The Prisoner

    We can all sit back in our comfortable armchairs, in the relative comfort of our homes and enjoy watching a remarkable and powerful television series which still has the power to captivate minds as it has done over the passed forty-seven years.

   Number 6 is the hero and we like to think that we can empathise with his situation. But can we? Don’t forget you are sitting in the comfort of your chair, probably having a cup of coffee as the Prisoner is confronted on the beach by The Village Guardian. And I can think of a few people who would empathise better with Number 2! We cannot really know what it is like as it was for Number 6 to be abducted from our home, to wake up in an alien environment where we do not know anyone. And yet over the centuries that is exactly what has happened to millions of people at one time or another. But thankfully we’re dealing with a television series. Well its highly unlikely that two undertakers would arrive at your home, pump nerve gas into the room, place you in a coffin and abduct you to The Village. And even if they did, what would be your chances for escape? Remember not everyone is possessed by the skills which Number 6 employs. If it was up to me, I’d probably be able to fell a small tree, carve a dug-out canoe out of the trunk of the tree. Then somehow get it down to the beach, but instead of heading off out to sea, I’d head in-land, along the river. Well the Village is situated on the estuary of a river, so why not?

    But we wouldn’t wish to see ourselves in Number 6’s canvas deck shoes, would we? Mind you that would be preferable to being in Roland Walter Dutton’s shoes. Or those of Number 8’s for that matter, being used time and time again to infiltrate prisoners escape plans in order to see them fail! You wouldn’t want that to happen to you, would you now? I know I certainly wouldn’t. But then there could be another way, to go to The Village of your own free will, as the Professor and Madam Professor did. But then having arrived, they probably found The Village, and their position in the community wasn’t what they expected it to be. They were just as much prisoners as anybody else. For myself I like gardening. Perhaps I could be a horticulturalist in The Village, “Mind the plants sir, they're new.” Being a gardener seems to me to be ideal. Not getting yourself involved, working in the quiet atmosphere of The Village, and with the good earth. It almost sounds like a place to escape to!

   ‘The Prisoner’ can be a joy to watch, and possibly ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ is one of the most enjoyable episodes.  For the relationship between Nadia and Number 6, plus the rapport between Number 6 and Number 2. The fact that Number 6 thinks he's being so clever in carving 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, and to hear his remarkable, and off the cuff explanation of his abstract sculpture. Number 6 thought Number 2 didn't know what he was about, but Number 2 was playing Number 6 for a fool, as he knew what Number 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 Number 6 realises what time it is, that Big Ben has just struck eight, that his 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 yet there is that moment after the Butler has set out the tea things on the table in Number 2's office - the Butler wheels away his tea trolley, and as he does Number 2 looks at his manservant and shivers - have you noticed that? Well perhaps you will the next time you watch ‘The Chimes of Big Ben.’

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Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                                  "Getting The Point!

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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 Number 6 had not been so quick to grasp Nadia's story as truth. If only Number 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 Number 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 Number 6 stopped to think about it a little more, well the story might very well have had a different ending. So too if Karel had his wrist watch set at Polish time!

    Nadia Rokovsky. 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 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!

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Thought For The Day

    There are four main constant characters in ‘the Prisoner.’ Number 6 obviously, well that is only to be expected seeing as he’s the hero or anti-hero depending on how you look at it. The there’s the Butler who serves without question each new master or mistress who takes up residence in the Green Dome. Although the Green Dome isn’t a residence seeing as Number 2 doesn’t actually live there. The Butler is much more fortunate, as he lives in the annexe behind the Green Dome! Then there is the Supervisor-Number 26, although there are times when his appearance in the series is via stock film footage. And finally a balloon, and on occasion more then one in various sizes. Admittedly the balloon doesn’t appear in every episode, however he is always there at the end of the credits. But is The Village Guardian a character, or merely a visual icon? Certainly the use of a meteorological weather balloon as the Guardian was an inspiration. Had Rover Mk1 been a success, it’s always possible that it would have still looked ridiculous, and not been taken to the hearts of the fans of the series. Originally an escaping prisoner caught by Rover MK1 would have been over powered by a blue light. This idea of a controlling blue light does appear in ‘the Prisoner,’ and no better demonstration of this takes place than in ‘Free For All.’ When Number 6, as the new Number 2 is in the Green Dome with Number 58, pressing buttons on the control panel of the desk. There shines a blue light of which Number 6 comes under its controlling influence. Whether this blue light is activated by accident on the part of Number 6 by pressing the wrong button, or by someone else somewhere is unknown.

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Playing The Game According To Hoyle!

     But you get nothing for two pairs in The Village! Like the fact there are two ex-Admirals in ‘Arrival,’ and dressed identically. The electrician and gardener are identical, either twins or clones, and there are three Number 66’s. In ‘Free For All’ identical twins, the photographer and the operator of The Tally Ho dispenser share the same sub-divided number 113b and 113c. There are two Number 243’s, a laboratory technician and the bomb disposal man in ‘Hammer Into Anvil.’ Then there is ‘The Schizoid Man-Curtis-Number 12. I suppose it had to be 12, two times six is twelve, and 12 is a doppelganger for 6. Not forgetting of course that 6 and 1 are also identical! Number 8 in ‘It’s Your Funeral’ bears a remarkable resemblance to the young woman who hands her the daily prognosis report on Number 6. It would seem that twins, look-a-likes and the sharing of a number go hand in hand in The Village. They might have sub-divided the number 6 for 6b instead of using 12!

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The Chimes of Big Ben

     Number 6 is told to meet Number 2 at the hospital. Strange that Number 6 should do as he’s told. Number 2 wonders if Number 6 he can help him. Number 6 asks “How?”

   "Well you've probably got to know No.8 better than anyone while she's been here....."

   What's Number 2 talking about, Number 8's only been in The Village five minutes! But then thinking about it again ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ is six weeks in length, so there would be a longer passage of time between Number 8’s arrival in The Village and her interrogation at the hospital than is imagined or shown on the screen. There is more that takes place in The Village than we are privy to, and that carries through the whole series.

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Village Life!

    "Good morning Number Twelve."
    "Good morning Number Thirty-Six. Where are you going?"
    "I'm taking this gentleman for a walk."
    "In a wheelchair?"
    "Oh don't be cruel, he's had a rough ordeal."
    "No rougher than me I assure you."
    "Don't be silly, nothings happened to you, well not since I last saw you."
    "Well what happened to him?"
     "He's a former Number 2. He was denounced as being unmutual, it was terrible. People chased him through the Village, and into the Green Dome it was a terrible shock for him."
    "It must have been."
    "It was worse."
    "How so?"
    "They sub-divided him!"
    "You mean they put a letter after his number, how terrible for him!"
   "The people manhandled him to the hospital and the doctors there took his brain away!"

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Bureau of Visual Records

   What it must be like to stand and watch yourself being suffocated into unconsciousness or even to death. To witness ones own death must be a terrible thing, even though it was Curtis. But nevertheless that is what Number 6 does in 'The Schizoid Man.'

     Perhaps he thinks that that could have been him had he given the password Gemini  to the Guardian, that no-one deserves to die like that.

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Quote For The Day

"We'll be open in a minute. Do you want breakfast?"
                         {The Cafe waitress - Arrival}
    That line "Do you want breakfast?" always makes me think yes, a full English with a pot of tea.
    There is also a gardener in that scene, washing down the black and white tiles of the patio using a hosepipe. In bygone days in Portmeirion, a gardener would wash down the black and white tiles using a hosepipe, I presume that is still done today.

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Thought For The Day

    Yesterday I was thinking do we ever see The Village Guardian when Number 6 isn't around? As it happens only once, not that The Village Guardian appears in every episode.....but it does appear in the end credits of each episode. That once takes place in Number 2's office in 'Once Upon A Time sitting in Number 2's chair as it rises up through the floor. If it had not been for that scene, then yes, The Village Guardian would only appear when Number 6 was around......except within the closing credits!

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Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

From My Watercolour Period
                                "We'll Be Open In A Minute"

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The Sense Of Fear

    Why did Rover attack Number 12-Curtis? He gave the password Schizoid Man, as confidently as Number 6 had done. There was nothing in his voice to suggest nervousness, he stood his ground as he gave the password.  So what was it that made the Guardian decide against Curtis and so attack him? Perhaps it was a sense of fear, the Guardian sensed Curtis’ fear. Because as the Guardian slowly approaches, Curtis backs away slightly, repeating the password, then realising that the password is not going to be accepted by the Guardian he becomes afraid and runs. That’s enough for the Guardian, as it moves in on its prey quickly before Curtis can escape, suffocating him into unconsciousness or to death. Had Number 6 not realised that there were two passwords, and had given the password Gemini to the Guardian, it might well have been himself being suffocated by that thing, instead of Curtis!

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The New Number 2!

   So Number 6 the people’s favourite, finally attains that position of authority which Number 2 of ‘Arrival’ once said he might be given. Having been elected as the new Number 2, he is taken to the Green Dome by his predecessor.

   "No need to go into details. If you want to know anything, just press a button."

   The new Number 2 is accompanied by Number 58, why? She helps him settle into his new sanctum, The wall screen is showing dots and circles of light moving across the screen. The pressing of a button by Number 58 and the black spherical chair rises up through the floor. A button is pressed on the control panel of the desk to show the image of the Council Chamber which has been vacated by the members of the Town Council. More buttons are pressed and with each one a different view of The Village. As well as accessing the Department of Visual records, film of  the day of the Prisoner’s arrival. And then he gets a glimpse of the internal workings of The Village, the Control room, but then a telephone bleeps. A brief telephone call takes place between the New Number 2 and the manager of the Labour Exchange, and the view on the wall screen has changed back to the dots and circles of light crossing the screen. There is more pressing of buttons, the scene appears almost frantic, as a number of different chairs rise and descend through holes in the floor. Then a pulsating blue light and a piercing sound, and something overcomes the new Number 2. He seems to be under the influence of the blue light. Number 58 takes him before the wall screen. The circles of light speed across the wall screen. There is no struggle by Number 6, he seems powerless. Then he is stripped of his Number 2 rosette, his authority {if he ever had any} and then is viciously slapped across the face by Number 58, slapped 7 times in order to bring Number 6 back to his senses.

   Number 58 is now the new Number 2, has been all the time, and she played her part very well.

   “Will you never learn…. This is only the beginning…We have many ways and means but we don’t wish to damage you permanently….are you ready to talk?”

   It would seem not. I have often thought that it is such a pity that Rachel Herbert’s character of Number 2 isn’t carried over into another episode before ‘The Schizoid Man.’ And yet it always strikes me that this Number 2 would have something very nasty up her sleeve for Number 6 during her term of her office. She might not want to damage Number 6 permanently, but she would take it to the limit!

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Caught On Camera!

   One might think that that The Girl and her father would have been more organised to have all his important papers long packed up before the countdown for the firing of the rocket was commenced. What are those papers? They are the history of......well the history of the project to destroy London, which must have taken years to prepare. And I've often wondered how the rocket was built up inside the lighthouse. But I suppose that's one of the aspects of this story we have to take for granted, after all it is a fairytale. As for those papers packed into briefcases, well they could be anything. There is a blueprint amongst them, but what of, remains a mystery. Just a minute.....that sketch on the paper there, that doodle looks like a thatched roofed country cottage with smoke coming out of the chimney!

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Bureau of Visual Records

   This is Aurel, there's nothing remarkable about this man. There's not a great deal to write about him, save for the facts that he works for a foreign Embassy in Geneva in Switzerland, and is part of a spy ring organised by British Intelligence agent Standfast. This takes place in the 'Danger Man' episode 'I'm Afraid You Have The Wrong Number.' Aurel is a very nervous man, and he has good reason to be. Because if his own people find out he's been working in a spy ring, his own people would make him disappear. And that's what he's afraid of, being found out. Because Aurel's own people have Standfast, in a house in the country, and are torturing him in order to make him talk. John Drake, who has been looking for Standfast finds him at the house, and overpowering the foreign agents and thugs, manages to get Standfast away. Aurel, and other members of Standfast's spy ring appear to be safe.

    This man is approached by Number 6 on the morning of 'Once Upon A time.' Number 6 asks the man his number. The man is of a nervous disposition. He looks about him tells the man not to do that, enquire. Yet Number 6 persists and begins to count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16........ Of course there is no-way of knowing who this citizen is, or why he was brought to The Village. However fictionally speaking this man could be Aurel, brought to The Village because he knows too little!
   Then on the other hand, the nervousness of this man could be put down to the possibility that he recognises Number 6, as having worked as a chemist in the Therapy Zone, he drugged Number 6. Perhaps this man {who's number we do not know, because his hands are in the way} recognised Number 6 for who he is, and thought him to be out for retribution. Or perhaps simply afraid of Number 6 drawing attention to him!

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This week I've Been Mostly Listening To

    The Prisoner soundtrack! Because listening to the music of the series can be as enjoyable as watching 'the Prisoner.' What's more it is another way of appreciating the series. Because when I sit back and listen to a particular piece of incidental music, takes my mind to a particular scene which relates to the music. Or at other times I'm transported back to playing the role of Number 6 in the re-enactment of the election parade in 1994, or standing on the chessboard asking the white Queen who is Number One, during a Prisoner convention.

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The Prisoner – The Worst of Ordeal!

    Seventeen ordeals to go through, as Number 6 is put to the test. From his arrival to his eventual fall out, and at the end he’s no better off then as he was at the beginning. And yet he appears to have come through his ordeal pretty much intact and secure, despite still being a prisoner. Because if Number 6 realised anything, he should have realised that even after leaving The Village, its influence persists, just ask Number 2.
    So which out of the seventeen tests was the worst ordeal for Number 6 ‘Arrival?’ It couldn’t have been very pleasant for the Prisoner to be abducted from his home and everything he knows, to wake up in an alien environment, picturesque as it might be. He tried to escape twice, and found it impossible, because escape from The Village is not possible. He’s tricked, fooled, and betrayed, all in just over a day, depending on the time of his arrival in The Village. He has an uncomfortable encounter with The Village Guardian, he finds it altogether too suffocating an experience. But generally nothing actually harmful befalls Number 6. He’s simply gone through a number of unpleasant experiences.
    During ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ Number 6 appears to be very much at home. He even explains certain workings of The Village to a new arrival, in order that she might not have to go through the type of morning he had to go through on the day of his arrival. Because of a plant, Number 6 embarks on a daring escape plan which will see him undertake a twelve hour journey back to London. All being well, he and Nadia will arrive in an office Number 6 knows very well. But all is not at all well. Number 6 in his desperation to escape has allowed himself to be hoodwinked, by a supposed damsel in distress. All that time and effort wasted in forming a plan of escape. Creating pieces of sculpture which when put together make a boat, a boat which doesn’t look at all seaworthy when they first put to sea. Poor old Number 6, he thinks he’s on a journey back to his world, when in fact it’s only a short trip back to The Village. But Number 6 doesn’t know that. He’s timing the journey to make sure it tallies, which of course it does. Again Number 6 has been betrayed but not just by a woman, but by his old colleagues the Colonel and Fotheringay. No physical harm has befallen the Prisoner, only both time and effort have been wasted on both sides. And yet surely The Prisoner must have suffered some mental anguish, to realise that it’s his own side has had dealings with his incarceration in The Village, and betray him they way they did.
    ‘A B and C’ this time Number 2 means business! And through the use of a doctor and her new “wonder” drug they are able to enter the subconscious mind of Number 6 by inception. Not only to enter the subconscious, but to manipulate his dreams. And yet he is able to outwit Number 2s machinations, besides the doctor didn’t report Number 6 opening his eyes and seeing her in the laboratory. This gave Number 6 an edge, and when he discovered what had been happening, he was able to dilute the third dose of the drug. By this means he was able to manipulate his third dream, and turn the tables on Number 2. Number 6s dreams had been invaded, and yet no real harm had befallen him.
    Quite by chance Number 6 is just the sort of candidate The Village needs! He is to stand for election as the new Number 2. Well he might as well, seeing as he’s nothing better to do with his time. During the election of ‘Free For All’ Number 6 is drugged, and is put through a mind conditioning process. But luckily for him the tissue must not be damaged, meaning the brain tissue. And apart from a few bruises to the tissue, when the two motor mechanics extract their revenge upon Number 6, he comes out of it, beaten, but essentially intact.
     In ‘The Schizoid Man’ they take away Number 6’s identity, which as it happens it the only identity the man has, seeing as they had already taken away his name. They gave him a new identity, Number 12, force feed him drugs, brainwash him and condition him to be left-handed instead of right. Then they face him with himself, Number 6. The man’s in a right mess this time, he doesn’t know who he is, and being betrayed by Number 24 didn’t help. Then again if it had not been for the Polaroid picture taken of Number 6 by Number 24, the plan may very well have succeeded.
   ‘The General.’ Perhaps not so much an ordeal for Number 6 in the true sense of the word. Unless the educational experiment of Speedlearn, as well as the General, have been brought to The Village specifically to test how Number 6 would deal with the machine. Indeed the internal mechanics of The Village. But this seems highly doubtful.
    On the other hand ‘Many Happy Returns’ ranks  high on the ordeal scale of things. Put to the test, Number 6 does not fail, as upon discovering The Village to be deserted he immediately sets about constructing a sea-going raft. He takes photographic evidence, and sets sail on a dangerous sea voyage. As well as pitting himself against the elements, he has to fight off two dangerous gun-runners. Swim a number of miles, to be washed up on the beach at Beachy Head. Then he scales a chalky cliff, and after being given refreshment by a young gypsy woman, he’s set on his way again. Avoiding a police road block, he jumps into the back of a moving Luton van, and eventually arrives back at his home in London, only to find someone else living there, and in possession of his Lotus Seven. All of which Number 6 takes in his stride. He meets with the Colonel and Thorpe, and manages to convince them enough to have his story checked out. The final part of the test is for Number 6 to find his way back to The Village, which he manages to do, not satisfied to have someone else make the search on his behalf. And finally he returns home to his cottage in The Village, and there’s Mrs. Butterworth bringing him a cake in celebration of his happy return. Number 6 appears to have passed the tests with flying colours!
    ‘Dance of the Dead,’ in which Number 6 is put to the test by a doctor-Number 40 to see if Number 6 will talk when put under pressure. He doesn’t, but might have done had the test gone on longer. In the evening down on the beach Number 6 puts himself to the test by testing himself against The Village Guardian. And yet this time he is found wanting, as the Guardian out paces Number 6, who ends up run into the sand, finally to end up resting on his knees. The next evening Number 6 is put on trial, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Avoiding the lynch mob, Number 6 finds himself confronted by a machine, which he duly rips out both printing paper and electrical wiring. He thinks he has sabotaged the machine, and yet moments later the machine bursts back into life. Number 6 tells Number 2 that they’ll never win. Then how very uncomfortable for him. And yet it seems that the reverse can also be said!
    A ‘Checkmate’ win for Number 2! Having been versed in how to distinguish between the whites and the blacks {prisoners and warders} Number 6 selects his own reliable men, and sets about a daring plan for escape. There are a number of different tests within this episode, association tests, along with the testing of a new electronic device, a reaction transmitter that is tied into the alarm system. As well as the Rook putting to Number 6 his own test, and arriving at the wrong conclusion! Number 6’s patience is tested by Number 8 who claims to be in love with him. And Number 8’s love is tested by Number 6’s cruel rejection of her love.
    ‘Hammer Into Anvil,’ a case of trial and retribution. Retribution for the death of Number 73, and Number 2 tried sorely for the suicidal death of 73. Because this time the canvas deck shoe is definitely on the other foot, as Number 6 puts Number 2s paranoia to the test.
    ‘It’s Your Funeral,’ a testing time of the retiring Number 2. As for Number 6, his ordeal continues by countering the machinations of Number 1 and an interim Number 2.
    If he’s not very careful Number 6 could find himself having ‘A Change of Mind,’ but worse than that, the whole community sent him to Coventry! This is one of the most unpleased ordeals for Number 6. He is completely isolated within the community, a lone wolf having to endure real loneliness, and with the threat of a leucotomy hanging over him like the sword of Damocles. But Number 6 is merely drugged, and once he begins to have doubts, as well as avoiding the taking of the Mytol drug he’s soon back to his old aggressive self.
    And now we come to ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,’ and probably the worst ordeal of all. To be abducted from ones home, and to wake up as someone else, must be one of the worst of nightmares. Number 6 soon understands why he finds himself in such a situation. However if he doesn’t find Professor Seltzman, and even if he does, if the Professor hasn’t perfected the reversal process, ZM73’s mind will have to remain wrongly housed in the body of the Colonel, and vice versa. On a more fundamental level, ZM73 cannot make anyone believe who he really is. Except eventually for Janet Portland, his fiancée, to whom he gives a message, that could only be from him, he needs her faith. And then ZM73 must set about finding Seltzman. And even if his does find him, he still needs to return to The Village in order for the reversal process to be carried out. Finding Seltzman is but the first step. The next will be trying to find his way back to The Village!
    Place the Prisoner in a dangerous environment. Give him love, take it away, and make him kill! Number 6 has been fed an hallucinogenic drug. He thinks he’s in an American frontier town of the 1800’s. And yet no real harm can befall Number 6 seeing as all the events in Harmony take place in his head, a kind of early interactive reality game. Yes Number 6 does get shot in the head by the Judge, but it’s like a dream, and no-one dies in their dream. So Number 6 did what we all do at the point of death in a dream, he woke up!
    Number 6 told them a blessed fairytale! This was probably the easiest of all the ordeals Number 6 was put through. Sit there and tell three children a story, but in the hope he might give something away to children. Number 2, or Number 1 must be losing their touch, or having run out of ideas!   However there was just one idea left, Degree Absolute. It had to be either one of them, Number 6 or Number 2. Number 2 said he was a good man, is a good man but if they get Number 6 he will be better. So Number 6’s mind is regressed back to his early childhood, and taken through his life from there. But Degree Absolute can be dangerous, used in psychoanalysis, and in extreme cases the doctor changes places with the patient. That’s where the danger lies, if the doctor has his own problems, which of course, Number 2 has. This is a tough ordeal, not only for Number 6, but for Number 2 as well. A whole week, locked together not only in the Embryo Room, but also in a psychological and physical battle. Only one can survive this test of survival, in which only the strongest wins the day.
    And finally ‘Fall Out.’ I wonder what was going through the mind of the Prisoner as he was taken to see Number 1, what did he think he had to gain? On the whole ‘Fall Out doesn’t appear that much of an ordeal for the former Number Six, as he sits there in the chair of honour as two trials take place. However there is no trial for the former Number 6, instead high praise is bestowed upon him. He has revolted, resisted, held fast, maintained, destroyed resistance, overcome coercion, the right of person, someone or individual, and what’s more his private war is applauded. So all that remains is the recognition of a man, a man of steel, a man magnificently equipped to lead them or go. He has vindicated the right of the individual to be individual. He is the only individual, he is on his own. So what do they do? Build him up and then think to knock him back by facing him with himself, by facing the former Number 6 with the truth. That he is solely responsible for The Village.
   It would appear that the Prisoner has been his own worst enemy. But why put himself through this ordeal, to test himself over and over again, repeatedly? It certainly accounts for the fact that no real lasting harm comes to Number 6, seeing as he has Number 1 looking after him!
    So which of the ordeals is the worst for the Prisoner to have been put through? You who are reading this will have your own ideas about that I’m sure. But I suspect two candidates would be ‘The Schizoid Man,’ and ‘Many Happy Returns.’ However for myself, it has to be ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.’ Because even though Professor Seltzman could reverse the effect, ZM73 would still have had to have found a way back to The Village, had it not been for the agent turning up at the barber’s shop in the guise of a chauffeur! 

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Teabreak Teaser

   How much would Mister X’s round of drinks, brandy, whisky, vodka, drambuie, tia maria, cointreau, grand marnier cost in 1967?

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Who's That On The Telephono?

  

   New Number 2 “You called me?”
    Number 20-manager of the Labour Exchange “No, I didn’t call. You called me.”

    “No I didn’t call you. The telephone bleeped so I answered it.”

    “The same here, I was just making a note in my ledger about you…..”

    “Really, what did you write?”
    “I wonder how long he will last? Then the telephone bleeped so I answered it.”

    “Well I didn’t put the call through.”
    “Neither did I.”

    “There seems to be some confusion.”

    “Well if you didn’t put the call through, and I know I didn’t, who did?”

    “Echo answers who!”

    “Well is there anything I can do for you while you’re on the line?”
    “Just checking, be seeing you

    “And you.”

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Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

                                      "The Prisoner In Isolation!"

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Thought For The Day

   The thing about The Village is, you either "fit in," or "Fall Out!" And even if you don’t fit, they shape you in order to make you fit. But occasionally “they” shape themselves in order for you to fit. Such is the importance they place on the Prisoner!

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Prisoner Appreciation

   How do fans and enthusiasts show their appreciation for ‘the Prisoner?’ Well there are many ways, the simplest way of all is it to sit and watch the series. But then what? To sit there and watch it again, or perhaps to wait and watch it again after a matter of a few months, maybe to restrict yourself to watching the series twice a year. Or perhaps to watch the occasional favourite episode during the intervening months. But what then? After all there must be more to the appreciation of such a series than to simply sit and watch it all the time and nothing else. There is. You long began asking yourself the questions, and to formulate answers in your mind, perhaps to make note of them. You begin to think about what the series means. and you form interpretations, to put meaning to ‘the Prisoner.’ And that’s all well and good, but eventually you want to make contact with like-mined fans and enthusiasts for ’the Prisoner,’ to discuss, debate, and exchange ideas. It might be that eventually you meet up with fellow fans, in a club or society, to perhaps form a local Prisoner Group and organise activities. You visit Portmeirion, follow in the footsteps of Number 6. Even to wear Village attire at Prisoner Conventions. To act the part as others have before you, in re-enactments…….Six for Two, Six for Two, Six for Two. We want Number Six, we want Number Six, Number Six, Number Six, Number Six, Number Six, he’s the one, Six is the one. We want Six is the one, we want Six Six is the one, sorry wrong series!
    You make collection, of ‘the Prisoner on video, DVD. Buying books on the subject, perhaps ‘the Prisoner’ based novels. Pens, pencils, badges, mugs, ‘T’ shirts, sweat shirts. Not to mention photographs, postcards, posters, and ‘Prisoner’ memorabilia produced years ago, like the soundtrack on LP record, cassette tape, and cd. Perhaps you allow your imagination to run away with you as you listen to a particular piece of music, recalling an associated scene in your mind. That’s easy to do as you know the series like the back of your hand. One enthusiast used to speak in ‘Prisoner.’ You would say something to him, something quite ordinary and nothing out of the ordinary, but he would always reply with an appropriate line from ‘the Prisoner.’ Was that carrying ‘the Prisoner’ too far? There were those at the time who thought it was. Then on the other hand I knew one person who had not seen the series since its British screening in 1967, apart from the odd episode, and yet his appreciation of ‘the Prisoner’ is still second to none. And that answers the question I was going to ask, can one appreciate ‘the Prisoner’ without actually watching the series more than once? Apparently you can.
    Fans crave information, information, information, and by hook or by crook they get it, simply by logging on to the Internet and typing two words in the search box ‘the Prisoner,’ and all manner of websites, domains, and forum groups come up. The fan, the enthusiast is spoilt for choice. And through the Internet, one can make friends and contacts with whom to discuss ‘the Prisoner’ to their hearts content. But what after that? Well that is entirely up to the individual. Perhaps to aspire to owning a Caterham Seven in ‘Prisoner‘ livery, or Mini-Moke in Village livery as many enthusiasts do. I know one person who replicated the interior of Number 6’s cottage in her attic. While another enthusiast built a replica of Number 6’s cottage in his garden, and fitted out the interior as near exact of the interior of the study as it is possible to do.
   We each have our own way of appreciation. For myself, it has brought me here, writing my ‘Prisoner’ inspired blog for both my own enjoyment and that of others.

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Village Life!

   Number 6 is brought before the Committee for being disharmonious. But he'd been here before, when he was being interrogated by Number 2 and his assistant Number 12.

  They wanted to know who his confederates are. Who let him into the Town Hall, and suspect there's an organisation, dissidents. And talks about old fashioned slogans, such as the freedom to learn, liberty to make mistakes. The walls put me in mind of flames, and I wonder why no-one actually sits in that chair in the background? Certainly Number 2 never sat in that chair, perhaps he was never meant to. However I could imagine Number 1 sitting in that chair, if Number 1 wasn't so reclusive!

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Caught On Camera

                                  ‘UP THE PROFESSOR!’

   Number 12 walks into the Board Room sporting a white rosette. In the centre is a picture of the Professor, around which in a semi-arc are the words “Up The Professor.” It would seem Number 12 supports the Professor despite his reservations about him. He thinks they are going the wrong way about the Professor. That they indulge his idiocies far too much, he’s a crank and should be treated as such. Number 12 realises that the Professor is the corner stone of Speedlearn, but at the same time Number 12 cannot help but think he’s a troublemaker, and he attracts troublemakers, meaning Number 6. And later Number 12 helps Number 6, because like Number 6 Number 12 trusts himself. First he coaches Number 6 about "what" not "when," and later he supplies Number 6 with a Top Hat official’s uniform, along with two security pass discs. In this he works  against Speedlearn and the Professor, not to mention Number 2 and the entire Village administration. And so in Number 12’s case the words “Up The Professor” take on a different meaning!

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Escape!

     Number Six is down on the beach looking for the Professor’s tape recorder he found in the sand. Then he hears a noise, and from the nearby bushes he drags Number Twelve out by the lapels of his blazer.

    “Anything I can do for you?” barks Number Six.

    “You want to get out of this place don’t you?”
    “So?”

    Number Twelve puts a hand into a blazer pocket and produces the Professor’s tape recorder. “There’s your passport.”

    Number Six takes the tape recorder.

    Earlier Number Two told Number Six that he was thinking that a compromise could be arranged in exchange for the recorder. Meaning that if Number Six hands over the Professor’s tape recorder he could leave The Village. But then Number Six doesn’t trust Number Two, he doesn’t trust Number Twelve, he only trusts himself. He knows that Number 2 isn’t going to just let him go in exchange for the tape recorder, that’s why having listened to the Professor’s message, he's willing gives it back to Number Two. Well he doesn’t need it any more, apparently neither does the Professor!

   In a later episode of Number Six’s ordeal, he was once again in possession of another passport out of The Village. The radio detonator to the plastic explosive in the Great Seal of Office hanging about the shoulders of the new Number Two. No-one would question its authority, and yet Number Six does not take advantage of this device and the opportunity afforded by its possession. Instead he gives the detonator to the retired Number 2, he is to use it to escape The Village. One might be forgiven in thinking that this is a generous act on the part of Number Six. And yet, as we see the scene played out, it is Number Six who stops the new Number Two from removing the Great Seal of Office. In such a situation, there was no-one, save Monique, who could have done the same for Number 6.

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60 Second Interview With The Labour Exchange Manager

    No.113: “You look as though you're dressed for a wedding!”
    Labour Exchange Manager: “Merely camouflage I assure you.”

    “You're not being individualistic are you?”

    “We do things slightly different here in the Labour Exchange. Besides black is such a dark, sombre colour don't you think?”

    No.113b “Smile” {click goes the camera}

    “I hadn't really considered it before.”

    “You should my boy, you should. But where are my manners? Would you like some tea, oh please do sit down.”

   “What in that chair?”

   “Why yes.”

   “Number Six sat in that chair!”

   “Did he?

   “You know he did.

   “Would your friend like a cup of tea?”

   “Milk, four sugars, and a biscuit would go down well.”

   “Not afraid of putting on weight then?”
   “No, only being reduced!”

   The manager pours out three cups of tea.

   “Well we won't argue about it. Sugar?”

   “Two lumps.”

   “Milk?”

   “Just a splash.”

   “Are you being honest?”

   “About what?”

   “The truth!”

   “I'm as truthful and honest as I am with other citizens here. See how I'm being honest with you.”

   “With everyone?”
   “Had you anyone specific in mind?”

   “Number Six.”

   “Oh him!”

   “You knew exactly what Number Six would do if he were elected as the new Number Two.”

   “Of course. Well he's so predictable. It made my task that much easier with him. Oh do sit down. Your tea.”

   “Thank you but no. Not in that chair!”

   “Why not?

   “You're not being honest with me.”

   “Perhaps your friend might care to take the weight off his feet.”
   “What me sit in that chair? Not likely, its electrified!”

   “Fair point.”

   “Why?”

   “I had it electrified, less cumbersome than leather straps.”

   “Subjects resist this lie detector?”

    “The truth test.”
   “Same thing, but they resist it.”

   “Oh no, just being restrained in that chair. They don't seem to like it. Wouldn't give me time to secure the leather straps!”

   “I'm not surprised.

   “Won't you please sit down?

   No.113 It was at this point that I felt queasy, something in the tea? I became light headed, and had to sit down for a moment!

  “Now my boy, this is merely the truth test. And everything you say is said in absolute confidence..........”

Reporter No.113

Photographer No.113b

The Therapy Zone

     A place where a chemist lives like a hermit in a cave beyond the confines of The Village. He plays with his chalk, making scientific formulae on a blackboard, and in his spare time he distils hooch! A place where one can be an alcoholic in perfect privacy, just as long as you rejoin the flock in good time. Are we to believe the words of Number 2, his toast to "hell with The Village?" A little drop now and then keeps the nerves steady. He doesn’t give the outward impression of being an alcoholic, he doesn’t give the impression that he’s in need of a drink at any time. Number 6, now he’s a man of a different calibre altogether, he needs a drink, in fact he’ll have a double any time, and without water. Not surprising really, not after all the Prisoner has gone though up until now. Non-alcoholic whisky just doesn’t hit the spot. A night out at the Cat and Mouse nightclub didn’t do much at all for him, “No alcohol here sir. Gin, whisky, vodka looks the same tastes the same.” Except he was giving the impression of being intoxicated, so if it wasn’t the drink, it must have been the drugs being forced fed to him somehow, perhaps ironically through the tap water!
   But it’s all part of the game. There is no Therapy Zone. No chemist living the life of a hermit beyond the confines of The Village. How do we know this? Because by the time of ‘Dance of the Dead,’ when the Prisoner puts the dead body he found on the shore into the cave, despite being paved with flagstones, it is unoccupied. The chemist having long since departed the cave, in all probability soon after Number 6 was taken from the cave and put to bed in his cottage having been rendered unconscious by the drug which is to exact proportions to see him through the rest of the election.
   The location of the Therapy Zone might be different to the cave in 'Dance of the Dead,' but the interior is the same. As for the chemist, Number 6 encounters this man again in 'Once Upon A Time.' He stops the man in the Piazza and says "How." "Don't do that" the man says, looking about him nervously. "What?" asks Number 6. "Enquire" the man replies. But Number 6 persists "What's your number?" "What?" "Your number. What is it?" "Be careful" the man warns. Then Number 6 begins to count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16...........

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A Favourite Scene In The Prisoner

    In 'Many Happy Returns,' when Number 6 wakes to the sound of silence. He shakes the loudspeaker because there is no music. Perhaps he thinks its broken, but even if it is, there is no chance of electrics coming to replace it!
   Before, Number 6 found the music irritating to such a degree that at one time he trampled the loudspeaker underfoot in order to stop the music, and yet it played on! Later he found a more subtle way to stop the music, by placing the loudspeaker in his refrigerator. And yet in the scene in 'Many Happy Returns,' it's almost as though Number 6 misses the music when its not there!

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Schizoid Man!

     Patrick McGoohan once explained that Number 6 is Number 1.Who Number 6 is trying to beat, in fact is himself. Well that’s how we understand the situation to have been from ‘Fall Out’ when Number 6 finally comes face to face with Number 1. But what about prior to the advent of ‘Fall Out,’ is it clear that Number 6 is in a struggle against himself. Yes Number 6 wants to know who Number 1 is, but does Number 6 know that he is Number 1?

   When Number 2 is called by Number 1 on the telephone, to whom is he speaking? Is it Number 1 calling from within the rocket, or is it Number 6 speaking as Number 1 from a telephone kiosk? And then there is the case when having been a breakdown in control in ‘Hammer Into Anvil,’ and Number 2 reports himself to Number 1, when Number 6 is still in the office of the Green Dome. How are we to account for that? It might be thought that Number 6 could have reported Number 2’s breakdown, but that would mean Number 6 speaking to Number 1, and that would not have done at all. Besides would Number 1 have spoken to Number 6? If he had, it would have meant he would be talking to himself. In any case, for Number 6, it was more damning to have Number 2 to report himself. Prior to that, when Number 2 is speaking to Number 1 on the telephone during ‘Dance of the Dead,’ Number 6 is clearly seen on the wall screen shaving in his bathroom. Number 1 tells Number 2 that he wished he could be the at the Ball, as Number 2 said she wished he could come too. Of course Number 1 couldn’t be at the ball, not if Number 6 was going to be there at the same time. It’s rather like never the twain shall meet. As Number 1 and Number 6 are supposed to be opposites of the same person, this would give the game away much too early, on the basis that according to the library order of ‘the Prisoner,’ ‘Dance of the Dead’ is the second episode in the series.

   It is always possible that if Number 6 was in two minds, a schizophrenic, he could have telephoned Number 2 speaking as Number 1 from a telephone kiosk to give instructions. And yet there are situations when this is impossible. And situations that develop, which seem to be impossible for Number 6 to be aware of at the time.

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Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

Underworld
                                     "The Core of The Village!"

BcNu

Bureau of Visual Records

    In 'The General' Number 12 enters the Board Room, but if it wasn't for the surround of the pair of steel doors, one could be forgiven in thinking that he was entering Number 2's office in the Green Dome.

    Number 2 is in the Board Room because he's a member of the Board of Education. But just a minute! Surely this is the Council Chamber, seeing the decorated walls, the Penny Farthing disc suspended on the wall, and that strange looking chair with the blue light in the back rest, the same as it is in 'Free For All. Although the double steel doors are there, covered by a Vote for No.2 poster. And again in 'A Change of Mind' Number 6 enters the Committee Chamber by those very same stairs when he is brought before the Committee, yet the members of the Committee do depart through the pair of steel doors.

    And yet you can see the pair of steel doors, and the ramp Number 12 walks through and down into the Board Room in 'The General.' And yet the staircase situated in the the chamber in 'Free For All' is then removed and replaced by a large wall screen, such as the one in Number 2's office, for the Board Room in 'The General.'

 However later in 'A Change of Mind,' the wall screen has been removed and the staircase replaced for the Committee Chamber! It would appear that The Village is nothing if not adaptable. But it seems a great deal of work for someone! One could say that the changes within the chamber are due to the construction of the room for whatever reason. And yet the removal of the staircase does give the chamber a new aspect, it looks a slightly different room. But then why replace the staircase? After all Number 6 could easily have walked through the opened pair of steel doors into the Committee Chamber, nothing simpler. And yet that wouldn't have looked quite so dramatic as Number 6 being filmed from the top of the staircase, as he seemingly walks down into the bowels of The Village.'

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Thought For The Day

    The first time I saw Number 2 unmasked in 'A B and C,' I could see instantly it was Colin Gordon. I couldn't understand his shock at seeing his own face on the screen when Number 6 turned him round to face the camera. But then, I suppose we as individuals, are the only people not to recognise the backs of our own heads.

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ESCAPE!

   No-one has ever escaped from The Village before, but apparently Professor Seltzmen did! Or at the very least it is assumed that Seltzman managed to escape The Village in the guise of the Colonel. If Number 2 had been quick enough he could have contacted the pilot of the helicopter by radio and ordered him to return the Colonel to The Village. Failing that, there is always the opportunity to intercept the Colonel at the landing stage {mentioned by Number 2 in The Schizoid Man} before he boards a boat for home.

    I think the reason why the impression is given that Seltzman escapes The Village lies in the film of the helicopter flying away from The Village. It is the same film used in a previous episode ‘It’s Your Funeral, when the retiring Number 2 is being flown to the landing stage. Suddenly the helicopter turns back towards The Village. Yet in ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling’ the piece of film is cut just short of the moment the helicopter turns back on itself! Hence suggesting Professor Seltzman actually escaped The Village, which he may very well have done, seeing that Number 2 was too stunned and shocked to react to the situation. Not only was the Colonel dead, but someone had managed to escape The Village on his watch. But never mind, I’m sure “they” will catch up with the Colonel/Professor Seltzman eventually, no matter where he goes.

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That's A Curious Thing

    With the original screening of ‘the Prisoner,’ indeed anyone watching the Prisoner series for the first time, the viewer has much in common with Number 2. For as eager as Number 2 is to discover the reason behind the Prisoner's resignation, we the viewer are just as keen to find out why Number 6 resigned.

    We thought we were about to be told during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ “I resigned because for a very long time…… and then there came the chimes and the moment was gone! It wasn’t until ‘Once Upon A Time’ that we get close to being told anything like why the Prisoner resigned. “For peace of mind, because too many people know too much, I know too much. I know too much about you!” And that's as much as we get. Number 2 wanted the Prisoner to tell him again, but he’d been told, and so had we, no matter how much we might have felt by the inadequacy of the answer. However to some degree, this Number 2 was successful in attaining some kind of explanation as to why the Prisoner resigned. In fact he is the only Number 2 to extract any information from the Prisoner, save for the time of his birth.

   So why did Number 2 push the Prisoner further? Why persist when he’d been told? To push the Prisoner to the edge, perhaps to drive him over the edge, because he must know just how good a man the Prisoner is. And he is good, because eventually the Prisoner turns the tables on Number 2, in fact he changes places with Number 2. Number 6 knew all about Degree Absolute and explains its operation to Number 2, a recognised method used in psychoanalysis. The patient must come to trust his doctor, sometimes, in extreme cases they change places, and that can be a dangerous thing, if the doctor has his own problems. “Why don’t you resign?” is the Prisoner’s suggestion. But when push comes to shove something has to give, and in this case it was Number 2. If it wasn’t the drink then it must have been the Prisoner who drove Number 2 to his death, perhaps a heart attack brought on by the stress of the situation, and yet there are the words “Die Six, die, die, dieeeeeeeeeeeeeee DIE.” It could be interpreted that the patient in having changed places with his doctor, it was Number 6 who died in that cage, and that Number 2 walked free from the Embryo Room.

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That’s The Telephone!

   “Anything I can do for you?”

   “Just checking….be seeing you.”
   “And you.”

                  {New Number 2 and Number 20 manager of the Labour Exchange}

   In the Green Dome, as the new Number 2 {for arguments sake} is settling himself in his new sanctum, the yellow telephone bleeps. Number 58 eagerly picks it up and hands it to Number 2. The next moment the manager of the Labour Exchange is sat behind his desk and the grey telephone begins to bleep, he picks it up and asks “Anything I can do for you?” To which the new Number 2 replies “Just checking. Be seeing you.” “And you” Number 20 replies, and they hang up. If the manager of the Labour Exchange didn’t telephone the new Number 2, and he didn’t telephone Number 20, who then did put the telephone call through?

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Caught On Camera!

   Dark Rover!

   I bet they were not expecting that! It might be said that Number 6 has suddenly been black balled!

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Quote For The Day

  “No I assure you there’s no problem sir. We’re getting a hundred percent co-operation from everyone, and I’m anticipating a truly exciting result…… Who sir? Oh the professor, just a mild aberration I assure you, a couple of days rest and adjustment and he’ll be doing everything we need…..Yes, yes I will keep you in touch, in the closest touch….thank you sir. Probably the most important human experiment we’ve ever had to conduct, he’s treating it like a military exercise!”                            
                                                       {Number 2 on the telephone to a superior, presumably Number 1}  

    I get the feeling that Number 2 despises his superior. He sounds confident, and yet doubt impinges, it shows on his face when Number 1 asks him to keep him in touch. Also it would appear that Number 1 is being kept informed about the Professor's mild aberration, of running away along the beach, after hiding his tape recorder in the sand beforehand. The tape recorder with the message about the citizens being tricked, about Speedlearn being an abomination, and that the General must be destroyed! Informed by the Supervisor and the Observers, either that or observing for himself what is happening through that stainless steel electronic eye that orbits the Control room!

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It Never Occurred to Number 6!

   Towards the end of ‘Free for All,’ while the new Number 2 and the maid Number 58 are settling in to his new sanctum, he momentarily speaks to the manager of the Labour Exchange on the telephone.

   “Anything I can do for you?”
   “Just checking. Be seeing you.”
   “And you.”
   It never occurs to the new Number 2 that all he had to do was to pick up the telephone and call Number 1. Then the mystery of who Number 1 is, for Number 6 at least, would be over. The only trouble with that idea is, that at the time of ‘Free For All’ is, they didn’t know who Number 1 was. Albeit it a single person or a collective group.

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You’re a Stubborn Fellow Number Six!

   He is rather. Having escaped The Village during ‘Many Happy Returns,’ is not enough for our friend Number 6. He has questions he wants answers to, and might seek retribution, compensation even. But for now he must locate The Village, yet needs the help of his ex-colleagues. A search area is defined by the aid of calculation and Number 6's schoolboy log. And now its up to Number 6 to go and find The Village! Now if that was me I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to set off on a journey of discovery. After all he’s only just returned home after what was a long, dangerous and traumatic sea voyage, and here he is in a hurry to be on his way again. It’s almost as though Number 6 cannot wait to return to The Village. It might have been better for him if he had left it to his ex-colleagues to go and find The Village. But then after his experience of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ Number 6 probably didn’t trust his ex-colleagues that much to let them do that, after all they might not tell him its location. If the previous Colonel and Fotheringay are anything to go by, perhaps the Colonel and Thorpe knew it all the time!

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