Thought For The Day

   The Prisoner series is made up of a number of independent episodes each of which tells a story, and with the exception of three, 'Arrival,' 'Once Upon A Time,' and 'Fall Out,' they can be watched in any sequence. Two episodes were written by David Tomblin, two more by Vincent Tilsley, again two by Terrence Feely, three by Patrick McGoohan, and three by Anthony Skene. Two episodes which compliment each other, because they were written by the same scriptwriter are "Many Happy Returns,' and 'Dance of the Dead.' they compliment each other because in 'Many Happy Returns' it was originally intended that Number 6 was to have died in an accident at sea. However this idea was cut from the finished episode. And yet with the next episode 'Dance of the Dead Skene was able to encompass that idea into the script. That a dead man, and the wallet in his pocket were to be amended slightly, so that it's Number 6 who has died in an accident at sea, so to the rest of the world he'll be dead! And yet there are two other episodes which compliment each other very well, although they were written by two different scriptwriters. 'A B and C' by Anthony Skene, and 'The Gerneral' by Lewis Greifer. So why should these two episodes compliment one another so well? The answer must surely lie with actor Colin Gordon who played Number 2 in both episodes. I suppose Gordon could have tried to play a different character for Number 2 in both episodes, but would that really have worked? We have Thorpe who worked with the Colonel in 'Many Happy Returns' played by Patrick Cargill, who goes on to play Number 2 in 'Hammer Into Anvil,' The two characters are supposed to be different. And yet fictionally speaking it is possible to think that Thorpe and Number 2 are one and the same, despite Number 2's paranoia. So in Colin Gordon's case, it would have been simple for him to play the same character Number 2 for both episodes, and that's what makes 'A B and C' and 'The General' compatible. What's more the same can be said of 'The Chimes of Big Ben,' 'Once Upon A Time,' and 'Fall Out,' the fact that there are two different scriptwriters Vincent Tilsley and Patrick McGoohan, but again the same Number 2!

Be seeing you