'e' which is a Greek 'e'.
In ‘A Change of Mind’ No.6 goes to face the committee in the Town Hall. The sign at the time reads "Council Chamber", but in all the other episodes the sign read "Town Hall."
In the Council Chamber of ‘Free For All,’ the Boardroom of the General and the Council Chamber of ‘A Change of Mind’ there is set upon the chamber wall an enormous black disc with a strangely proportioned white penny farthing set upon it. Such a penny farthing appears in no other place in the village, other than those listed.
In the dialogue of the opening sequence to the episode of ‘A B & C,’ No.2 responds to No.6's question "Who Are you?" "I am Number2." He is the only No.2 to respond this way. All the other No.2's respond with "The new Number 2."
The human chessboard set down on the lawn in ‘Checkmate,’ was on the lawn for about seven days in September of 1966. and was taken up again just as soon as the filming of the human chess match had been completed. The white squares laid down certainly left their mark on Portmeiron, by leaving grass squares of a different shade when the panels had been removed. In fact in the opening sequence of ‘Arrival,’ and indeed of most of the episodes, as the Prisoner walks across the lawn on his way to the cafe, the same lawn as the chessboard had been set out on, the alternate light and dark squares are clearly visible. Therefore this part of the opening sequence to Arrival was shot after ‘Checkmate's’ location shoot and at the end of September 1966.
The first time the Supervisor-No.28 come face to face with No.6 is in ‘A Change of Mind,’ when the Supervisor-No.28 is just leaving No.2's office of the Green Dome, when No.6 is just about to go in. The second occasion when these two men meet, will be in the embryo room of ‘Once Upon A Time.’
Be seeing you
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