The Prisoner Under the Spotlight

No.6 Has Never Seen A Night - He Just Sleeps! Well of course that's not quite correct is it now, because No.6 is abroad one evening during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ sitting outside his cottage, talking to and dancing with Nadia as a Childs lullaby plays quietly. And this as night time draws on and darkness with it. And then of course its night time and well past the hour of curfew when No.6 and Nadia carry the components of the boat, and put them together down on the beach.

    What about the "Cat & Mouse" night club? No.6 leaves there in the company of No.58, when outside it is already evening, and by the time they drive out along the path beyond the village to the cave of the "Therapy Zone" its night time.

    ‘The Schizoid Man’ sees No.6 out and about in the early evening. This when he is approached by two men who ask No.6 for the password, and having given the password Gemini, the wrong password a fight then breaks out between the two men and No.6.

    During the episode of ‘The General,’ No.6 is out and about the village in the evening as a Mardi Gras atmosphere takes over the village, when the citizens celebrate the joys of Speedlearn.

    Of course this is all before ‘Dance of the Dead’ and his statement of "I've never seen a night, I just sleep." No.6 then slips out of his cottage, when he tests himself against Rover, and then spends the night on the beach. And again during the evening after the sun has gone down, no.6 meets with No.2 down on the beach, Peter Pan and Mr. Tuxedo, why Tuxedo I have no idea, seeing as No.6 is actually wearing his own suit, which was delivered to him specially for the occasion of the Ball in the evening!

    And don't forget ‘Checkmate’ when No.6 finds the rubber lilo abandoned at the shoreline by the rook. No.6 then sets off aboard the lilo himself in order to bring the boat closer in-shore, by which time it is again early to mid evening, the sun having long disappeared below the horizon. And during ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ No.6 is followed down to the stone boat by No.'s 2 and 14 as he hides that large white envelope containing blank sheets of paper in the cabin. This again after the darkness of night has descended over the village. So as it turns out No.6 has seen many an evening and more than a couple of nights during his captivity in the Village, so who does he think he's trying to kid?

    Welcome To Your Home From Home. Well hardly a home, more of a room with an annexe of kitchen, bathroom and bedroom added on. Because all that is replicated from the Prisoner's home in London is the study. Well quite obviously the builders, carpenters, painters and decorators, electricians could not have replicated the whole of No1 Buckingham Place in the village. It is the same with Nadia-No.8 when she woke up on her first day "A replica of her own room of course" No.2 informs No.6 as they watch the young woman on the screen. Yet other important citizens do have their own house, like the Professor and his wife in The General. Their house is most elegant and elaborately decorated, it even has its own private garden!

    And not everyone has enjoys an electronic door as the Prisoner's home of '6 Private.' No.2 of course, and No.14 of ‘A B and C,’ but not No's.12 and 24 of The Schizoid Man. I always thought that the higher you are up in the importance stakes, the better service you enjoy during your time in the village. A kind of status symbol if you like, having an electronic door which opens automatically for you, but damned disconcerting when experienced for the first time!

    One would have thought that No.2 has the most impressive house, that of the Green Dome, but of course that is not where No.2 lives, this is merely where No.2's office is to be found. No.2's living quarters lie elsewhere. In ‘A B and C’ No.2 rises up through the floor whist sitting in the black global chair, running his fingers through his hair and still wearing his pyjamas and dressing gown. This action suggests that No.2 actually has a room, or rooms, somewhere below the Green Dome. This is not as grandiose as one might first imagine for a man or woman of such a position! And as for his manservant, the Butler, well he lives close by, in the annexe at the back of the Green Dome, just so that he is close at hand, as is his kitchen, to be able to provide, tea, coffee, and breakfast as the Butler is called upon to provide.

   So all in all, I feel that living in the Village No.6 enjoys a more comfortable existence as he does living in his comfortable cottage. But then thinking about it, No.6 is a lifer, and any No.2 you can think of never enjoys an extended term of office. And seeing how there is such a quick turnover and turnaround where No.2 is concerned, how would it be possible to provide No.2 with that home from home that so many of the Village inmates enjoy!

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