Thought Exchange

       We kick off this time around with something futuristic from ‘A B & C,’ those film cassettes of 'A' 'B' 'C' and of Engadines party. A single reel of 8mm film in a plastic cassette, I wonder how that works then? Because its not reel to reel as in the case with film of this kind.

                                                                     *

    Wuring Once Upon A Time No.6 admitted to No.2 that he's the boss "He thinks you're the boss" said No.2. "I am" No.6 replies. "I'm No.2. I'm the boss." "No.1's the boss" No.6 responds. But this is conflicting, because does No.6 realise he is No.1? Because after the Supervisor-No.28 has entered the Embryo room he asks No.6 what he desires, and No.6 says "No.1."

                                                                                    *

    In 'Arrival' a Village citizen is attacked by the Village Guardian, either suffoctaed to death, or simply into unconsciousness. In that scene, there is a slight mistake, as the man in the striped jersey turns into a man wearing a oink blazer, that man in No.100 {Mark Eden} of 'It's Your Funeral.' The question is not why that few seconds of film of No.100 being suffocted by the Village Guardian from 'It's Your Funeral.' But why was No.100 supposed to have been attacked by the Village Guardian in the first place?!

                                                                                           *

    During the episode of ‘It's Your Funeral’ No.100 exchanged No.6's wrist watch whist No.6 was taking part in a Kosho match. When No.6 returned to his locker his watch had stopped. He didn’t realise that it wasn't actually his own watch, shouldn't he have noticed this? After all, No.6 is supposed to have a strong sense of identity, and that you won’t catch him out on his possessions.

    The general wear and tear on my own wrist watch would certainly have been an indication that it is in fact my wrist watch. but then again the village administration is clever, damned clever and replecate anything perfectly.

                                                            *

    Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

    Apart from the fact that No.2 in ‘Arrival’ wears the same Village attire as No.6, I have always wondered why this new No.2 wears a piped blazer, while all the others, save for female No.2's and No.2 of 'Free For All,' No.2 generally wears double or single breasted plain blazers. Wearing a piped blazer makes the new No.2 of 'Arrival' stand out amongst his peers, and yet enjoys such a short term of office! But I suppose the only No.2 to show any real individualistic tendencies is No.2 of ‘Free for All.’ His jacket is a beige colour, and something unusual, cuffs at the end of the sleeves!

BCNU

60 Second Interview with No.1

 

No.113: It wasn't easy getting an interview with Number One. In fact the journey to this actual point had been a hard and difficult one. But I asked Number One what it had all been about?

    "Somehow I thiought you would look different soemhow, like me for example!"

    No.1: “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha!”

    “Well if you could just stand still for a moment Number One. Perhaps you could tell the readers exactly who you are.”

    “Ha, ha,ha, ah, ha, ha ha."

    “Well obviously you are not physically Number Six's alter ego, even if you do look like him, that would be impossible.”

    “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

    “So you must be Curtis who has gone doo lally, round the twist, mad!”

    “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ."  

    “Alright, have it your own way. But if you ask me finding out that Number One is supposed to be Number Six was pretty disappointing, if not predictable such is the strength of the man's egomania. And in that, I reject both you and your Village!”

Reporter No.113

Photographer No.113b

The Man With X-Ray Eyes

Hospital Report - 374.890/7652

 

    After a routine check-up at the opticians at the hospital, it appears that the doctor has been carrying out a further experiment on the patient. It appears that an operation to remove a cataract from the patients left eye. However during this operation a new drug developed by the 'Chemist & Research' department, was used for the first time.

   A matter of hours later, as the patient was in ward 'A' that a development occurred which so far the doctors have been unable to explain, it is this. The patient is able to see through his eyelids! The operation together with the newly developed drug has in effect given the patient X-Ray vision.

   The doctor-No.40 has taken over the case, having the patient removed to a side ward. Reports have it that the doctor-No.40 has stepped up the treatment upon the patient, with an increase of the drug, and subsequent dosage. This has caused the eyesight of the patient to intensify his X-Ray vision. At first he could only see through the uniforms of the hospital staff, then through the uniform, skin and bone. And as the treatment was increased, both the walls and roof of the hospital disappeared.

   In order to give the patient some relief from the effects of X-Ray vision, because it was having a destabilising effect upon the patient, heavy duty thick lead lined goggles were quickly made. And to some extent this has had a stabilising effect on the patient, by cutting down the effects of the X-Ray vision.

   Just how far the doctor will be allowed to go with this experiment remains to be seen. As for the eyesight of the patient, it is somewhat perplexing as to just what he might he might be seeing and to the extent of that sight. The doctor-No.40 is arguing the point, that he must take this experiment on, this to identify just what the patient is seeing. If taken all the way he might just be able to see through to infinity and back.

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

   No.2 of ‘The Schizoid Man,’ so confident, so assured. He failed in one respect, in breaking No.6, but succeeded in stopping No.6 from escaping the village. But even though this man is very clever, why did he need to use passwords when it came to identifying No.6 and his twin No.12? After all both were wearing different blazers, No.6 his regular dark blazer, and No.6 a cream blazer! Also who did he become friends with Curtis in the first place? And was he aware of Curtis’s look-a-alike features to No.6 in a previous to their arrival in the village?

    No.24-Alison betrayed No.6, although she wanted him to know that given a second chance she wouldn't do it again. Just when and how she befriended No.6 in the first place is unknown. she was either put up to it by No.2, either that or No.2 got the idea for the plan through observation of No.6's friendly help and quite obvious mental connection with No.24.

   No.12 of Administration, assistant to No.2 during his term of office in The General. No.12 doesn't care for the Professor, the General, or Speedlearn. He helps No.6 by supplying him with the Professors lecture about the General on micro tape, two security pass discs, and the uniform of a Top-Hat official. He also tries to save the Professors life at the end, but dies in the attempt. Or did No.12 commit suicide by clinging onto the Professor, and thus making it look like he was trying to save the Professors life?

   Did you know that Patrick McGoohan was offered the role of Simon Templer - the Saint, before Roger Moore? And did you know that Patrick McGoohan turned down that role of the Saint simply because of the car which was going to be used in the ITC series called The saint, the car being a Volvo. When in the actual novels written by Leslie Charteris, Simon Templer drove a car of the country he visited.

  Roland Walter Dutton, the Court Jester. For he is the man who the Prisoner thought would be the best person placed to say the things which needed to be said at The Prisoner's trial. Why? Because in the days of yesteryear when the Kings and Queens had their own personal Court Jester, it was the Jester who could get away with telling how things really were, political commentary against the King say, without any harm coming to the Jester, because the Jester does it through comedy. So perhaps the Prisoner had seen Roland Walter Dutton dressed in the costume of a Court Jester, and thought that Dutton as the Jester might just get away with saying the things which needed to be said!

Be seeing you

The Prisoner - All At Sea - Day 7

  Well he's still out there having reached day seven, that's six days and six nights all alone at sea. He's a very resilient man our Number 6. We see here that he has been keeping a basic ships log of his voyage, the number of days, and his position at that time of day. I wonder how he knows his position without the use of a sextant? He'll know the time by his wrist watch, unless of course sea water gets into it, then it will stop!
   I wonder how Number 6 is feeling this morning? Cold, wet, alone! He'll still be eating cold food out of tins, lets hope his drinking water lasts. He must he tired, perhaps approaching exhaustion. Here Number 6 almost fell asleep at the helm of his craft,

that will never do. So far Number 6 has experienced fair winds, but should a storm develop, then he'll be in real trouble. And still no safety line rigged, if he was to get swept overboard, separated from his raft, he'll drown! At best without warm dry clothing he'll die from hyperthermia and exposure! His clothes soaked with sea water will harden and stick to his skin. The Village Administration must have been mad to allow their prize prisoner Number 6 to be put through this ordeal, they could so easily lose Number 6! Such are the realities of the current situation.
    And so it is that Number 6 must face yet another day all alone at sea, the way it has been for the past six days and nights. It would terrify me I know that, what about you? Mind you I forgot that Number 6 is made of sterner stuff, but then again he has to be!

Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

    I remember how once at a Prisoner Convention at Portmeirion, I went into the shop called "Pot Jam," I went in to purchase something I forget what. The woman behind the counter asked me if I understood everything about 'the Prisoner?' I looked at her and said by "no, no I don't." She said how refreshing it was to hear that, as many fans of 'the Prisoner' she had spoken to said they all understood everything about 'the Prisoner.' Yes, I can understand that, after all it's not the done thing to appear not to be one of the crowd, to be seen to admit that unlike the majority who claim to know everything about 'the Prisoner' you don't know what the series is all about! There are certain aspects of 'the Prisoner' that remain a mystery to me, and others that cannot be understood or explained, and therefore will forever remain a complete and utter mystery!

I'll be seeing you

Village Life

   What's this? The Prisoner queueing up outside the labour Exchange! Well what kind of job could the Prisoner be given in the Village?
   Well he once worked for NATO security, then British Intelligence department MI9. So I suppose he could be made a plant here in the Village, to winkle out the dissidents and Unmutuals! On a more mundane level seeing as he built his own Lotus 7 kit car, he might be a motor mechanic, serviceing the fleet of Village taxis!

BCNU

Prismatic Reflection

    You know, well no you don’t know, I am constantly being surprised by the way people see ‘the Prisoner.’ In an email from a friend who described ‘the Prisoner’ as a 17 piece puzzle. Now we all know that ‘the Prisoner’ is a conundrum, enigmatic, a puzzlement, but this is the first time in all my years of appreciation for ‘the Prisoner’ that anyone has called it a 17 piece puzzle, but it is an apt description.
    Well that’s hardly a break through I hear you scream, we know ‘the Prisoner’ is a puzzlement, but what’s the answer? Well that is for each and everyone of us to arrive at, after all ‘the Prisoner’ means what it is, and not what we strive to make it. Number 2 once wrote on a blackboard find missing link, I suppose that would be the reason behind the Prisoner’s resignation. But that cat won’t jump anymore, because we know why the Prisoner resigned, “for peace of mind, because too many people know too much.” And what does that tell us? It tells us that the Prisoner had a conscience. Well having discovered the missing link, what do we do now? Put it together, well that’s all well and good, but how do you put the 17 piece puzzle called ‘the Prisoner’ together, when so many of the pieces are missing? Like the Prisoner’s name for instance, the job he resigned from. Why did he refuse to kill? Were both the Colonel and Fotheringay really traitors? Who was Nadia Rakovsky going to report to? Not the Colonel, he was all too aware of how things went during the chimes of Big Ben! Exactly what is the Village Guardian? Which side runs the Village? It’s run by one side or the other, perhaps both! Whose side is the Prisoner on? He says he’s on the side of the Village, but seeing as we cannot be too sure which side that is……possibly that of the British, or both. And yet the Village is an International community, a blueprint for world order, we can clearly see the problem!
    The only way open to any of us, which gives us a chance of “putting it together,” can be through interpretation, speculation, and theorisation. And that can lead one down so many different avenues, making it so easy to get lost that you lose the train of thought you were following in the first place. However neither speculation and interpretation makes for the perfect scenario. Speculation is not fact, and how are we to know that what we interpret is the correct interpretation? More than that ‘the Prisoner’ can be interpreted in so many ways, Patrick McGoohan himself said a much, “That one thousand people can interpret the series in one thousand separate ways, and each one would be right,” or words to that effect. So that leaves us with theorisation, again one can theorise as much as one wishes, but that gets us nowhere. What’s more, the deeper one delves into ‘the Prisoner,‘ the more complicated it becomes. In order to “put it together,” one must have the facts.
    We know that a man resigns his job for peace of mind, because too many people know too much! There is the Village where people turn up, people who have a certain kind of knowledge inside their heads which is of great value to one side or the other. People in the Village are there to either have that knowledge extracted, or protected. That everyone is a number. That there is no escape. And even with the basic facts, there is no-way that one can put it together, for there is much we cannot possibly know.
    Perhaps I am looking at it from the wrong angle. Perhaps the puzzle has already been put together, perhaps not to our own personal liking, in the 17 episodes that go to make up ‘the Prisoner.’ That we as television viewers, and as fans of the ‘Prisoner,’ try too hard to dissect the series first, and then attempt to put it together again in order to make sense of it all, something which all the Kings horses and all the Kings men could not do!
    Oh I am fully aware that I am one of the worst for theorising, interpreting, analysing, and scrutinising ’the Prisoner’ to death. But you see it has become my lot in life to do so, as anyone who reads my ‘Prisoner’ blog will tell you. And yet I assure you that you and I are not alone, there are plenty of fans of ‘the Prisoner’ the world over who are doing just the same. Individuals who like me, are fascinated by the television series created by one Patrick McGoohan.

Be seeing you

60 Second Interview With A House Maid

  No.113 "I say, you're not Martha are you?"

Maid "Who sir?

"You’re not Martha?"

"No sir."

"I could have sworn, you have the look of Martha."

"Who is this Martha sir?"

"Mrs Butterworth’s house maid."

"I don't know any Mrs Butterworth sir."

"No, I expect you wouldn't, not ordinarily. "

What do you mean by that sir?"

"Well if you were Mrs Butterworth's house maid, you're five  episodes early, ordinarily."

"Ordinarily sir."

"Well let me put it to you...."

"I beg your pardon sir?"

"Oh, no, you see what I mean is this, in any other screening order going by the birthday of the Prisoner which would put Many Happy Returns before A B & C."

"I don't understand sir."

"Well working with that hypothesis, you could be Martha."

"Why don't you sit down sir and have a nice cup of hot chocolate. You're all stressed out sir. Sit down and relax, while I call Number Two."

"Oh thank you. You're very kind..................{sound of snoring}

Reporter No.113

Photograph from the Department of Visual Records

The Therapy Zone

   When you think of the actors and actresses who have played different roles in ‘the Prisoner,’ shouldn't Patrick McGoohan have been noted in the credits as "Special Guest Appearance" as Curtis in ‘The Schizoid Man’ and No.1 in ‘Fall Out?’

    Certainly there are times when I feel stunt double for Patrick McGoohan, should have gained a credit as Number 6. But then I suppose that would have spoiled the illusion!

Jamming

   And believe you me, we're not talking domestic science here, but Jammers who like nothing more than messing up the system! I'd heard that No.118, an eccentric artist, knows much about Jamming. So I went to interview No.118, as he worked on the lawn of the Old People's Home.

    ".... What they do, these Jammers, is they talk." "Talk?" I asked. "They talk about the plots they've been hatching." "And what plots may these be?" I asked. No.118 was very specific. "Well escapes mostly. But plans and developments for all kinds of mischief. They do it to confuse the observers. The plots they talk about are always make-believe." "So they never have any intention of escaping?" I asked. "Not when the plots are always make-believe, but then control can't know that until they've checked them out. Used to run themselves ragged investigating the schemes of Jammers." "used to?" I asked "Well they don't bother any more." {I was curious to know why}. "Well they keep a list of known Jammers, and should anything be picked up by control from one fo these, they just let it ride."

    Then technically a Jammer does have the possibility of escape, if he or she came come up with the right plan! Because if control picked a plan up by a Jammer they would simply ignore it! Later I spoke to the Watchmakers daughter No.50.

   "Jamming is one of the most important ways of fighting back" No.50 told me. I asked her if she is a Jammer, but she was reluctant to give an answer. The only trouble with meeting a Jammer, is that you don't know if your being told the truth, or that your being jammed by the person in question. I think I'll keep to my jam on toast, it's not so much of a mouthful to swallow!

   Fictionally speaking if we can suppose that No.2 of ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ is that of Thorpe in ‘Many Happy Returns,’ who was so keen as to "hammer" No.6, then he would not be the first ex-colleague of No.6's so to want to do. As No.2's assistant during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ Potter who suggested to No.2 "There are methods we haven't used yet," meaning to break his ex-colleague No.6. "He'll crack" Potter assures his superior, with a wry smile. Then we can also suppose that No.2's assistant is in fact Potter seen later in the series as the Colonel’s back-up in ‘The Girl Who Was Death.’

Be seeing you

Teabreak Teaser

    Why does the new No.2 in 'Arrival' mirror No.6 in the way he wears identical clothes?

BCNU

Postcard From The Village

    Portmeirion, where night time is a magical time, when the atmosphere changes from what it was in the daytime. I stroll quietly through the Village, along streets and along paths, pausing here and there to look in shop windows, before finally retiring for the night. And for those life serving prisoners, they can watch 'The Prisoner' on Portmeirion’s video channel. Once upon a time, if you wanted to see a film on Portmeirion's video channel, all you had to do was telephone the hotel reception, ask if they have such a film as you wanted to watch, and if so you could book it for that night. But they don't do that any more, and so much in Portmeirion has changed. Many of the old ways of Portmeirion have died.

                        A. Tourist

Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

    From my Penny Farthing period!

BcNu

The Professors Lecture

   THEPRIS6NER, what is it all about? Thankfully during my time in The Village I never encountered that membranic "thing," what is it, a guardian? But there it is, as large as life, proving the fact that the guardian did not die in ‘Fall Out.’

   But is it all really in the mind? Does not The Village physically exist? It's a poor look out for me, an many others if it doesn't! There has been a theory put forward that this new Village has been built on the site of the previous one. That the desert shows that there has been a dramatic climate change, well I don't subscribe to that particular theory, but a theory it is nonetheless for that.

    I question the educational policy, I do not see the value in teaching pupils the art of surveillance, set against each other, set against their elders, and to report any suspect.

   There is history, the history of The Village, but just who was Lady Two the Great, and how far back does the history of The Village go? I mean No.2 did say that soon they would be writing their own history, seems to me that they succeeded!

   This new Village is not for me, even though there is the feel of the 1950's and 60's,

not to mention the "retro" look The Village enjoys. Yet there has been advancement in technology, just look at Two's lap top, the top being made of glass!

  You may think that I'm crossing over from the one Village to the other, but I assure you that is not the case. People are having their say on THEPRIS6NER, and I simply thought to exercise my right to do so. I was curious. But gratified to see so many echoes of the original series within the new series, and that education was touched on, if ever so briefly.

   I understand that people are switching off rather than watching THEPRIS6NER, that fans do not like it because it's not a remake, did they really want a simple remake? I think that it is very poor to think fans of ‘the Prisoner’ have turned their backs on this new series, especially after they have dealt with the complexities of McGoohan's ‘Prisoner.’ I would have thought that to them THEPRIS6NER would have been a piece of cake. But really, is THEPRIS6NER so very different to that of the original? In my opinion, no, it's all there, just wrapped up a little differently if you ask me.

The Professor

The Therapy Zone

THEPRIS6NER

    Death, it would seem, is still an escape. Especially a Village death! So my hypothesis was the correct one, clever little me.

     With the final episode of ‘Checkmate’ I had some idea of what to expect, and rightly so as it turns out, the questions were answered, even where "Rover" originated from, the mind of Six who dare not face his own fears.

   This final episode was entitled ‘Checkmate,’ but I thought that ‘Dance of the Dead’ might have been a more fitting title, as much of the episode, what little there was of it, dealt with death of one kind or another. Six was dying, Two's wife M2 was suffocated to death, not by "Rover" but by her son 11-12 and a cushion. 11-12 then went and hanged himself in the "Go Inside" Club, and finally Two blew himself up with a hand grenade. But there is a difference with death in The Village. Six didn't die, we saw that at the end. Two's wife M2 died in The Village, yet not in the other place in New York, and that was the same fate of Two, who walked off together into the sunset so to speak, both Curtis and his wife Helen finally having escaped The Village. Where as, Six has become the new Two, and 313 chose to accept her fate by taking the pills. They sat in the desert together with the new Two making plans for an even better Village, and 313 with a tear in her eye. What of 11-12? Well his death by suicide was the only actual death in The Village. And if it had not been for Six accepting the role of the new Two, and 313 deciding to join him because she loves him, The Village, and all the residents would simply have disappeared into one giant hole, oblivion in fact.

   And the origin of The Village, well it's all in the mind, Helen's mind. An experiment into the layers of the subconscious where The Village was created. It's purpose to take broken people there, broken for whatever reason. Mend them, mentally, and then let them back into the "other" place. In the end Two got what he wanted, or rather Curtis got what he wanted. He got Michael back into the company of Summakor, and as Two got Six to finally accept. And all those flashbacks were not flashbacks at all! It was people like Michael, Two, and 147, those people who were brought to The Village, living lives in two places at the same time.

    I shall have to watch this final episode again to gauge the full effect of it, and see if there was anything I missed. We were certainly short changed by the length of this episode, which in the end was the exact opposite to that of the original series Fall Out. McGoohan wouldn't have liked it, as Checkmate gave all the answers we the viewer were looking and perhaps hoping for. But short changed? Yes, because the final episode ‘Checkmate’ began as 10:20 pm, and concluded around 11:10pm, not an hour, not even fifty minutes!

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

    Take the innocent looking Astro or Lava lamp, seen by some to be symbolic, suggestive even. "Suggestive," wrote one fan, "of the village guardian, Seen to be malevolent, as though it would do you harm if it were ever to escape it close confinement." Get out of it, and get real for goodness sake. Its a simple Astro or Lava lamp - depending on what you want to call it, its contents oil and wax, which is more soothing and tranquil than it is malevolent!"

No.7

   Hotel Portmeirion must have been a wonderful, quirky place to visit and even to stay as a guest. The date of this postcard is unknown, but probably dates from the 1950's, but certainly at a time before the open Lido was built - the concrete swimming pool. I wonder if anyone actually used that swimming pool? I don’t see the young women by the swimming pool in the water!

Be seeing you

Quote For The Day

    Madam Professor "What does he want?"
    No.2 "What some of us want ultimately. To escape."
                                                    {The General}
    I should think that No.2 should follow his own advice, to guard his words carefully! Mind you, with the failed result of the experiment as "Speedlearn,' we never see this particular No.2 again. We never know what happens to an out-going No.2, but perhaps he got his wish, to escape!

Be seeing you

Thought Exchange

    The Prisoner purchased his car as a kit-car. How long might it have taken the Prisoner to build his Lotus 7? An old friend of mine told me that he built his over a weekend! that doesn't include the spray job.
                                                     *
    In 'Dance of the Dead' No.6 was put on trial for the possession of a radio. He took that radio from the dead body he found on the beach. If that dead man was No.34 who we hear from the Supervisor as having died, might not that body found on the beach by No.6 be No.34? That would mean the obvious question, where did No.34 get that radio?
                                                     *
    'Dance of the Dead' is perhaps the darkest of the 17 episodes of 'the Prisoner,' however I'm not always sure what was achieved with the episode. After all No.6 might have been sentenced to death, but its certain that that sentence to be carried out by the people in the name of justice, would never have been carried out. Justice indeed, it was more like mob rule. The people acting like a lynch mob!
                                                     *
    The white membranic mass of the Village Guardian, keep the citizens in line. It stops anyone from attempting to escape, it keeps them at bay. And yet, isn't it also that a Guardian protects, protects the people against themselves, as well as the Village as a whole.
    When No.6 attempts to escape the Village by helicopter in 'Arrival,' the viewer can see how agitated the Guardian becomes. It would seem that there is only one thing which pacifies the Guardian, and that is submission!
                                                    *
     The Prisoner said that it was a matter of conscience, that he resigned for peace of mind. Seeing as how No.1 and No.6 are supposed to be the alter ego of the other, and if we carry this through the whole series,then perhaps No.6 didn't like what was being done in the Village, and decided in 'Fall Out' that he didn't want any more of it. And so having returned to London, he went off to hand in his resignation just as soon as he could.
                                                     *
    During 'Fall Out,' the Village was evacuated. But where did everyone go? It was remarkable that such an evacuation was carried out in so short a time. Did the evacuation include all the patients in the hospital, and the folk in the Old People's Home? And so many helicopters brought in to almost instant use during that evacuation! Just how many French Alouette helicopters did the Village have?
                                                           *
    It is quite obvious that the Prisoner is trapped in a vicious circle. The question is how to break that vicious circle? I suppose that would all depend on how much the Prisoner remembered from the first time. He might for example remember not to trust either Nadia or the Colonel. He might choose not to resign a second time, or at the very least take both his suitcases, passport and airline ticket with him when he goes to hand in his resignation. That way he need not go home, and can drive straight to the airport from that underground car park!

I'll be seeing you

Village Life

    No.6 "There's nothing, are you sure it's the right frequency?"
   No.58 "I'm Certain."
                               {to listen to the radio transmission click on the link below}

http://youtu.be/7OQ6vwaFL2s

Be seeing you

Does The Village Really Exist?

     Is The Village an actual physical place, or is it purely all in the mind? If it is, it's a sad lookout for those who live here, and that includes me! If The Village is a figment of someone’s over active imagination, in whose mind was The Village created, and who is controlling it now? My money is on the Prisoner, and by that I mean this fellow No.6.

  Is No.6 mad? Well not according to our records he isn't. But then again, if The Village and everything in it, is but a figment of No.6's over active imagination, then he would have written his psychiatric report himself, wouldn't he? And if that's the case, No.6 must be writing this now, but through me! I wonder if I'm a cardboard cut-out sat motionless at my desk, the editor might be of that opinion!

    But if The Village is the creation of one man's mind, then he must be mad, as mad as a Hatter! After all who would create such a Village in which the creator is persecuted, abused, interrogated, and medically experimented on, on a daily basis? Well perhaps someone with a persecution complex, who wants to suffer, but who knows just how far he wants to go. After all no harm must come to No.6, he doesn't want to end up a man of fragments, the tissue must remain undamaged. And that would explain why No.2 is allowed to go only so far in gaining the reason behind No.6's resignation.

    There is one sad thought, one day No.6 may no longer be the tormented soul that he is, and when that day comes No.6 will be at peace with himself. When that day comes, then The Village, with everything, and everyone in it, will cease to exist...........................

Photographs from the Department of Visual Records

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

   It's been tried before, and now they've tried it again, it didn't work then, and it didn't work now. They gave me love, in the form of 4-15, both here in The Village and in New York with Lucy, and then took it away. In fact they went further, they murdered Lucy, at the precise same moment 4-15 threw herself into that hole, into oblivion. Can two people be in two places at the same time? Is one place a dream? If both places are a dream, then I'm in serious trouble!

    I've no idea what Two means by finding the Six within, but I do know that they come for you in the night, when you're asleep. I know it, and I want 313 to help me. But I'm not sure she can, because to do that she would have to betray Two, and I don't think 313's up to that. 313 loves me, she stopped the wedding by kissing me, and really spoilt Two's plan. Two thinks love and family life are the answer to everything. But what would Two know about family love, look how he treats his own family! 11-12 is already suspicious, and is quietly going against his father, I wonder how far 11-12 will go against him?

   "Go To Blazers!"

     Number Six's jacket seen in most episodes is the one with broken piping on the lapel. There is however a second blazer, similar to the first, except it has continuous piping around the lapel. This second blazer represents a continuity flaw within the whole series. It has been asked over the years whether or not this second jacket was an internal costume decision. This seems unlikely and was probably overlooked that the second jacket was not identical to the first.

Thus while the one with broken piping would be cleaned, by a lady in Portmadog, after a day of rolling about on the beach, the second one would come into play for less energetic scenes.

   Mind you, wouldn't No.6 have two blazers anyway, one on and one at the dry cleaners!

    The General - this is the second episode to feature Colin Gordon as No.2, although his other episode A B & C, was in fact filmed later. The credit's give Joshua Adam as the writer, this being the pen name of Lewis Griefer. For the first time in the series the metal corridors, which lie beneath The Village, appear, as do the American style military guards, who return in later episodes. Also re-used is the Council Chamber from Free For All. This was the basic interior set used to represent No.2's Operations Room, the Control Room and the Labour Exchange, plus the laboratory in A B & C. Education was a newsworthy issue in the mid-sixties, with student ‘sit-ins' being all the rage. However, the main thrust of the story was to give a warning about the danger of technology, when it is used for learning. If people are fed data which has not been arranged or edited, that will become fixed with the information and will have less freedom of thought, as their mental spectrum has been narrowed.

Be seeing you

The Prisoner All At Sea!

   Crikey, is he still out there!
February 24th 1967

     Today is the fourth day No.6 has been at sea, seen here shaving, well that won't last much longer! Mind you our friend here is most resilient and his ingenuity knows no bounds, as he constructs a home-made compass. It must be extremely difficult knowing where you are sailing to, because he doesn't know where he is sailing from! But I expect having been confined for several months in the Village, that almost any place is better then being back there!
   I wonder how our friend here is feeling? Tired, well he wouldn't get much sleep perched on that thing would he, four hours if he's lucky! Cold, wet well he has no waterproof or warm clothing! And in need of a hot drink and meal, and possibly beginning to feel the strain of loneliness. If I were No.6, I'd have a safety line rigged, the raft to one end, and he to the other. Well if there should be a sudden heavy sea develop and a high wind, well No.6 looks to be in a very vulnerable place right now. Once he's into the Atlantic, possibly with tides and currents, No.6 might find his raft drifting into the Bay of Biscay, and in there waves get up to 65 feet!

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Caught On Camera!

   This is the look of a man who has had his hopes of escape dashed at the final moment. To think that "they" had put No.6 through all that had work. Felling trees, clearing them of their branches, cutting them to length - collecting oil drums, emptying them, and finally to construct his sea-going raft. To provision his vessel, take photographic evidence of the Village, to be stopped at the last minute. This just shows "their" cruelty! Ah but then.........

 Comes renewed hope, for our hero as he looks up and sees that it's only the Village cat! Then it is with that renewed hope in his heart that No.6 sets off on his epic voyage of discovery.

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Village Poster

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Thought For The Day

 One might say that this man, No.28 a Supervisor, is a large cog in the machine. He is dedicated to his task, and is rarely seen outside the confines of the Control Room, and such is his importance he is never heard to be referred to by his number, but by his title "Supervisor." What's more actor Peter Swanwick is a fourth constant within 'the Prisoner' series, along with Patrick McGoohan, Angelo Muscat, and the white mass of the Village Guardian.
    It might not have been intentional to use other actors to play the role of Supervisor, such as Earl Cameron, Micheal Nightingale, Camilla Hasse, and Basil Dignam where Peter Swanwick is absent. This was possibly brought about due to unavailability, or through ill health, Peter Swanwick died in November 1968.

Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

   From my Surreal period, and yet gives a nod to German expressionist films of the 1920's.

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The Therapy Zone

     The Colonel who is gratified at being seconded to the village. What's more he mentions No.1 at the end. So certainly the Colonel is working for the village, although he doesn't look very happy to actually be there. The Colonel was once in the Guards, he wears the Guards tie as Sir Charles still wears his old Estonian tie!

   No.2, who probably suffered the second most disastrous result since No.2 witnessed the self-destruction of the General, together with the deaths of both the Professor and No.12 of administration! Only with this No.2 the Colonel died, and Doctor Jacob Seltzman actually escaped the village. As far as we know Doctor Seltzamn was the first ever to escape the village, before or since!

   Janet Portland fiancée to the Prisoner-No.6, who had no idea if he was alive or dead. Sent on a mission by her father Sir Charles Portland or not! Mind you she never once used his name, not even in his presence at her birthday party, which she took very well all things considered, her fiancé in another man's body!

   Apparently No.2 can never remember "One lump or two?" "It's in the file" No.6 suggests.  "Yes, as a matter of fact yes. But it would take time......." "Why? Are you running out of time?" No.6 asks. No.2 just wanted No.6 to give something away, but being thwarted in his frustration he checks No.6's file "Does not take sugar - frightened of putting on weight No.6?" "No, nor of being reduced!" he quips.

   But in the episode of ‘Free For All’ during an interview with the Manager of the Labour Exchange we learn that No.6 gave up sugar four years and three months, before his abduction to the village, on medical advice. So I wonder if the Prisoner-No.6 is actually a diabetic? We never see No.6 injecting himself with insulin, so if he is diabetic, it would have to be Type 2 and not Type 1 - Type 2 is where the subject is overweight, No.6 doesn't look to be over weight, but you can never tell I suppose, having to watch they eat, and be put on a diet, with no sugar!

   ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ and No.6 is escaping the village along with No.8-Nadia, sealed in a crate together. First by sea to Gdansk, then by air to Copenhagen, and by air again to London, a journey which will take 12 hours. And indeed we see that there is road travel by lorry, then the crate is loaded aboard a ship, and later the crate is put on as freight on an aircraft. But of course these scenes are simply for the television viewer, and does not actually take place. What precisely happens can only be open to interpretation, yet this is how my friend interpreted what actually happens to that crate with Nadia and No.6 sealed inside.

   Its easy to imagine this crate with two people inside, set on a rig which can imitate the motion of a ship, and aircraft, the crate lifted up and swung about as though being loaded and off loaded. With sound equipment to give audio sound effects  which would actually be heard by the two people inside the crate during the supposed journey. In fact none of the journey actually takes place, well apart from having the crate wheeled on a trolley into the Colonel's office, but even that bit is faked!

   I have often wondered which was the worst defeat for No.2 to have to face, for him to have to answer for. Take that episode of ‘The General,’ the General destroyed by a question put to it by No.6, which would be bad enough, But then there are two deaths, that of the Professor, and the administrative figure of no.12 who tried to save the life of the Professor, who both are electrocuted to death by the General!

   Then we come to Living In Harmony in which No.8 strangles No.22 to death with his bare hands, and then commits suicide by throwing himself off the balcony in the Silver Dollar Saloon. But really there is no evidence to prove that No.22 was actually strangled to death, because as No.6 knelt at her side No.22 was able to speak, she said "I wish it had been real," so No.22 was alive when No.6 arrived on the scene. Had No.22 been strangled by No.8 she would have been unable to speak. I mean No.22 was either strangled to death, or she wasn't, there is no two ways about it.

    So with the actual doubt of the murder of No.22 at the hands of No.8, I should say that The General, with the loss of the General, together with the two deaths of the Professor and administrator No.12 is the worst defeat for No.2, a defeat he would ultimately have to pay for.

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Who's That On The Telephono?

    No.6 "is that the telephone engineer? I wish to report a fault."
    No.2 "Do I sound like the telephone engineer?"
    "Who is this?"
    "I understand you wish to confess a fault."
    "Who told you that?"
    "You did just now. You said you wished to report a fault, of which you have several!"
    "I wanted to report a fault with the telephone."
    "Well you can tell me now."
    "Can you fix it? It was cut off earlier!"
    "I'll fix it for you that it's not only your telephone which is cut off if you don't tow the line Number Six!"
    "Don't be like that, I only wanted the telephone engineer!"
    "Telephone engineer?"
    "Telephone engineer oh good, I wish to report a fault........"
    "Don't you realise who you are talking to?"
    "Can you get off the line, I'm trying to report a fault to the telephone engineer."
    "I am Number Two."
    "Ah, then you're just the man I want. I wish to make a confession!"
    "What is your confession my son?"
    "I can't stand girls who don't know how to make a decent cup of tea!"
    "Neither can I. Tell me do you put the milk in first, or last, and why do you first warm the pot always?"

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It's Six of One And Half A Dozen Of The Other!

   No.6 and No.2 are not so very different you know, No.6 here told No.2 that too many people know too much, and added that he knows too much. And then went further and stated that he knew too much about No.2, in his former life no doubt.
  Because in an earlier episode No.2 confided to No.6 that;

   "I know too much. We're both lifers. I am definately an optimist, that's why it doesn't matter who No.1 is. It doesn't matter which side runs the Village......" and it is at that point where the difference lies, No.6 has the need to know which side runs the Village, and who No.1 is. Those two questions seem to lie very heavily with No.6.

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The Prisoner Under The Spotlight

   How is it that No.2's arrive in the Village, yes I know by helicopter. But how are they selected, and from where? One possible source of course would be the British Civil Service, and selected for their administrative and interrogative abilities.
   No.2 must be trusted as they are allowed to leave the Village after their term of office. How do we know this? Well three No.2's are brought back for a second term of office, one of whom in 'Once Upon A time' states "You can say what you like. You brought me back here," which suggests this No.2 has been away from the Village. And we know that it is possible for No.2 to leave the Village and go on a spell of "leave," and then return voluntarily to the Village to carry on with his term of office, until the day of his retirement that is.

  However this gentleman on the left is not at all happy at being brought back to the Village. He is obviously in a bad mood, sniping at the Butler to remove his breakfast, tells the Butler to leave the coffee, "the coffee leave it!" He's even sniping at No.1 on the telephone, telling him to remove the membranic Village Guardian which had secreted itself in No.2's chair, and declaring to Number 1 that he's not an inmate! And this time they do it his way, or No.1 can get somebody else! He is obviously in a place he didn't want to be, which suggests that he had no say in the matter. Perhaps he had to be abducted back to the Village, in order to force him into a second term of office!

Be seeing you

Village Pin-Up

   Bettine Le Beau, who appeared as the French maid Lucette in 'the Prisoner' episode' 'A B and C.'
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The Therapy Zone

You're Not The Duke Of Wellington Are You?

    In the episode of The Girl who was Death, Napoleon, played by No.2, asks No.6 {Mr. X} "You're not the Duke of Wellington are you?" As it happens, in the book Webster's Dictionary of Proper Names, Number One, London, is referred to as the old postal address of Apsley House at Hyde Park Corner - the first Duke of Wellington's home.

   A curious point, nothing more than that.
The Man With No Name

 

{Bet you weren't expecting Clint!}

   In A Fistful of Dollars he was called Joe, by the old undertaker. In For A Few Dollars More the name Manco was used. And in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly he was called Blondie, a nickname surely. But then what's in a name?

  This man is known as the Prisoner, Number Six, or simply Six! So it would seem that these two characters have a good deal in common. Save for the fact that the Man With No Name is a born killer, and the other has probably had enough of killing - well that's why he handed in both his badge and gun, not to mention his horse!

Three Kinds Of Revolts?

   I count only two! There's No.48 who represents uncoordinated youth, rebelling against nothing it can define. No.6, or Sir as he became to be addressed, he with his private war!

The "late" No.2, a successful, and secure member of the Establishment, who is accused of biting the hand that feeds - so when did No.2 do that then? He was loyal right up to the end, even to the point of putting his life on the line! This man did revolt, rebel, but not until the end, when he decided that if he must die, that he would die with his own mind and spits in the electronic eye of No.1!

The Jester Of The Court!

   No.48, wears funny clothes, a Jester's bell about his neck which he frequently rings. Certainly the delegates of the Assembly certainly like his singing and dancing, in fact they join in with him. But No.48 is not the only funny entertainer, the "late" No.2 opens his address with a funny thing happened to me..... on my way here, ha, ha, ha, ha! So is Fall Out nothing more than a pantomime, which the viewer has to make some sense of?

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Thought For The Day

     Well you have woken up in the comfort of your own bed. You have enjoyed a breakfast, and now you are about to go off to work, or staying at home looking after the children then going out shopping, well whatever you are doing today, while you are doing it spare a thought for No.6. He didn't wake up in bed, he woke up {after perhaps 4 hours sleep} aboard his raft, all alone in the middle of an ocean! He might have had a shave, using cold water. Breakfasted on cold baked beans and corned beef out of tins, went to the toilet in a bucket, or over the side. He is faced with a second day at sea, fighting the elements, the cold, and the loneliness. He is already wet, tired, and cold, and this is only day two of his voyage of discovery!
    Oh and while No.6 was sleeping for 4 hours, what kept his raft on the north easterly course? He has no self steering gear, no drift anchor to keep the raft on course. During those 4 hours No.6 was asleep that raft would have drifted miles and miles off course, carried along by the tide and currents.

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Quote For The Day

    "Light blue.... fearless....or are you? Each man his his breaking point you know, you are no exception {No.2 pokes No.6's forehead with the tip of his sword} ah you react. Are you afraid of me?"
               {No.2 'Hammer Into Anvil'}
 
    Well I ask you, who wouldn't react with the tip of a blade poking your forhead? But just a minute, I though the psychiatrist report in the previous episode said that No.6 showed a negative reaction to pain! And anyway how is it No.2 was able to smuggle that sword shooting stick into the Village? And why did he think he would be in need of it in the first place?

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Village Life

                                         At the Ball given at the Town Hall

 No.6 "And who have you come as?"
 "The name's Bond, James Bond!"

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