I do try and vary the articles of blog you for, with information on the Prisoner, 60 second interviews, archive items and a little bit of fun with No.6, but never to take the Mickey, only in taking a look at what No.6 gets up to from a different perspective and that's where the fun comes in. And observations, plenty of those and for a couple of examples how about when during the fight scene with the pair of henchmen in ‘A B & C’ No.6 splits his suit trousers! Not spotted that one, well there's the maid who actually works at Portmeirion standing staring as the brass band emerges from the pink pavilion during the episode of Arrival. And what about those motor cars parked at various places around the village, they are mostly seen in aerial shots of Portmeirion. They are cars belonging to the guests actually staying at Portmeirion at the time of filming the Prisoner, not to mention the day visitors, which makes the attempt to keep the location of the village a bit of a nonsense really. The actual location of the village was not of course revealed until the opening sequence of the final episode ‘Fall Out,’ but those who had actually witnessed the filming of the Prisoner at Portmeirion would instantly know when they watched Arrival! Plus certain people staying at Portmeirion at the time shot film footage of the filming activities of their own. One piece of amateur film footage which I have been privileged to see, is of the Alouette helicopter employing the large floats by landing on the surface of the water, which is never seen to be done in’ the Prisoner.’ And no doubt you will have observed the elongated 'map of your village' running around the base of the wall of the Control Room. And perhaps you will have observed a white light which traverses the roads of the village. Back in the late 1980's this light was originally thought to be a village taxi, well video at the time wasn't of the greatest clarity. Today we have re-mastered video tapes and even better DVD of ‘the Prisoner,’ and so employing DVD we can positively see that the white light is just simply that and not a village taxi, and more likely to be that of Rover, the village guardian, as its progress through the village is tracked in the control room. And then there are those Orbit Tubes inside the rocket in ‘Fall Out.’ Orbit 2, Orbit 48 and a third which was at the time unmarked. One can only surmise that this third Orbit Tube would have been for Sir if he had rejected the offer of ultimate power, had not the bloody and violent revolution ‘Fall Out’ not been instigated by Sir himself.
With regard to information, you may or may not be aware that after the episode of ‘Once Upon a Time’ Leo McKern collapsed and suffered a nervous breakdown and vowed to have nothing more to do with the Prisoner. In fact Leo had taken some persuading to return to his role of No.2 for ‘Fall Out,’ by which time he had shaved off his goatee beard for another project and refusing to wear a false beard a way had to be found to explain the difference between No.2 who possibly died at the end of Once Upon a Time and No.2's new appearance in ‘Fall Out’, hence the need to give No.2 a shave! It is interesting to note that having worked on the Prisoner in no fewer than three episodes ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ ‘Once Upon a Time’ and ‘Fall Out,’ Leo McKern never once spoke about his involvement in the series. Most probably because of the effect of both Patrick McGoohan and Once Upon a Time had upon him.
"Even I won't be able to Tell You Apart. You'll Need A Password, The Password Is Gemini"
Gemini is of course the astrological sign for The Twins, yet No.6 and Curtis-No.12 were not twins, even though looks can be deceptive , but definitely not in this case. Curtis-No.12 was either a very good look-a-like for No.6, or he underwent some extraordinary plastic surgery which either left not scars, or the scars were very well hidden. The mole on No.12's left wrist was false however, and the mole on No.6's left wrist having been surgically removed. There is a unique curiosity to the episode of ‘The Schizoid man.’ and it is this. There is no evidence that No.6 checked the body of Curtis after he lost his nerve and was attacked by the village guardian Rover, and judging by what we see no evidence to say that Curtis actually died, he may simply have been unconscious. And if Curtis had still been alive, then what price Curtis remaining in the village as he was? After all administration couldn't have two No.6's running around loose in the village... could they? And if that had been the case, and if Curtis had not undergone plastic surgery previously, he would certainly have been faced with that prospect, if this were the case. After all with the episode of ‘Dance of the Dead’ No.2 told No.6 that the body washed up on the beach and which then lay in a long drawer in the mortuary of the Town Hall, would be amended slightly, so that it was No.6 who had died in an accident at sea. This then is yet another indication to the extent of both surgical and medical capabilities and techniques, to be employed by doctors at the hospital.
When it comes to the question of twins in the village, there are two such cases that we know of. The first demonstrated in Arrival, that of the electrician who attends '6 Private' the Prisoner's cottage, this to replace the busted loudspeaker which the Prisoner trampled under foot. And that of the gardener whom the Prisoner encountered after he left the cottage, feeling like a bit of a walk. The gardener who asks No.6 to "Mind the plants," and who seems to be a twin to that of the electrician, and not just a twin, but an identical twin!
The second demonstration for the possibility of twins in the village comes in the episode of ‘Free for All,’ this between the photographer No.113b and the publisher of The Tally Ho upon that quirky looking press device outside of the Town Hall "Get your election edition now." Again this appears to be another case of identical twins in the village, which is I suppose acceptable, well we have to accept it do we not? Because if not then there is a possible case for cloning within the confines of the village. Indeed it has been suggested that Curtis was a clone of No.6, a suggestion or theory which I have to say I do not subscribe to. Yet if not cloning, then we must take to the possibility that twins, and for that matter identical twins were either being brought to the village of their own free will, or twins who were abducted. But what would be the point in the abduction of twins to the village? The prisoner was brought to the village because he resigned from his job and they wanted to know the reason. But if the Prisoner had had a twin brother, what would the village gain by having his twin brother abducted to the village? Well none that I can think of, unless of course for experimental purposes in the hospital.
There is however one further explanation as to the two sets of identical twins in the Village, that they were born here!
I’ll be seeing you
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