Wot No Blog Posted!

  Hello Readers, no, dear friends, for that is what you are, each and everyone of you.
   That's right, I'm not at all well at the moment. One minute I'm shivering with cold, the next I have a temperature. With a cough that's kept we awake the past three nights!
  But fear not, I shall return in two or three days, perhaps four.

Be seeing you
David

Caught On Camera!

  "Don't tell me that time travel is in it as well!"

   Today is the 50th anniversary of DOCTOR WHO. So what's Doctor Who got to do with 'the Prisoner?' Well firstly;

At the other end of that rod, with the attached sucker, is a Dalek! What's more, in using that hair dryer as a prop, it makes the top half look like Robbie the robot from the 1950's science fiction film 'Forbiden Planet!'
   The report of Daleks in the Village brought Doctor Who to the Village, see the TARDIS has materialised on top of the Band stand! Also a few years ago, there was more Doctor Who memorabilia in 'the Prisoner' shop than there was about 'the Prisoner' series. Daleks and Cyberman littered the shelves. Not only that, the TARDIS used to be housed in the Prisoner shop!

   Now you will remember what TARDIS stands for - Time and Relative Demensions in Space. Namely the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Well the same can be said of the cottage '6 Private!'

   This cottage shares the same relative dimensions in space as the TARDIS, because is it also bigger on the inside than the outside. Otherwise how is it possible to fit, as well as the study, a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom in such small space? What's more the cottage enjoys plenty of roof space, as in 'Arrival' the partition wall slides up into the roof space!

Be seeing you

Teabreak Teaser

    In ‘The General,’ was the act of No.12 a genuine attempt to try and save the Professor's life, or one of suicide?

BcNu

Thought For The Day

  Curious that the Supervisor-No.28 said that they shall need the body as evidence. What for? Proof that No.6 survived the ultimate test, or for his trial of ‘Fall Out,’ possibly for murder?......... Ah but then No.2 wasn't actually dead, was he.

    But in any case, myself I still think the Butler did it!

BCNU

School Days

    "Those were the days, the days that are gone. The faces forgotten, the memories linger on........ Southminster."

    No.6 "I see you still wear the old school Straw Boater."

    No.14 "Old habits die hard. And you the piped blazer of the captain of the boxing team."

    "As you say."

    "Do you miss the old school?

    "Not really. Haven't been back in years."

    "I miss the old school, they were happy days."

    "What house were you in."

    "Hereward."

    "I was in Trinity."

    "I was bullied a great deal."

    "Well you only had yourself to blame. You shouldn't have gone about wearing that gym-slip!"

    "Public school does that to you!"

    "I was a Prefect."

    "Yes, you would be!"

    "Is that why you seek power through playing chess, to compensate against your being bullied at school?"

    "What do you think?"

    "Shall we sing the old school song?"

    "Those were the days the days that are gone. The faces forgotten, the memories linger on........"

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

I Can Never Remember - One Lump Or Two?

   Well actually No.6 doesn't take sugar - Frightened of Putting on weight? No, and nor of being reduced! But just to prove a point, No.6 does drop four sugar lumps, one by one, in his tea. Because according to his record No.6 actually gave up sugar four years and three months ago on medical advice. However No.6 must have taken up having sugar in his coffee and tea, because as he sits at a table on the lawn of the Old People's Home with No.50-Monique in ‘It’s Your Funeral,’ No.6 merrily helps himself to sugar from the sugar bowl.

   More often than not, the number 6 is the most prevalent number in news stories.

At Least You Know Where You Are!

    The Control Room is a curious place, a round, domed chamber, which has upon half of its wall a map of the World as seen here in the background, as well as an Astral chart.

    Now why such a village would require such charts upon the chamber wall of the Control Room, is quite beyond me. Especially when the Shopkeeper told the Prisoner on the day of his arrival in the Village, when he was looking for a map, "There's no demand  for any other kind."

    As far as there being both a World map together with an astrological chart upon the chamber wall of the Control Room, I can only say that this could be representative of how once upon a time "World globes" came with "Astrological globes" in order to make a pair. Hence both being upon the chamber wall of the Control Room.

From A Bygone Age

    Outwardly the village is Italianate, giving the impression that it could be on any continent, or country in the world. Internally No.2's office, the Control Room, and the Council Chamber are all futuristic. Which is why the penny farthing is used as the symbol, or logo of the village. The penny farthing being a relic from a bygone age, when life was thought to have been lived at a much slower pace, perhaps prior to the advent of the great technical age to come - before the industrial revolution.

The Schizoid Man

......"And you will have to learn to smoke my brand without having a heart attack."

   Its nice of the villages administration to go to all the trouble of keep a supply of No.6's favourite brand of cigar, even though we hardly ever see No.6 smoking!

Be seeing you

The Schizoid Man!

 

   No.2 had already trapped No.6 by the fact of his ignorance, that he didn't know Susan had died a year ago. So why go through all the rigmarole of allowing No.6 to get aboard the helicopter, blind folded?

  Well you should know by now that if there is an easy way of doing things, and a long drawn out way, the Village administration always chooses the long drawn out way. And in this case No.2 was gaining an awful amount of pleasure into the bargain. And the blindfold? That was so that No.6 couldn't see that the helicopter was simply circling the Village, to land where it had taken off from! In other words No.,6 got in the helicopter in the Village, and having just arrived, he got out in the Village. A little like newcomers in the new Village!

Doesn't look very happy about it, does he?

Be seeing you

Teabreak Teaser

  How long does it take to build a Chaterham Super Seven kit car? {formerly Lotus 7 in the Prisoners day}

BCNU

Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

Nadia In Watercolour

BcNu

60 Second Interview With No.2

    No.113: "Tell me Number Two, how are things?"

    No.2: "Oh get out, get out!"

    "Is everything alright Number 2. I met Number 6 on the way out as we were coming in."

    "Don't mention that man's number to me!"

    "So I take it this is not a good time for an interview about how the call for increased     Vigilance is coming along........"

    "I know who you are."

    "I'm Number one-one-three."

    "You're all against me.... It's a conspiracy. Oh get out, get out!"

    No.113: "Smile" {click goes the camera}

Reporter No.113

Photographer No.113b

The Therapy Zone

Basically the Prisoner is whatever you get out of it.

That White Balloon Called Rover!

   Bernard Williams, who was the production manager on the Prisoner, said of Rover MKII "Would they buy a white balloon?" {meaning the television viewers}.

   Well you'll be happy to know Bernie, we did, we did.

I'm Going To Escape And Come Back........

............ Escape, Come Back. Wipe This Place Off The Face Of The Earth, Obliterate It, And You With It.

So, simply to escape the village is not good enough for No.6. He's going to escape and come back, "wipe it off the face of the Earth, obliterate it." Its ironic then is it not, that the man to whom No.6 made that promise, actually helped him carry out that threat in Fall Out. But then perhaps not so surprising, as like Sir, No.2 himself had once been a prisoner.

   Well they didn't really did they? Oh there was a fire fight between Sir, and ex-No.2, and 48, with the Butler lending a hand. But there was no wiping the village off the face of the Earth. The village wasn't obliterated, and it was No.2 who helped Sir, and all those who actually died were the armed security guards. No-one else died in this apparent violent and bloody revolution.

   The village was evacuated by the citizens, but it has to be said, left intact.

And therefore capable of sustaining the community again, which of course it will do, everytime you load a Prisoner video or DVD into the machine.

Said About The Prisoner

    George Baker said to describe the Prisoner as: "Like Kafka" as "reality keeps slipping away. It's very frightening. It could be happening to someone in this country now that we don't know about.... that's what is so fascinating about the Prisoner.

    Terence Feely {script writer} sums up the series best of all: "What the series is all about is creative people for once running the asylum." "We were doing what we wanted and showing what the medium was capable of, showing what a marvellous tool surrealism is for surrealistic expression. That last episode is, I think one of the best examples of total surrealism. No prisoners taken. This is a sereis built to last."

    Well Terence Feely got that one right, the series has indeed lasted. And as for "It could be happening to someone in this country" well just be grateful that it's not happening to you!

I’m Feeling Somewhat Enigmtic

   "You got the message?" We just got it - but what was the question?

   Has anyone ever seen these rules we hear about so much during 'The Dance of the Dead.'

I Know Who You Are You didn't fool me!

    Well perhaps No.2 fooled himself, not because of all those messages No.6 sent, all the people he recruited, or the fact that No.6, signing himself as D6 whilst reporting to XO4. Or the fact that No.2 was under the misapprehension that No.6 was a plant, sent to the village to spy on them. But the fact that when No.2 was speaking to No.1 on the telephone, he should have recognised the voice as being No.6! If we are indeed to believe that No.6 and No.1 are one and the same.

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera!

   This image taken from routine surveillance film footage, shows that it's not Patrick McGoohan running up those steps, as No.6 and Monique race to stop No.51 from pressing the detonator and exploding the bomb in the Great Seal of Office during the Appreciation Day ceremony in 'It's Your Funeral.' Mind you that's not actress Annette Andre either! I believe it's Jill Hennessey doubling for Annette Andre, as it is she who appears in the photograph No.6 finds in the dead man's wallet during 'Dance of the Dead.' Jill Hennessey worked behind the camera during the production of 'the Prisoner,' for the moment I forget in what capacity. Jill went unccredited as 'the dead man's wife' in 'Dance of the Dead.' But first in 'Arrival' she doubled for the maid-No.66, standing on the balcony of No.6's cottage shaking a yellow duster, then seen hurrying away from '6 Private' along a path.

Be seeing you

Quote For The Day

    "I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed. Tell him to go away!"
                                       {No.2 talking to the Butler  -  It's Your Funeral}

   So the Butler can speak, otherwise how could he tell No.6 to go away?! It's like in 'A B and C' when on the telephone No.2 says "Is he. Show him in." And there, standing in the doorway is the Butler showing No.6 into No.2's office. So I've always thought it was actually the Butler speaking on the telephone, informing No.2 that No.6 has come to pay him a visit.

Be seeing you

                                

PICTORIAL PRIS6NER

    You could say that it's the old presiding over the new! This is the 'Go-Inside' Bar in the Village, which used to be the 'Cat and Mouse' night club. The interior scenes for the 'Go-Inside' Bar were filmed in an old museum in South Africa. When the film unit entered the museum, they found it filled with Penny Farthing bicycles!

BCNU

A Question Of Speed! by our own reporter

  

Why is it that a night out results in something stupid being done, or a challenge thrown out and stupidly accepted? No.6 and No.2 enjoyed a night out in the Therapy Zone together. The drink flowed freely, supplied by the Village brewer.

   "Look" said No.2 "My helicopter can out fly anything you'd care to put up against it." "But I haven't got a aeroplane or a helicopter" No.6 told him. "No, but there's a boat!" No.2 said. "What, a flying boat?" "Yes, it's moored at the end of the jetty. You could use that" No.2 offered. "Why?" "To race me in my helicopter" No.2 suggested.

   "Well do you accept the challenge?" "I accept!" said No.6. "Then the brewer is a witness, and two more large whiskey's while your about it!"

   The day of the race arrived, and all the good citizens of this our fine community were on hand to witness this unprecedented spectacle.

   Both men are ready, although No.2 does appear to have a slight advantage at this point! But the race soon gets underway, helicopter versus jet boat, air and water!

   At this point No.6 and this crew are just slightly ahead of No.2. But there's trouble, as one mechanic tries to keep the engine running, while the second crewman tries desperately to plug a leak in the bottom of the boat!

   But in the end, the engine of No.6's jet boat fails, the two mechanics throw themselves overboard in fear of an explosion, as does No.6 moments later, to find himself stranded in the water.

  But with the race won, No.2 dropped a self-inflating lifebuoy into the water which automatically attached itself to No.6.

  The white self-inflating lifebuoy aiding No.6's swim back to shore, is an invention developed by village scientists, and as you can see works very well indeed. It is hoped that this life saving piece of equipment can be exported to maritime organisations, both military, and civilian, the world over.

our own reporter

Photographs from the Department of Visual Records

The Therapy Zone

Speedlearn

   As Patrick McGoohan once explained "Is a development of the subliminal advertising technique which has been made illegal."

    A process by which the viewer is unconscious of the fact that ideas are being implanted in his mind. they are flashed onto the cinema or television screen during the showing of a straightforward subject but at such a rate that the eye is not aware of seeing them. This subject was actually dealt with in an episode of Colombo starring Peter Falk and Robert Culp in the episode Double Exposure.

    But to continue, it is possible in this way, for example, to give instructions which the viewer will obey without realising that, he or she, has received the message. An advertisement for ice cream flashed almost invisibly on a cinema screen during a film will have the effect of making a large percentage of the audience buy ice creams during the interval without being aware that they have seen the advert.

The Prisoner

   If ‘the Prisoner’ is anything, it is both Patrick McGoohan and Portmeirion. Yet having watched the Prisoner documentary ‘Don't Knock Yourself Out’ found on the 40th anniversary DVD, the evidence is quite clear on the matter, that Patrick McGoohan was the driving force behind the Prisoner series cannot be denied. That he took overall control over every asspect of the series production, acting, producer, director, script writer, and even having a say in the production of the theme music, cannot be denied. I'm sure that so much involvement tipped Patrick McGoohan over the edge, in the way he treated members of the production crew, at times he completely lost it, ranting and raving at directors in front of the whole cast and crew. And in his office at script writers.

   I wonder if it would have been better for Patrick McGoohan if all he did was his job, and left others to get on with theirs, and not become involved with every aspect of production, and then taking over completely. Better for him healthwise, he would not have driven himself into the ground the way he had. But then perhaps ‘the Prisoner’ would not have turned out the series it did. As sometimes when you feel so passionately about something, you need to stamp your authority upon it. In Patrick McGoohan's case, I think his passion and drive were just too much for some who worked on the production of ‘the Prisoner.’

Number 2

   Number 2 is portrayed as being very English even when played by Australian actors Guy Doleman and Leo McKern. However they did get it right with Living In Harmony with American born actor David Bauer as the Judge/No.2.

    If there is one thing which stands out in the Prisoner it's very Englishness. It is thought that the Prisoner-No.6 is English. But he isn't. Not having been played by Irish-American born Patrick McGoohan, ah but then was he tht?. The Village maybe an International community, yet in this cosmopolitan village it is it's very Englishness which make you think that the installation known as the Village is actually run by the British. But if that it the case, why should the village be thought to be behind the Iron Curtain in the episode ‘The Chimes of Big Ben?’ Well simply going by the information given by Nadia, which if true, makes both the Colonel and Fotheringay as having gone over to the other side. But of course the Village is nowhere near the Iron Curtain, let alone behind it. Those 25 days the Prisoner spent at sea, on a north-easterly course, during the episode ‘Many Happy Returns’ goes to prove that much.

    As Prisoner production manager Bernard Williams once said "Perhaps it would have been better if we'd used other, non-English actors as Number Two." Well that would certainly have added to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Village.

I'll be seeing you

Thought For The Day

    As to the question of a democratic crisis within the Village, which has been discussed and debated to great depth over the years, might any such democratic crisis have more to do with the democratic practise of speaking one's mind?

    The only problem with this train of thought is, that both No.48 and No.2 are permitted to plead their case before the Assembly. Whereas when the former Prisoner Number 6 tried to address the members or delegates of the Assembly he was shouted down at any attempt to do so. In other words they were not prepared to listen to one single syllable he had to say for himself!

    On the other hand, perhaps these three were put on trial for previous misdemeanours of speaking their minds in the Village. Number 48, well he was just disruptive, bringing chaos and mayhem with him to the Village. The former Prisoner known as Number 6 was never backwards in speaking his mind. As for the former Number 2, he did speak his mind to a superior prior to the events which took place in that Embryo Room. In fact No.2 was always very forthright in his remarks, and that could be enough to see him put on trial.

Be seeing you

A Favourite Scene In The Prisoner

     In the Prisoner comes during the episode of ‘Many Happy Returns,’ when the Prisoner is once again behind the wheel of his Lotus 7. If the Lotus 7 is symbolic of anything, it represents the freedom of the open road - something which drivers cannot enjoy so much today!

Be seeing you

Village Life!

Doctor-No.40 “What are we to do with him?”
No.2 “There you go again. You mustn’t be so eager doctor.”
“He can’t be allowed to do as he likes. Anyway what’s he listening to?”

“I’ll turn up the volume.”

Radio Broadcast; “And here is the news. The search for the Gloster Meteor Jet aircraft which took off from Gibraltar yesterday on a reconnaissance mission,  has been called off, when wreckage was found in the sea by the crew of HMS Repulse. No bodies were recovered.”

BCNU

Hang On - Just A Minute!

   If we are to believe this cock and bull story, if we are to take this story at face value, and if only No.6 had not been so quick to grasp Nadia's story as truth. If only No.6 had not been quite so keen to escape the village, but to give Nadia's story a little more thought. Because Nadia had said that she had a contact man, who turned out to be Karel, pictured here with the two escapees. But how did Karel know when to expect Nadia, when she was going to escape the village? After all there was no way that Nadia could have made contact with Karel, she being a prisoner in the village.

   There was no-way that Karel could know that Nadia was going to escape the village with No.6, that they would be in need of an escape route to London. Yet Karel had that escape route already worked out well in advance - first by sea to Danzig. By air to Copenhagen, and by air again to London.

   We know now not to take certain aspects of the episode of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ at face value. But the first time round....... well that was a different story. We know better now....... And had No.6 stopped to think about it a little more, well the story might very well have had a different ending. So too had Karel the right time for Poland!

Nadia Rokovsky

   Once upon a time, the first time round, the viewer could have taken Nadia's story at face value, well at least until we learned the truth about her. Now we know different, and take now we take her story with a pinch of salt.

   However, for the moment let us take Nadia Rokovsky's story at face value. She told No.6 that she worked for the government, although she does not stipulate which government. That she saw a secret file on the village, but only for a few seconds, but knows the location of the village.

   Nadia's greatest desire it would seem is to hear the chimes of Big Ben, although she says she is an Estonian! Estonia was at the time, behind the Iron Curtain. So if Nadia's story had been true, she would have become a defector, a political refugee, had she escaped with No.6 to London. Having escaped both the village, and Communist oppression in Estonia!

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

Its All An Act You Know

    It would seem that No.6 and No.24-Allison share a mental link. But it is never revealed just how this "mental link" was discovered, and how long they look to develop it to the standard we witness at the outset of ‘The Schizoid Man.’ But we do know that someone was quick to pounce upon it, and turn this "mental link" between No.6 and No.24 to their advantage.

    So how was it done? Well quite obviously No.24-Allison had no choice in the matter but to go along with it, we can imagine that No.2 threatened No.24 with something so awful, that she was given no choice in the matter. So when faced with No.6 in No.2's office, No.24 simply gave the correct call for the first of the five cards, and gave deliberately gave the incorrect answer to the remaining four cards. And in so doing giving the appearance that there is no mental link with this man posing as No.6.

   As for the "mental link" with Curtis, who was posing as No.6, well this was confirmed by No.24 calling out correctly all five cards held up by Curtis. How was this achieved? Well either the deck was rigged, and No.24 memorised the five cards to be held up by Curtis, or there were given signals by Curtis, prearranged signals which No.24 would recognise for each of the cards. You will recall how Curtis called out "Now" in different ways, that could have been the signal. Well how else do you think it was done?

PICTUIRE FROM OUAT

   It’s true that at this stage in their "deliberations" Leo McKern is actually fighting, or struggling for his life!

Colin Gordon - The General

   I suppose Colin Gordon really has no right to be playing the ruthless, yet frightened Number 2 in a series like the Prisoner where the character of No.2 changes with each episode.

   "I've never been so flattered" was Colin Gordon's comment "Especially as this is the first time I've played a part quite like this."

   Although screened after ‘A B and C,’ ‘The General’ in which Colin Gordon plays Number 2, was in fact filmed before ‘A B and C,’ so that he makes his return appearance five weeks before his debut!

   The story-line of ‘The General’ was altered so as to allow for this, although the provision was not needed as the episodes were screened in the reverse order to their filming. Number 2 in ‘The General’ was originally to have met his death at the end of the episode, a victim of "the Generals" short circuiting, and explosive self-destruction. But Colin Gordon's performance as Number 2 was admired so much, that he was reprieved, simply to pave the way for his appearance in the later episode of ‘A B and C.’

The Chimes Of Big Ben

    What if the Prisoner had actually been physically taken back to London. After all the trick might have worked, and No.6 would have revealed the reason behind his resignation.

    Well what would have been the point in that? All that would have been achieved was the confirmation that it was the British who were running the village. And after all were we really supposed to know which side runs the village, or even why the Prisoner resigned?

 Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

   I've no idea how this is going to work out, but in for a penny, in for a farthing. I have always considered Cobb to an ex-colleague of the Prisoner's simply on the basis that the Prisoner calls Cobb by his name. And yet there is no evidence to suggest that Cobb is an ex-colleague of the Prisoner's, although he could be. He could have known Cobb in the same way as he knows A and B of 'A B and C.'
   Is it possible that Cobb is German? After all he was in Germany when he was abducted to the Village, and he bid No.2 Au Wiedersehen, mind you No.2 bid Cobb Au Revoir so that would make No.2 French. Not that anyone cannot use those phrases. It simply seems rather odd for the two men to bid farewell until we meet again in this way, why didn't they simply say be seeing you to each other? I know this is but a ploy to demonstrate how International the community of the Village is, but an Englishman would never say Au Wiedersehen. Unless Cobb is German, and having been turned to the other side, he's now dressed in a business suit, not wanting to keep his new masters waiting, in other words Cobb is going to infiltrate a possible British governmental department. Yes, this all seems very improbable I know, because Cobb must have resisted for a very short time!

Be seeing you
  

Teabreak Teaser

    Any "art form" is self-indulgent. Was ‘the Prisoner’ an act of self-indulgence on the part of Patrick McGoohan?

BCNU

Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

Portrait of  -  Nadia

BcNu

The Prisoner’s Abduction

   Working on the premise that the Prisoner and John Drake are one and the same person, we know that John Drake worked for MI9 {alright M9, but they dropped the I for Danger Man}, that he resigned his job cannot be denied. His packed suitcases were waiting for him, as were his passport and airline ticket upon his return home, so it is quite on the cards that the Prisoner is actually doing a runner! What if MI5 thought that the Prisoner was about to defect, and that it's MI5 who abducted the Prisoner. If so this would explain a great deal. The fact that Sir Charles Portland, in ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling’ had no idea where the Prisoner is for one, and that the Colonel and Thorpe in ‘Many Happy Returns’ were so sceptic about their ex-colleagues story. Also that the village is run by the British, but by a different department to MI9, that of MI5!

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

A Question Of Interpretation

   At her art seminar Madam Professor describes a man sat tearing up a book as "creating a fresh concept. Construction comes out of the ashes of destruction." And then there's a woman standing on her head "She's developing a new perspective." And the man's asleep in the chair simply because "The mind learns only when it wants to."

  Well to me the man's simply tearing up a book, the woman's standing on her head, and the man's asleep in the chair simply because he's tired!

   Well I think this is a case of madam Professor seeing one thing, where the rest of us see something else, much like ‘the Prisoner,’ its all to do with interpretation.

   Down right daft is one way to describe the Girl Who Was Death, but certainly it is an episode of humorous relief within the nightmare world of ‘the Prisoner.’

   Talk about making the best of his opportunities! Number Six only called Roland Walter Dutton as a character witness at his trail, because he knew the man was scheduled to die, so knew that whatever Dutton had to say, he had nothing to lose by saying it! Which is all very well, but I wonder what Roland Walter Dutton would have said, had he been able to?

What Will They Do To Me?

   These words might have crossed the Prisoner's mind whilst on his way to meet No.1. Change me utterly, I might even come out as someone quite new, as myself, but who am I? I seem to have spent my whole life being other people; a Priest, an astronaut. Lorry driver, Gypsy, a Secret Agent, an IRA man, Kings and desperate men. However with the Prisoner in his end is his beginning. And as for the future, the future which shows every sign as being exactly like his past!

A B & C

   Well was there something in the water?

    No.6's personal maid brought him his nightcap of hot chocolate, which No.6 poured down the sink. Then picking up a glass, he duly filled it with water from the cold tap. Having taken a sip of water, No.6 turned to retire for the night, however on his way to bed No.6 collapses on the floor.

   I cannot see No.6 feigning unconsciousness, having presumably drunk the drugged hot chocolate, as the doctor-No.14 would surely have noticed that No.6 wasn't in fact unconscious. So whatever drug it was in the tap-water, it was highly potent, as No.6 only took a sip of the water!

Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

         "Probable Impossibilities
                  are preferred to
           improbable possibilities"
                   {Aristotle 384-322BC}

    I can see how Aristotle's thoughts can be put to 'the Prisoner,' because of a conversation between No.6 and No.12 in 'The General.'
   "You don't believe it? A university level degree in three minutes"
   "Its improbable."
   "But not impossible."
   "Nothing is impossible in this place."
    So in the Village there are "probable impossibilities" such as to achieve a three year University course in three minutes via Speedlearn. meaning that nothing is impossible in the Village, which is preferred to "improbable possibilities" meaning possibilities in the Village are unlikely to be true to happen. This also fits with attempts by fans and aficionados who try and fathom the intricacies of 'the Prisoner,' meaning that with "improbable possibilities" anything is possible within the series. Thus "probable impossibilities" make it easier to explain certain events which take place in 'the Prisoner' which are otherwise unexplainable. Whereas with "Improbable impossibilities" are unlikely to be true or indeed to have happened. It is like the MK1 original Rover, a mechanical device, a Go-kart with a fibreglass dome fitted to it. It was supposed to have been an all terrain vehicle. Able to go up walls never mind steps, as well as go on the water as like a hovercraft, and in the water like a submarine. I ask you, that's an "improbable possibility" for a Go-kart. Go-karts do not float on water, they sink! But at least that's what they said about the MK1 Rover, that when it went on the water it sank without trace, another "Improbable possibility,' because even if Rover had taken to that water and sunk, it would not have been without trace. Because when the tide at Portmeirion went out, MK1 Rover would have been left high and dry on the sand. However that is a story outside of the series, which took place during the production period
   Two further examples within the series would be that I am of the opinion that No.2 is the former Thorpe, that is an "probable impossibility," whereas an "improbable possibility" is..... I'm blowed if I can think of any such example! Perhaps it is the case that "improbable possibilities" can only be confined to real life, and not a work of fiction!

Be seeing you

Who Would Be Number 6?

    Any real person in No.6's position would crack up. Heroes always have faults, they feel pain. According to the test results carried out on No.6 during ‘Checkmate,’ he showed a negative response to pain, such a thing like that would take super-human will power. At times No.6 was quite rigid, and would be more believable if he had shown times of cracking up. Plots and schemes against No.6 are too well stacked in his favour, and all too easily is No.6 allowed to turn the tables against his foe. As in ‘The Schizoid Man,’ when No.6 easily reversed all that electric shock therapy by simply earthing himself to a gas pipe and using a short circuiting table lamp. That was all too easy for me. And ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ if Karel's watch had had the correct time, and if only No.2 of ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ had trusted in his assistant No.14 No.6's plan to bring No.2 down would never have succeeded. Such are three examples.

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Pictorial Prisoner

    I wonder what the Butler knew? By that I mean after officiating at the Appreciation Day ceremony, he appears to be making a quick departure! meaning he can't get off that balcony quick enough. To think that a few minutes ago he's been holding the Great Seal of Office with the bomb inside it!

BCNU

The Prisoner Under The Spotlight

     The Prisoner and we can sit back in our comfortable armchair, in the relative comfort of our homes and enjoy watching a series which has captivated thousands over the decades, and still does today. Why? Well probably because its all happening to someone else. It wouldn't be so funny if it were happening to you, would it now? If it did you would probably see yourself in No.6's shoes, well you wouldn't be quite that, would you? And there are those of you who would not be abducted, but be taken to the village of your own volition, perhaps seeing yourself as No.2. Not as an ordinary citizen then? I suppose it all depends on what you have to offer the community, as a gardener, electrician, postman, window cleaner, they are just as important to the community as anyone else you know. Well you wouldn't want to be in old Roland Walter Dutton's shoes now would you,? Because look what happened to him. Dutton told them all he had to know, but the doctor didn't believe him, and by the time he did, it was all too late. And you wouldn't want that happening to you, would you now?

   Yet the Prisoner can be a joy to watch, and I think that the episode of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ is probably the most enjoyable to watch of all the 17 episodes. Why? Well there's that rapport between No.6 and No.2 to enjoy. The fact that No.6 thinks he's being so clever in carving out that hull of a boat out of a tree trunk, and putting it together with two other pieces, on display at the "Arts & Crafts" exhibition for all the citizens to see. No.6 thought No.2 didn't know what he was about, but No.2 was playing No.6 for a fool, as he knew what No.6 was about all the time.

   If there is anything which can only be fully enjoyed the once during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ it is the moment No.6 realises what time it is, that Big Ben has just struck eight, that No.6's watch says eight. The watch given to him by a man in Poland, where there is one hours difference between English and Polish time! And that moment after the Butler has set out the tea things on the table in No.2's office - the Butler wheels away his tea trolley, and as he does No.2 looks at his manservant he shivers - have you noticed that? Well perhaps you will the next time you watch ‘The Chimes of Big Ben.’

    If you're quiet you can just hear the chimes of Big Ben. If you live or work in London, you can hear them all the time......... be seeing you.

The Therapy Zone

Janet Portland

   Had the Prisoner managed to get away before they came for him, the pair of Undertakers with their hearse and coffin, to disappear somewhere in the world. I wonder if his fiancée Janet Portland would have been brought to the village, in the same way No.73 was, so as to help find her husband?........ Makes you think doesn't it. That the village administration is not as infallible as we are given to think. Seeing as how one man can evade capture so much that his wife has to be brought to the village, and even then all she could tell them was that her husband was "He's still over there" "Where?" "Oh somewhere there. He had some work to finish." This poses the question, just how long would Janet have held out? Mind you having just written that, how could Janet tell them something which she doesn't know. After all I get the impression that her fiancé was doing a runner without the intention of taking her with him. Without even saying goodbye to her!

Free For All

   All had gone according to plan, right down to the beating Number 2 took at the fists of the two mechanics. And "they" knew that Number 6 should receive such a beating because there was an ambulance with a Red Cross trailer in tow parked near the steps of the Green Dome when they took the newly elected new Number 2 to his new residence of the Green Dome. And seeing as how an ambulance was standing by, it follows that a pair of medical orderlies were already on hand to stretcher Number 6 from the Green Dome, down the steps, across the street, across the square to his own residence of 6 private, as we witnessed.

  If the Prisoner had not escaped the Village after he'd found it to be deserted that time in ‘Many Happy Returns’, but had stayed...... I wonder how long "they" would have waited before restoring the village back to life?

Many Happy Returns

   There is a scene which the original script called for, but which was never used. This is when the Prisoner tries to escape the deserted Village by helicopter. He climbs into the cabin and discovers that the key is still in the ignition. He turns the ignition key and finds that the fuel gauge registers full. Pressing the starter button the rotor blades start to rotate sluggishly. they stop. The Prisoner tries again, but the blades move only a few inches before the battery gives out.

   Seeing the taxi the Prisoner gets out of the helicopter and attaches two wires to the two terminals of the helicopters battery, and the other ends to the battery of the taxi. He starts the taxis engine, and places a rock upon the accelerator pedal revving the engine. Then climbing back into the Alouettes cabin, he switches on the ignition and pushes the starter button. The rotor blades now rotate quite fast. The engine coughs. The Prisoner tries again. It almost starts. He pushes the starter once again. The battery starts to die, suddenly the engine fires. The Prisoner is wet with perspiration. He revs the engine a couple of times, then climbs out of the cabin. The Prisoner rips the wires from the battery. As this happens the helicopters engine begins to falter. Quickly the Prisoner leans into the cabin and revs the engine like crazy. Still with his hand on the throttle he climbs back into the cabin of the helicopter. The rotor blades are now coming up to speed everything is fine. The Alouette helicopter begins to lift off the ground. A foot or so off the ground the engine suddenly cuts. The rubber floats hit the ground with a bump. The Prisoner pushes the starter almost frantically. The rotor blades make a half turn only. The Prisoner's eyes go down to the instrument panel, they stop on the petrol gauge, it still registers full. The Prisoner taps the gauge with a knuckle of a finger. The needle sinks slowly back to empty.

I'll be seeing you

The Prisoner Press Conference 1967

   It seems strange to me, that seeing as how Patrick McGoohan kept most women, with whom he came into contact with during his acting career, at "arms length" so to speak. Strnage that it should be the magazine of the day ‘Woman’s Own’ which gets Patrick McGoohan's story. I presume that at least on of the ladies pictured here with Patrick McGoohan is from 'Woman's Own.' I wonder why a woman's magazine should have been interested in 'the Prisoner,' or was the attraction simply the man Patrick McGoohan which drew their attention?

BCNU

Caught On Camera!

   Somehow I didn't think the Colonel had it in him! But then the trick is to remember that this is not the Colonel, but the mind of No.6, and he seems to have caught Potter a good one here!

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Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

Entitled    -      He Thought It Was Different!  

BcNu

Pictorial Prisoner

   During the bout of Kosho taking place in the gymnasium of Its Your Funeral, No.100 goes to locker No.6, and exchanges No.6's wrist watch for a similarly identical one, seen in the first picture.

   You will observe in the picture a metal object to the left of No.6's wrist watch, and a crumpled handkerchief to the right.

   In the following picture, as No.100 swaps No.6's wrist watch for an identical one, the metal object to the left of the wrist watch had gone! And at the back there is the addition of a dark blue Turtle-neck jersey, as worn by No.6, which you do not see in the first picture.

    Here in the third and final picture, No.6 is about to retrieve his personal possessions from the top of his locker. As you can see the metal object is back, and turns out to be a Ronson cigarette lighter. However the dark blue Turtle-neck jersey is gone!

   If you watch the sequence of this little scene you will observe that No.6 is fully dressed when retrieving his personal possessions from the locker. So when getting dressed No.6 took his dark blue Turtle-neck jersey out of the locker - without disturbing either his wrist watch, cigarette lighter, and crumpled handkerchief!

   Its seems obvious that parts of this "locker room" scene were filmed at different times, so where were those responsible for "continuity" during the production of the Prisoner?

I'll be seeing you - or perhaps I won't - depending on the scene in question!



The Therapy Zone

A Change Of Mind

   We are all familiar with the scene which follows No.86's denouncement of No.2 as being unmutual. In the way No.2 rushes off the balcony, and runs through the streets of the village, and up the steps of the Green Dome. Yet originally the script described the scene immediately after No.86's denouncement of No.2 being unmutual as;

    "No.2, his peasent face flushed with anger, turns and after a further glare at the smiling p {prisoner}, rushes past from the balcony.
    Number 2 appraoches Number 86.
    No.2 is dragging to the very edge of the square. It is still too public for him to be really rough with her. But he nevertheless strikes her across the face with barely controlled anger.

   Like most of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, the whole episode is inexplicable, however perhaps not so much as the fact that the body of No.6, with the Colonel's mind, appears to be just left all that time in the mind changing apparatus!

Danger Man

   It was once written in an article that perhaps the Prisoner might not have resigned if he had such responsibilities as a wife and family to support. Well seeing as danger was an attraction for John Drake, that danger was his stock in trade, and judging by the kind of work that he did, it seems pretty unlikely that John Drake would have married in the first place, so when it came to Janet Portland, she came as a bit of a shock really. Being engaged to Janet Portland might have been an indication that John Drake might have had the thought of settling down. Janet may well have put pressure upon him to give up his job for a position a little more less dangerous, an office job perhaps. But then if that was the case, where was he going in such a hurry after handing in his letter of resignation that day.

   It is only No.6 who asks who No.1 is!

Finally Number 1

    Sir must have known who No.1 was all the time, because he didn't hang around long to find out!

   No.1 offered Sir his future, which Sir saw in the crystal ball. A future he rejected by allowing the crystal ball to slip from his hands and smash into a thousand splinters on the floor. This then is the act which later would instigate in the Prisoner's resignation back in London!

Be seeing you

The Death Of Rover!

   Takes place in ‘Fall Out,’ moments after the rocket was launched. This little scene is said by many fans of ‘the Prisoner’ to be the "Death of Rover,” as it shrinks into a creator. Such is the steamy rocky, alien environment, that it gives the impression Rover is dying somewhere on another planet. Thus Rover appears alien to our world.   
    It was once asked why only one Rover was destroyed in this scene, when during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ three Rovers brought No.8-Nadia to the beach from the sea, and that was repeated during ‘Free For All,’ after No.6 had "Jumped boat" so to speak.

   Well what you see in the image is but one piece of the membranic "thing" and if this is seen to be the "Death of Rover," then the following image must surely be the "Birth of Rover." Because Rover is born of the sea, and seeing as how the rocket was launched from land, the "containment area" for the mass of the membranic Village Guardian, is somewhere out at sea, so we can thereby assume that the vast mass of the village guardian survived the ‘Fall Out.’

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Thought For That Day

    Seeing as it turned out that Number 1 is the alter ego of Number 6, they must surely have shared the same thoughts. That being the case it is no wonder then, that "they" knew exactly how Number 6 would behave in any given situation, I should have thought.

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Village Life!

   I don't remember seeing this door here before!

   Funny thing! It wasn't here the last time I was in No.2's office. Hang on a minute, the chamber wall of the Green Dome, did that just revolve, how did it do that then? Oh well, at least it can't get any worse, I think I'll risk it! In for a penny, in for a pound as they say.

   And No.6 thought things couldn't get any worse, and just soon after this that's just what did happen.

Be seeing you