The Therapy Zone

     ‘Living In Harmony’ an American frontier town of Harmony was of course all in the mind of those taking part in the hallucinatory drugged induced experiment of Living In Harmony, No.'s 2, 8, 22 and of course No.6, and with the towns people of Harmony and the Judges "boys" did not actually exist.

    In the end it was a disappointment to all concerned that No.6 could distinguish between fact and fantasy so quickly. Well of course No.6 had been in Harmony before, hadn't he?

  You will observe the building in the background of both pictures, the second picture taken from the episode ‘The Schizoid Man’ and of course the quite distinctive tree in the middle of the square. So really this American town of Harmony is really part of the village, as seen in the Schizoid Man and again here during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben.’ Notice once more the distinctive tree, and buildings in the background and Village citizens milling about the scene.

The Butler Stands Poles Apart

     From his lofty vantage point, the diminutive Butler looks down at the central Piazza below. The citizens parade around as though without a care in the world. All dressed in their brightly coloured clothes, and open umbrellas held aloft, although there’s not a drop of rain to be had, like so many parasols in the sun.

   The Brass Band plays from two village taxis as they are driven around the Piazza. A man pushes his Penny Farthing, and another rides his tricycle, and frogmen wear their wet suits!

   It’s cardinal time you see, and everyone should be happy "by order!" Yet why our diminutive friend the Butler should take a keen observant eye on proceedings is a little beyond me at present. He doesn’t say much, and wears his cape inside out, and because there’s a danger of getting into fractions, he doesn’t wear a Penny Farthing badge, and like No.6, is not forced to wear it.

   But here in the afternoon sunshine what better place could there be, than to be here in the village? An idyllic atmosphere, which presents itself like a holiday camp set somewhere on the coast. But instead of red coats, there are different coloured piped  blazers worn by both staff and citizens alike. Yet although the Brass Band plays, and the people cheer and wave their little flags, all dressed in fancy dress costumes for Carnival. Yet the expressions upon the faces of the citizens gives sign to the chilling and dangerous underlying current which flows through the heart of the village.

   Certain people here go about peacefully only because of the Leucotomies carried out upon then, their aggressive tendencies swept aside, to that they can live in docile bliss. Instant Social Conversion they call it. But call it what you may, a Leucotomy is a Leucotomy in anyone’s language.

  It is my intention to bring a series of articles which will strip away the falsehoods of the village to it’s very foundations, and reveal it for what it is for many who reside here - Hell on earth!

It's Surreal And Of Which Such Dreams Are Made.

    The Prisoner is full of such weird sequences, and any attempt to classify them in the past, has resulted in the words "fantasy" and "surrealism." The episode of ‘AB and C’ is a prime candidate, with it's dream induced state of mind, hallucinogenic, and at times a little abstract as No.6 enters a dreamy party at Engadine's home. With everything spinning round, and the straightening of the mirror sequence, if in fact the mirror needed straightening in the first place! Later after a drive in Engadines car, Engadine and No.6 open a door together, and when No.6 should have entered a room, he walked through to a street in a different location! And towards the end as No.6 enters the laboratory seen on the wall screen, handing No.2 an envelope, with No.2 shouting at himself upon the screen "Open it you fool, open it!"

   In ‘Dance of the Dead,’ No.6, I won't use the term "Mister Tuxedo" because No.6 wasn't actually wearing a tuxedo, but his own suit, tells No.2-Peter Pan, that he likes his dream. And a teleprinter begins to work, even thought its "guts" and paper have been ripped out of it!

    In Living In Harmony disembodied voices appear as cardboard cut-outs in an American frontier town that doesn't exist, but is actually part of the village!

    The sub-divided No.2's of the Town Council, are simply dummies. They neither move nor speak in a Council Chamber with an abstract-style painted wall, and a very steep staircase. And after being spun round on the central dais, No.6 is descended into a lower, orange-lit corridor with leather hand-straps hanging from the ceiling, each pair, he grabs to support himself in his dizzy state, making his way along the said corridor. As though making his way along an underground train!

    Long stretches of road or corridor crop up from time to time, for example in ‘Free For All.’ This when No.6 is being interviewed by No.113 for the Tally Ho, the taxi drives past a series of buildings on the left - twice while the interview is going on! The underground passage, lined on one side by four Jukeboxes set in alcoves, along which No.6, the Supervisor, and the Butler walk. Seems much longer than it is, and there appears to be many more than four Jukeboxes, such is the clever camera work which makes that walk longer than it actually is, the passageway longer than it appears to be.

    And the opening sequence, where there is a long and deserted runway, which turns into a road over Westminster bridge. The Village Guardian helps give an almost fairyland atmosphere to the village whenever it puts in an appearance. And Kosho, there could never be a more surreal sport than this, composing of two trampolines, a tank of water, a wall, and two opponents dressed in some form of Cossack garb, crash helmets and boxing-mits!

   These are but a few examples of the fantasy or surreal side of ‘the Prisoner.’ No doubt you can find those of your own choice.

Be seeing you