In the episode 'Many Happy Returns' written by Anthony Skene, originally No.6 having escaped the Village, he was to have been picked up by a Russian trawler, and on board a Russian Princess. And there was to have been a romantic liaison between the two. Pat McGoohan would have soon have this written out of the script, because he would never have No.6 involved in any kind of romantic liaison. If he had it would have been with Nadia during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben.! And in any case, what would a Russian Princess be doing on a Russian Trawler? Well working of course. As for the Russian Trawler, we know precisely what that would have been up to, and it wouldn’t be fishing in the true sense of the word, only for information! As for No.6, wouldn’t being taken on board a Russian trawler be something like falling out of the frying pan into the fire? And possibly the scene we see taking place aboard the gun runners vessel would have taken place aboard the Russian trawler, but with a good many more crew members for No.6 to deal with!
Be seeing you
We were talking about the probability of the ship and the 2 men on board actually being gunrunners. Who would have been their customer, what their destination, keeping in mind the political map of Western Europe in 1966? Now, a Russian boat would have made a bit more sense to me in terms of espionage but certainly not a Russian princess. Only, perhaps, if she was a member of the tsar family, making her way to the West... Too far-fetched. The more one thinks about this scene the more one is inclined to believe that the boat's only purpose was to ensure No. 6 didn't get killed on his - staged - escape attempt. _ BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteThat's a very good comment, and says it all. Yes I agree it would have made a bit more sense had it been a Russian Trawler instead of a pair of gun runners. But the fact is as you say is, the purpose of any boat was simply to ensure No.6 didn't die in his bid to escape the Village. I couldn't agree more with you. I make no comment regarding a Russian Princess, as she appears to be superfluous, much in the same way as Janet Portland!
Very kind regards
David
BCNU