Caught On Camera

    Previously during his search for the girl who was death, mister X had jumped aboard a ride, in the same seat as a young woman in white, and got his face slapped for it! He also got a mouthful of abuse from a fashion photographer on the Roller Coaster for his pains. Now, he stealthily sneaks up on a young woman in white, but on seeing the fashion photographer coming at him from a children’s roundabout, he backs off - pity. Mister X almost had the girl who was death within his grasp! I suppose it was a case of twice bitten, forever shy!

BCNU

Thought For The Day

    That anyone should think that the Prisoner-No.6 was a rebel, after all in his life prior to his resignation and subsequent abduction to The Village, he was a successful member of the establishment, and society as a whole. He was engaged to Janet Portland, he lived in a large house in the City of Westminster, and until his act of resignation he had been loyal, and devoted to his work. This is not the profile of a rebel, after all, all he did was to resign! It was only until The Prisoner- known as No.6 became such a rebel, rebelling against the alien environment to which he had been brought against his will. In such circumstances you and I would likewise rebel.

  Yet there comes a time when the rebel inside departs, and you begin to accept your circumstances, as No.6, and others like him have done in The Village. One cannot rebel against something forever, it would be like banging your head against the wall. I rebelled, I made my voice heard in society, and other voices joined me. But for some they were not true to the rebellion, but as one by one others fell away, I was left to stand virtually alone. So I walked away from the failed rebellion, leaving others to stew in their own juice. But yet, in the following months, others followed my lead, and they too departed the society in their multitudes. For them it was easier to walk away than to fight. For myself, my rebellion was pure and wanted no power for myself, unlike others who each had their own agendas, or personal fight. But no matter what I was to do, I could see that nothing in society was to change. And today, well others are in charge of society, but from what I gather, society is worse now than ever it was before. with no-one allowed to show any signs of descent! Today society is made up of sheep, and now there is not one goat amongst them!

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

   It's my Any Warhol effect.

BcNu

The Therapy Zone

  "Time sheets as normal - double night time,” times sheets, they use time sheets in the Village? And how are those who work in the Village paid? In Credit or Work Units – nothing!

   What follows is another extract from an interview with the late Frank Maher, who was stunt-double for Patrick McGoohan, and stunt arranger on the series. Frank's most on-screen appearance was during the episode of ‘The Schizoid Man.’

Frank Maher: “I had to learn the whole of the script, all the dialogue, both parts. That took quite a long time to make because we had to interchange and do everything twice for obvious reasons. The fight sequence at the end was a lot of fun, although I got hit on the chin for real.

   You remember, at the end one of the McGoohan's runs out. that was me, chased by the other one, which was Pat. Just before that I'd gone over the worktop in the kitchen. I was supposed to go over it as part of the script but I went over out of control because he's accidentally hit me on the chin. So when I got up and flew outside I was ready to kill him! He'd nearly broken my jaw.... the whole crew had seen it and they were all waiting for this big explosion that was going to happen. He skidded to a stop with his hands up and he said "I know, I know, and I didn't mean it", and I said "Oh yes you did - you've been waiting to do that!" Anyway he bought me a couple of large ones in the bar that night.......”

   This chap, wearing the Prisoner’s own suit, is undergoing aversion therapy in the hospital. There's a glass screen in from of him, so that he doesn't get splashed with water, and a ping-pong ball balanced on a spout of water.

   Yet we have seen this trick performed outside in the village, at the fountain of the central Piazza.

   We have a fountain ejecting a spout of water upon which is balanced a small mass of the village guardian. Is this an attempt at mass aversion therapy? If you look at the actual film, you will observe the effect it has on the Prisoner.

    Mass aversion therapy, well the image of the Village Guardian has been used in aversion therapy at the hospital upon two unsuspecting patients, in the aversion therapy room, in the episode of ‘A Change of Mind.’

The thing about ‘the Prisoner’ is, not what it means to others, but what it means to you. Mind you it’s also to do with how much you get out of the series, and what you put into it. Because as we all know, you can't get anything out, without putting in something first!

Be seeing you

Project Village

     You know why you’ve been brought here of course, No? Well allow me to fill you in. We simply could not permit you to continue in your current vein. All this blog writing about the Prisoner and this Village, it’s ridiculous, I mean how long did you think you could keep it up for? I’m sure you think you know all about the Village, well we’ll have to put that to the test will we not? What’s this, the silent treatment? There’s no fifth amendment here sonny boy. You know who I am? Well you soon will, and I’m sure I’m going to get to know you very well. Ah, you react! I see you recognise what I have here, it’s a very large file, in fact it contains every single word you have ever written about the Prisoner and his Village. Every word, every thought and idea you’ve committed to paper. We’ve been busy collecting it for years, it’s information you see, and we collect information. You have some strange ideas, ‘the Prisoner’ a vicious circle…..what did you write here…..in the Prisoner’s end is his beginning, that’s an old fashioned slogan isn’t it, it’s certainly almost biblical!
    And you say people actually read this? How do you know they read it? Oh they comment on it do they? What do they say? This boy needs to get out more! Thinks he knows it all! But I will give you credit where credit is due, you certainly know how to flog a dead horse. How many times have you raked over the coals of why the Prisoner resigned? We know why the Prisoner resigned, you know why the Prisoner resigned, and so does he……….. I mean all this information you’ve written, about what? Well its basically a 1960’s television series, it’s not real is it? Who cares about it any more anyway? It’s creator, what’s his name Patrick McGoohan, he’s dead……oh I see he lives on through his work. Well that can be said of the best of us, and the worst.    
    Can’t you see that it’s made a prisoner of you, a prisoner of ‘the Prisoner,’ isn’t that the terminology? You live with it every day. You’ve lived with it for 45 years, why put yourself through that when there is no need? Oh I see, it’s too late for escape, is that because you are too old? Or because there is nothing to escape to, because there’s nothing to escape from? No “other place” to go to? Don’t tell me that Village is all there is? Well perhaps that’s true for you………
    I contribute to the Village newspaper The Tally Ho, well that’s me gone over to the dark side! And to think that I resisted for so short a time! Yes, and what have you done? Turned it into a newspaper dedicated to the Prisoner! Prismatic Reflection. What‘s That No.6 Up To? Caught On Camera! The Therapy Zone………Well I could write about the social climate in the Village. What is the general impact on the citizens who live in the Village, social reform, now there’s a story……….democracy, is it dead in the Village? Did democracy ever exist in the Village? I could write pieces on the prominent citizens in the Village. How about your story?……….Sorry, I don’t know how long I’ll be here……Number 1? I could write an expose on Number 1.……….. You need to be careful, otherwise we’ll have to reform you! I would hate anything nasty to happen to you. You of all people should know that for some the Village can be a very dangerous place. But confide and we concede. We’ll look after you for as long as you live. But mark this and mark it well, no more serious writing about the Prisoner or the Village, then life here will be so much healthier for you. I mean to say, you wouldn’t want to end up like that poor Roland Walter Dutton now would you? If you must contribute to The Tally Ho keep to 60 Second Interviews, what the Butler saw that kind of thing, No.113b can help you there, he’s a keen photographer, and perhaps the occasional thought for the day.
    Can I ask one thing?………Yes……….I had manuscripts……..They’ve been filed away…………..In one of those grey filing cabinets I suppose…….You suppose correctly. I did say we collect information, it doesn’t matter the source…….And my computer……..The General, only you would give the name of The General to your computer, I suppose your lap top was the Colonel?………Was?.….They have both been crushed!………. Why?……..It was kinder that way, than simply to wipe their memories! You could perhaps wipe my memory………How do you mean?…..Wipe all unpleasant memories of the Prisoner and his Village, make me a free man! Now why would we want to do that? What was it the President said……oh yes Remember us, don’t forget us, keep us in mind. And that’s true, because through you and many others like you, by keeping the Village in mind, you maintain our very existence. So here you are and here you will stay. Yes, perhaps after all you should keep writing, it makes for good therapy I’m told. What are you writing now?………….If No.2 had any failing, it was one of over confidence, and an underestimation of No.6, that’s two failures for those who are not counting. As well as this, No.2 has somehow cultivated a genuine rapport with No.6, they have become too friendly. What’s more there is a question over whether or not No.2 is fit for a further term? No.2 comes and goes, eventually becoming a weak link in the chain of command. Even a half successful term of office does not automatically mean a stay of execution. A departing No.2 means the arrival of a new No.2, bringing with him, or her the failings of their kind……………….Be seeing you

Wales

   Just the other day I was in a charity shop {for those who do not know, a charity shop is a place to which people donate things clothing, DVD's records, bric-a-brac, books, etc, etc. The charity shop sells these things on to customers. The money raised goes to a charity, The Heart Foundation, or Oxfam to mention but two} and I came across the above video {yes I still have a video player/recorder}. So seeing as how the video includes the Italianate Village of Portmeirion, I purchased the video for the princely sum of 49pence. The video dates from 1991, and I stayed as a guest at Portmeirion in that year.
   To be perfctly honest it was good to see Portmeiron again, and if I am perfectly honest with myself, seeing the Italianate Village again, made me want to go back there......oh but not today, but as Portmeirion was back then!

I'll be seeing you

Teabreak Teaser

    Who is Number 2?

BCNU

Rats!

    A disapproving Headmaster.

    2 "That is cowardice!"

    6 "That's honour, sir."

    2 "We don't talk about such things."

    6 "You should teach it, sir."

    2 "You're a fool!"

    6 "Yes sir. Not a rat."

    Rats run together! They race for position. Fools like in the Shakesperian tradition, are non-conformists, outlaws, outcasts. They are out of the common fun. The headmaster exists to train his charges into the ways expected of them. Hence the Headmaster in question, does not want to see his prize pupil grow up to be a "Lone-Wolf!"

   On the other hand, there is another form of "Rat," one who "rat's" on his mates, tells on them to the Headmaster for example. That is the kind of honour the Prisoner was talking about, the honour of not "ratting" on the boy who was speaking in class, the schoolmate who he took the punishment for.....12, not 6, of the best, so that he could remember!

Be seeing you

The Professor's Lecture

 I know that many people who have made a study of the television series the Prisoner, all of whom have arrived at a multitude of ideas, theories, and interpretations. Some have also kicked the word "allegory" into touch. And that's fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong in that, but what would you make of someone who spends his or her time doing something like this

  Obviously this person is either a deep thinker, or has nothing more exciting in his or her life to be getting on with.

  I have no idea whose hand this is, but I have seen it's like before, so perhaps this is more a regular occurrence than I am lead to belief. At first I did think that that character Johnnie Prisoner might be behind it, after all he himself would admit that it's just the kind of thing he would do. So if you are the kind of person, a self-confessed addict to ‘the Prisoner,’ the kind of person who would write such prisoner based blog as this, then you must stop                                                

    Ah, alright, you've caught me out! So if I were to stop, what then? I'd be out of a job for a start, and you'd have nothing to read on a wet Sunday morning, but the Sunday papers!

   This item appeared in an issue of Number Six magazine in 1991, the author is unkown, because he or she did not put it to it!

The Professor

The Therapy Zone

What Life No.1 Here In The Village?

    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 all the time?  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 & 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 would have it 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?

  No.2 told me that all they really wanted to know, was why I resigned. But of course it would not have stopped there. I never realised what a valuable property I'd become. the information inside my head being priceless. A man like me is worth a great deal on the open market. So why just go on about the reason behind my resignation I wonder? Why not just take what they want and be done with it? Perhaps they are protecting me, keeping the knowledge safe from others!

   Dennis Chinnery played the role of Gunther, one of the two gunrunners in the episode of Many Happy Returns. This is what he had to say regarding some "personal pain" during filming of a particular scene.

    "There was one sequence where Pat had to set fire to something. I had to come into the galley, as Gunther, and he caught me around the neck, and the idea was to strangle me and pull me along the corridor and put me in one of the cabins, which he did. On the first take the strength round my neck was so great that I thought "I'm going to pass out!". He's got so much energy and so much strength and he's thrown himself into the part so much, and he's got so much to do that I thought "I'm going! I'm going". Anyway I was Ok, but I thought I'm going to have to mention this to him, and I was very nervous and very worried about saying it to someone I didn't really know - I admired, but didn't really know to that degree, but I must because I knew he was going for a second take, and I thought it's going to happen again. Anyway I did pluck up enough courage and mentioned this to him, and he was so nice, and he said "I'm sorry about that. It's very unprofessional of me to do that. I should pull back on stunts like that. We shall go for the second take right now. And don't worry I'm sorry." And we went for the second take and it was fine. Perfect. So I've never forgotten how marvellous and professional he was."

Be seeing you

A favourite Scene In The Prisoner

    No.6 "Be seeing you."
    Nadia "It sounds like a salute."
    "It is."
    During 'The Chimes of Big Ben,' when No.6 is stopped by Nadia when she asks him where the Green Dome is, and can he take her to it. "The Green Dome, across the square, across the street, up the steps you can't miss it. Nadia asks No.6 if you can get a car, but there are only taxis, local service only. Nadia asks where will they take you? Anywhere you like" No.6 informs her "just as long as you arrive back here in the end, that's why they're called local." Some citizens pass by, Nadia asked "Who are they, why are they here?" "Why are you?" No.6 responds, and escorts Nadia up the steps to the Green Dome.
Nadia
"Who is Number 2?"
"Who is Number 1?"
"I've done nothing wrong. I've committed no crime."
"No use telling me."

Be seeing you

Portmeirion News

Car gets stuck on narrow footpath at Portmeirion

by Hywel Trewyn, DPW West Nov 26 2012

A car got stuck on a path at Portmeirion

    A CAR had to be rescued after it ended up stuck precariously on a narrow coastal footpath at the Italianate village of Portmeirion. The driver had dropped somebody off at the hotel for dinner and mistakenly taken the wrong turning in the village which led him through a part of the resort called Y Gwyllt woodland before becoming well and truly stuck.The embarrassed driver was an elderly local gentleman – said the resort’s managers yesterday.
    The car was a Vauxhall Astra and photographs taken by staff at Portmeirion show it stuck on the quayside on the coastal path overlooking the Dwyryd estuary.
    The driver had gone up the back of the Town Hall, past the lake, up to the bottom of 49 steps to Battery Ridge, then back down past the lighthouse, and over to White Horses - one of the cottages in the resort.
   He couldn't go any further, so he tried to reverse back up the quayside where its rear wheels had gone over the edge.
    Portmeirion operations manager Dylan Hughes said: “The gentleman took the wrong turning in the village and drove into Y Gwyllt. He just lost his way. A few of us tried to get the car out and we had to use a tractor to pull it out. The area was quite wet.
    “We have quite a number of paths which are wide enough for cars. We maintain a total of 19 miles of paths and roads and its possible to drive around most of them but there are some places where you can’t drive a car and this was one.
    “It was a misunderstanding, an unfortunate incident. There was no malicious intent. We’ve never had anything like this happen before in the last 80 years or so and we don’t believe there’s any need for more signs.”

BCNU

60 Second Interview With A Pair Of Lab Technicians

No.113” So what brought you both to the Village?”

No.242 “Well I can't say really.”

No.243 “It could have been the helicopter.....”

No.242 “Or boat perhaps”

No.243: “We were unconscious at the time you see.”

No.113 “Oh I see. Well why were you brought to the Village?”

No.243 “I invented an acid that will eat through anything!”

No.242 “Really, what do you keep it in?”

No.243 “That's just the trouble. I can't find anything keep it in!”

No.242 “Mmmmm, that is a problem isn't it?”

No.243 “Yes.”

No.113 “And you Number two-four-two, why were you brought here to the Village?

No.242 “I invented an alloy which is indestructible!”

No.243 “That's fascinating.”

No.242 “Do you really think so?”

NO.243: “Yes. You could make a container out of your indestructible alloy.”

No.242 “And you could put your acid in it.”

No.243 “Could I?”

No.242 “Be a pleasure.”

No.113 “It’s nice to see two such scientists working together in perfect harmony here in the Village. What are you both working on at present?”

No.243 “It's something for No.2. We're testing these blank sheets of paper.”

No.13 “Why?”

No.242 “For whatever's written on them.”

No.113 “Is there anything written on them?”

No.243 “No.”

No.113 “So the test is a success then.”

No.243 “How do you mean?”

No.113 “Well you've discovered that there's nothing written on those blank sheets of paper.”

No.242 “We don't think No.2 will see it quite like that.”

No.243 “Who's going to tell him?”

No.242 “You.”

No.243 “Why Me?”

No.242 “He listens to you.”

No.243 “He didn't that time when I tried to tell him…..........well you know what he’s like.”
No.242 “Yes, that’s why it has to be you to tell him.”

No.243 “Thanks very much!”

Reporter No.113

Picture from the Department of Visual records

No.6 A Plant?

    What if No.6 is a plant, sent to the village to check on security, to check on No.2? That idea makes a total hash of how we see the opening sequence, that of a man who having resigned is trying to get away before they come for him. That would all be an act, as he allows himself to be abducted, as the Prisoner goes to work undercover in the village Absurd? Well Nadia Rakovski allowed herself to be abducted, to attempt a fake escape and be subjected to the awful effects of being captured by the village guardian! To make no mention of being interrogated and subjected to torture in that interrogation room, as she was a plant, working undercover in the village. Oh I know what Nadia Rakovski allowed herself to be put through is nothing compared to what No.6 was put through. But the principle is the same.

   Certainly whoever No.,6 is he is definitely a spy. He has intelligence of working with codes, uses code names, Schmidt, Duval, D6, ZM73, XO4, and a false name of Peter Smith. He gives nothing away about himself, only that of his birthday 19th of March 1928, the only real thing we know about the Prisoner-No.6's identity.

  It isn't until his supposed escape in The Chimes of Big Ben that we see that his cover is blown! the Colonel and Fotheringay have been brought to the village to help extract certain information from an old ex-colleague, and is left dumped in the village. Now he really is a Prisoner, betrayed by his very own people! But the Prisoner is still loyal, as we see in Many Happy Returns when the Prisoner "runs" again, back to old friends and ex-colleagues. And in Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling we not only learn that this one time spy, and undercover man is engaged to the bosses daughter, Janet Portland, and that the Prisoner's direct boss, above the Colonel is Sir Charles Portland. The fact that ZM73 had been sent on a mission deep under cover for the past year, means that even Sir Charles Portland was not privvy to such delicate information. After all, Sir Charles may have told his daughter under pressure by her!

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

   During The Chimes of Big Ben, was Nadia sure about Lithuania, and the Village being 30 miles from the Polish border? I mean the conversation between Nadia and No.6 went as follows;

No.6: Where are we Nadia?

Nadia: Lithuania.

Announcer: Curfew time, one minute to curfew.

No.6: Lithuania.....

Announcer: Sixty seconds.

NO.6:.... In the Baltic. That means, making for West Germany, Denmark, that's er, three hundred miles at least.

Nadia: No it doesn't mean that.

No.6: Why not?

Nadia: Well, nearer, in Poland, Danzig.

A little later the conversation continues as follows

Nadia: Thirty miles, that's all.

No.6: Eh?

Nadia: Yes, that's how far we are from the Polish border. Beyond, on the coast there's a little fishing village, Maniewo, they resist them.

   Well if you have a glance at the Atlas, you will see that the village is far from being 30 miles from the Polish border, in fact there is no coastal border at all between Lithuania and Poland, because of Russian State of Kaliningrad in between, which has a coastline of some seventy five miles.

   The reason for getting it wrong, could be when in working out the plot of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ Vincent Tilsley got his geography wrong.

    The Author knew it was wrong and scripted Number 8 to make the mistake, by ignorance or on purpose. After all, the whole "escape" was a set-up and the Village presumably not really meant to be in Lithuania. However No.6 didn't spot the mistake.

   Kalliningrad is an isolated part of Russia, and has a coastline of some 98 kilometeres, aproximately 73 miles! A seaport city and the administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea

   Or the Prisoner is set at an unspecified time period where this might be the case.

   One further mistake as No.6 and Nadia make their escape by sea, is that they were supposed to have been sailing from Lithuania to Poland, the land is on their right. However, they would have been sailing west in the Baltic Sea and the Polish shore would therefore have been on their left - unless they were in the Zalew Wislany and making for the spit of land to its north.

Be seeing you

What's That No.6 Up To?

   I think No.6 made a mistake when he launched that body into the sea like that. No.6 as we know, makes the most of his opportunities. He saves the body, because even then he thinks the dead man might be of use to him. Later he attaches a lifebelt to the body. He has drawn a rough map of the Village and surrounding area. He writes a note......"To whoever may find this......" Changes the picture in the dead man's wallet with one of his own, put that, the note and map into the wallet and the wallet he wraps up in a polythene bag and puts that into the dead man's pocket. No.6 then drags the body out of the cave, across the beach and into the water, this in order to send a message to someone in the outside world. And in launching the body into the sea is where he made his mistake, if you actually look at the film footage of this scene in 'Dance of the Dead,' you will observe that the tide in coming in, not going out!

Be seeing you

Pictorial PRIS6NER

    This is a sureal moment in THEPRIS6NER, as in the desert 313 finds herself confronted by a pair of glass doors with absolutely nothing behind them, save for more desert! Yet as the glass doors slide open, and 313 passes through, she finds herself in a long dark tunnel. A few moments later 313 comes running back along that tunnel, and escapes through the glass doors. What it is 313 finds at the end of that tunnel is not revealed.

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

    6, 12, or is it No.1?
    From my Watercolour period "Portrait of a man."

BcNu

The Therapy Zone

    

     Here is what Rachel Herbert had to say about her experience of the Prisoner.

   "I don't remember much about the actual filming. I expect I drove everybody wild with the Mini-Moke, I wasn't very adept at stopping it on the mark, but I cannot remember Patrick ever being impatient with me. I had a bad tooth all the time I was there. He was very nice to work with. The first evening I arrived in the village he rang me to see if I was happy with my cottage. Apart from that he didn't have much time to speak to me during ‘the Prisoner,’ he was extremely busy all the time I was in Portmeirion."

What's The Butler Up To

   I think the Butler did it!

    Well he seems to be behind everything else! I mean here he is pictured as a "special effects" man during the episode of once Upon A Time.

   Not only is the Butler the perfect personal gentleman's gentlemen, but he can also turn his hand to most all other things, as well as more often than not, being at the centre of things within the Prisoner. And don't forget the Butler was there at the outset of the series, well who do you think packed those two suitcase which the Prisoner collected after he returned to his home after handing in his letter of resignation  - his personal manservant and valet - the Butler.

   You will recall how towards the end of Fall Out, after the Prisoner had driven off in his Lotus 7, it was the Butler who entered No.1 Buckingham Place, and it must have been he who packed those two suitcases which the Prisoner collected together upon his return home during the opening sequence of Arrival, because the Prisoner had never had time to pack them himself.

    Instead of "Kosho" it was originall intended to have been "Judo."

    As with the Generals office, so too should have been that of the Colonels in The Chimes of Big Ben. Yet with its "Naval" militaria the Colonel's office is more meaningful to the Admiral, as in Admiral Hobbs, John Drake's superior in Danger Man.

    Actress Valerie French as Cathy-No.22 in 'Living In Harmony' is wise to American Wild West films, having appeared in so many - Decision at Sundown with Randolph Scott for one.

    If trampling a loudspeaker under foot does not stop the music..... If ripping the wiring and paper out of a teletype isn't enough to stop it from printing..... then perhaps obliterating the village, wiping it off the face of the Earth won't be enough either!

    Actor Charles Lloyd Pack seems to excel at playing characters in wheelchairs, No.118 in Its Your Funeral and in the 1950's 'B' film Cover Girl to name but two, as he has appeared in other films in wheelchairs, but their titles elude me for the moment.

    If there is no call for any other maps as the Shopkeeper told the Prisoner on the day of his arrival in the village. Why then is there a "map of the World" on the chamber all of the Control Room?

    Today Gollywogs are frowned upon. So its just as well that No.6 placed a clown in full view of the camera at the end of The Girl Who Was Death, and not a Gollywog, otherwise it would probably have to be "cut!"

    German stick hand grenades are thrown with the stick, and do not come apart as shown in 'The Girl Who Was Death.'

    If No.6 had been unconscious during the third session of 'A B & C,' then he would not have been able to control his dream the way he did.

    12 hours in a crate, what about a call of nature?

    That frilly shirt worn by Pat McGoohan during the episode of 'The Girl Who Was Death' was also worn previously by David Bauer as the Judge in Living In Harmony, and later by Alexis Kanner in Fall Out.

I’ll be seeing you

Thought For The Day

   

    Basically I think 'the Prisoner' is whatever you get out of it. Whether it's as an action adventure series, spy series, a sequal to 'Danger Man.' A piece of televisual art, or escapism, an allegory, or a parable. It's up to the individual.

Be seeing you

Teabreak Teaser

    Why the termination order againt No.42-Roland Walter Dutton?

BCNU

Death And Destruction

 

It’s very dramatic I have to say, as the General blows several circuits. The Professor attempts to shut the General down, who earlier gave a warning about the General, stating that "The General must be destroyed!"

   As I understand it, it all kicked off after a question had been put to the General by Number Six, this to try and divert Number Two from his suspicions of Number Twelve. The General then began to over heat, the Professor did what he could as Number Two stood looking on in bewilderment. It was Number Twelve who was the first to act, an attempt to save the Professors life, who was being electrocuted by his creation.

  This is the point when both the Professor and Number Twelve are electrocuted to death. Number Twelve was a either very brave, or stupid man, I'm not sure which. Brave because he was attempting to save the Professors life, or stupid because he had become suspect of helping Number Six. So what you see could be interpreted as an act of suicide!

   The General desytroyed. The educational experiment of "Speedlearn," well this was probably the end of the experiment, along with this particular Number Two as he never gets a thrid term of office. As for the students, well they never mentioned Speedlearn ever again? It would probably be as though the experiment had never even taken place!

Photographs from the Department of Visual Records

What's That Girl Up To?

Girl "How long do I have to stand here Number Two?

No.2 "For as long as I tell you to."

"But I'm bored."

"I don't care if you are bored or not dearie. My neck is on the line, my head is on the block."

"And you really think this is going to work?"

"I don't see why not, it's never been tried before you know."

"Well I suppose it's worth a try Number Two."

"That's better dearie, that's the kind of attitude we need in order to reach a successful conclusion."

"Well can't I go and stand over there for a while?"

"No!"

"Why Not?"

"Because if you did dearie, that blessed bicycle would fall over. Alright!"

"Fair enough Number Two."

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

Active Resistance

   Since his arrival here in the village, No.6 has tried to escape, and has poked his nose in where it's not wanted more time than I care to remember. But he's not been alone you know, far from it. There are those Jammers, people who used to make up plots of escape, generally to make mischief in order to confuse the observers.

   Then there are those individuals who have worked against the village, and those who said they would, if they were given a second chance! Like No.12, and No.24, to name but two, and Monique-No.50 who worked with No.6 to put a stop to an assassination plot against No.2, makes three! And of course more citizens resist more than you might think, otherwise there would be no need for aversion therapy. There would be no unmutuals in the village, and therefore no need for "Instant Social Conversion!"

   Just because the village gives off an almost holiday resort atmosphere, doesn't mean that everyone is happy here. This is not Shangri-la, this is the Village!

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

    What is there to understand about the Prisoner? the Prisoner is a television series to be viewed, or more appropriately perhaps, experienced. But there is nothing more to it than what the viewer thinks or feels while watching it, and anything else is unnatural and contrived!

    Derren Nesbitt - No.2 Its Your Funeral "It is so illogical to have all these Number two's coming from somewhere and going nowhere, and so the audience had to try and make logical a totally illogical situation, and make it err logical for them. And that's some of the mystique."

   Bernard Williams - Production Manager on the Prisoner "It had to be different Number two's otherwise the show would have got boring. That was the worry of the finance guys, and the networks in the States was, it's very unusual to see a show where a guy fails at the end of each show. Because every show normally he wins, beats up all the baddies and everyone lives happily ever after. In the Prisoner series he never gets out. So that's a "downer." So if you have the same Number two all the way through, they're both "downers." You can't have two "downers," you can't have a guy who fails to brainwash him, and break him down. And neither can you have Patrick Getting out, so that would have been a killer."

   George Baker the new No.2 Arrival "Pat didn't want anybody to know why they changed, just another Number two appeared. And I think that part of it was the fear thing, putting everybody on edge."

    Bernard Williams - Production Manager "All the Number two's are very English. Maybe looking back we should have had some foreigners there, because it makes you think it's the British government all the time."

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera

   Recently it has been commented that the two shadows of the twin towers cast on the sand in 'Arrival' of THEPRIS6NER makes the number 11 as in 2, or is that eleven? For myself, I see the shadow on the right as being the Number 1!

BCNU

Postcard From The Village

    This is a classic aerial view of the Italianate village of Portmeirion. Sir Clough Willaims-Ellis gave the Italianate Village it’s name of Portmeirion it’s name because Port put it on the coats, and Meirion put it in the Welsh  county of Merrionethshire. It took Clough years to get the name altered on the maps from Aber la {meaning frozen mouth} to Portmeirion. In fact the first maps to appear indicating Portmeirion on the Welsh coast, were German maps. The German Luftwaffe pilots of World War II used Portmeirion as a reference point, a bearing for their bombing runs on Liverpool.

                             A. Tourist

Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

    Simple entitled "Why The Crosspiece?" from my Watercolour period.

BcNu

What About The Electorate then? by our own reporter

      Election time here in the Village. No.2 standing for the "old regime" and No.6 who being a fresh face and with an enthusiasm that cannot be denied. But what about the electorate?

   They seem pretty enthusiastic for this new candidate who stands on the principle of "The old regime forever, and the old No.2 forever. Confession by coercion, if that's what they want, a vote for No.2 and they have it! Or they can stand firmly upon this electoral platform and speak a word without fear, that word is "Freedom." And that is what No.6 stands for, free, for all, for free for all, vote for "Free For All." But does the electorate trust this "fresh face" who has no experience whatsoever in the manipulation of such a community as The Village.

   The electorate may very well be listening to what both candidates have to say, but judging by the close-up expression on two particular citizens, they don't trust No.6 at all!

   So I wonder what will happen when No.6 is brought before the electorate should he actually win this election? Whoever is the successful candidate, will the electorate feel any effect from change within The Village? What will it mean for them?

    I canvassed this young woman, who said that she is going to vote for Six, and only Six, but couldn't tell me why! Perhaps everyone does vote for a dictator, as there is one man seen pushing the penny farthing bicycle, was observed giving a Nazi salute during an election parade!

  Later No.6 made his first electoral television broadcast.

"The Citizens can rest assured that their interests are very much my own, and that the security of the citizens will be my primary objective, be seeing you."

   As polling day approaches the citizens will have to make up their minds a vote for the candidate they have more trust in. A candidate who can see through his policies, and continue to manipulate this community in the way it has become accustomed.

Our own reporter

Photographer No.113b

The Therapy Zone

   Is it not the case that at very important ceremonies No.2 always wears the Great Seal of Office, as seen during the Appreciation Day ceremony? Well why isn't No.2 wearing it now? After all, isn't Appreciation Day just an opportunity of retiring the former No.2, to bring in a new No.2, and during that ceremony The Great Seal of office is worn by both No.2's as part of that ceremony, the departing No.2 and the new No.2. And is that not what is happening here, the old No.2 voted out, and the new No.2 voted in. The "ways and means" might be different, but the principle and effect is just the same, so why no Great Seal Of Office worn here?

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

    About the absence of the number 7 in the Prisoner. For years and years fans of the series have wondered, and debated as to why the "seven" has been deleted. Why do people want one?

    We all have something in common, we all want to be No.1. We all have to look after No.1, because if we don't then no-one else will. So who is No.1 in the Prisoner? Patrick McGoohan, because as far as the series goes, his word was god!

   We all have our own particular village, the village of the mind in which we are all Prisoners, and if we pick up that oversized red telephone and ask to speak to No.1, we shall, each and everyone of us, hear our own voice speaking back to us, that would be something wouldn't it?

    What kind of village we all live in all depends on how hard we are on ourselves, self persecution if you like. We all love ourselves, hate ourselves for something or other, and sometimes we even feel as though we could kill ourselves for what we have done!

   So why do we go on? Because the village is the life that we lead, each and everyone of us. Everyone has their exists and entrances, some sooner rather than later, but life goes on for the many, because it must. Because the community must live and so must you, if only we can survive the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and come to terms with who we are, and what we do. You can try to escape, to change your life, to run away and live the life of a tramp, hermit, or monk. But you cannot run away from yourself, of who you are. That is the village of the mind, and you carry it around with you always, till death do you part.

A Matter of Resignation

   Having escaped the confines of The Village, or at least he thinks he has, he arrives in an office he knows very well, and in that office he is confronted by the Colonel who sets about debriefing the Prisoner. "The night is young and there are many questions First why did you resign?"

    The Colonel has been brought to the village in order to question and thoroughly de-brief the Prisoner-No.6, the Colonel has become akin to No.2 if you like. But I never have understood the Colonel's persistence over the Prisoner's resignation. Surely the Colonel had read the Prisoner's letter he left with that balding man in the office during the opening sequence, and if he had he must surely know the reason behind the Prisoner's resignation, and so doing could tell No.2 why the Prisoner resigned without all this complicated plot, which failed anyway. All the Colonel had to do was walk into No.2's office and show him the Prisoner's letter of resignation, then they could move on and use that reason against the Prisoner himself!

Be seeing you

The Colonel/The Prisoner-Number 6

   Having had their minds transferred into the other person's body, the Colonel, with the mind of the Prisoner, is taken back to London so to wake up in No.1 Buckingham Place. All unpleasant memories of the Village have been wiped from the Prisoner's memory.
   Now in the Colonel's body the Prisoner's mind controls his movement, and it is the Prisoner's mind that thinks. The television viewer knows this because we hear his thoughts in the voice of the Prisoner. What's more the Prisoner's handwriting is the same! So working with that hypothesis, would not the voice we hear also be that of the Prisoner's and not that of the Colonel's?
   Admittedly, the cadance would be that of the Colonel's, because the Prisoner's mind would be speaking through the Colonel's vocal cords, so the level would be the same. But the Colonel would speak in the manner of the Prisoner. As we hear ,his whole manner of speaking changes from the way he speaks when he thinks, to the way he actually speaks. Although the Prisoner does not have a marked accent, he does speak differently to the Colonel, and that is the way the Colonel should have spoken.
    At the end of the episode, when we hear the Colonel speaking through the Seltzman body, Hugo Schuster should have actually spoken with the same English accent as the Colonel. And Seltzman's mind, now in the body of the Colonel, would have gone out into the world to continue his experiments in peace, but speaking with an Austrian accent.
  
Be seeing you