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.’
Be seeing you
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