The Therapy Zone

   Why Wychwood? Well basically because whoever it was in "properties" during the production of ‘The Girl Who Was Death,’ who had this sign made up, because it is a made up sign and not at all real. Witchwood has been misspelling of the name of Wychwood, of which there are plenty up and down the counties of England.

    Wychwood, is a deserted village, taken over by the girl as a "killing ground." Once it was  a thriving community, with a family Butcher - Brendan Bull. A Baker - David Dough, and a Candlestick maker by the name of Leonard Snuffit.

   It was most pleasant sitting on the roadside eating my spam sandwiches, a fruit pie, both washed down with a small bottle of beer. But now back to my investigation.

    The village of Wychwood in the county of Hertfordshire, was abandoned some years ago, after talk of a by-pass which has yet to be built, which was to go right through the heart of the village. Indeed in the building of the Blacksmiths there is a bulldozer to be used in the demolition of Wychwood. Something I fear will not prove to be a hard task, as some of the buildings are being supported by huge buttresses. Whilst others have temporary fencing around them in order to keep people out and safe from falling masonry.

   The deserted village of Wychwood actually features twice within two episodes of the Prisoner, ‘The Girl Who Was Death’ of course, but previously in ‘A B & C’ one street of Wychwood doubles for an avenue somewhere in Paris, where No.6 encounters a man of mystery, who prefers to maintain his anonymity as it is always the best disguise for really important people.

   Wychwood is quite like any other village, it even has a bell tower with a green dome. In the past when the bell has been tolled in Wychwood it is not to sound curfew, but is the death knell. The death knell was sounded when a great man of this village was dying. And that is what was supposed to have happened to Mr.X, although he is a born survivor as we are all witness to. So in Mr. X's case the sounding of the death knells is premature!

 The Prisoner

   It was once written that "The Prisoner can never be fully explained. It isn't meant to be. It is what you see in it - and you should be free to see as much as you like."

   Well just as long as what you see isn't simply made up, misinterpreted, or made to look like something else, otherwise what's the point? But if that's your bag, then who am I to tell you differently? And its quite true that the Prisoner can never be fully explained, but if you can come to an understanding of most of the Prisoner, then you are able to sit back and appreciate that which will always be inexplicable within the series, and thereby all the more interesting.

  And what about the sections of the Prisoner which we do not see, that can never be understood, or explained by anyone? I mean the sections between say the end of Arrival and the beginning of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ for example. What happened the next day when there was the new No.2 who took part in the Appreciation Day ceremony - how did he treat No.6 the next day? And of course the same can be said of the new No.2 of ‘Free For All,’ was she brought to the village with the remit of extracting the reason for No.6's resignation, or was she to be involved in something else, simple administration work perhaps? If it was the former, then I wouldn't wish to be in No.6's shoes the next day after ‘Free For All!’

   You see, all one has to do is use one's imagination to fill in the gaps to your own satisfaction, and then you can enlarge upon Patrick McGoohan's masterpiece that is the Prisoner.

 Mind Games

   And not playing it according to Hoyle, is probably why this particular No.2 isn't very good at them, playing mind games that is. After all he stood there watching, along with certain members of the hospitals medical staff, and he still didn't spot it....... that Professor Seltzman switched the minds of three people at the same time!

   Well who did know?..... No.6 knew that's who!

 Many Happy Returns

   That photographic evidence of the Prisoner's, I wonder if that photographic evidence was suppressed by the Colonel? Filed away in one of those grey filing cabinets in that long warehouse we see during the opening sequence of ‘the Prisoner.’

Be seeing you