Last Night I Was Mostly Watching

    The Chimes of Big Ben. Well my wife and I should have been watching 'Arrival' really, and yet seeing as how yesterday the chimes of Big Ben rang out over London in 1859 for the first time, watching 'The Chimes of Big Ben' seemed more appropriate. But that's not to say we are embarking on a screening of 'the Prisoner,' because we're not. Instead we are watching 'the Prisoner' in a form of a mini-series of our favourite episodes, and in no particular order either.
   So Arrival - The Chimes of Big Ben - Free For All - Checkmate - Dance of the Dead - Hammer Into Anvil, and Many Happy Returns. To be perfectly honest, although I enjoyed watching 'The Chimes of Big Ben' last night, I was not excited by the prospect, not in the same way as I was when I was watching THEPRIS6NER-09 series. Perhaps it is as I have said before, familiarity breeds contempt! Or more likely THEPRIS6NER is now by far the greater in my affections. Whenever I see actors from the 2009 series in films or other television series, I say look, there's 909, or 313. Ian McKellen was on television the other evening, I now see him as Two. I used to do that sort of thing with actors from the original series of 'the Prisoner,' but not any more. Oh don't misunderstand me, I still appreciate 'the Prisoner' very much indeed, I am still very much the enthusiast. But somehow the excitement, the anticipation of watching an episode seems to be no longer there, familiarity breeding contempt. Or that 'the Prisoner' is so much in my mind that I no longer really need to watch the series at all! Or writing about 'the Prisoner' every day may also be a factor. I happen to know a huge enthusiast for 'the Prisoner' who had not watched the series in years and years, who didn't even own 'the Prisoner' on video. He still very much appreciates 'the Prisoner' today, yet doesn't feel the need to watch the series at all. Perhaps he is on another level to enthusiasts such as you or I. While another tells me that fandom for 'the Prisoner' is dead, I'm not at all sure which level he's on!

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