According to “Mrs. Butterworth” she had the house on a ten year lease fully
furnished. Now whether or not the furnishings belong to ZM73 {for want of a
better name} the previous tenant, is still open to debate. However, according
to Peter Smith, {for want of another better name} there was still six months to
run on the lease while he was still the tenant. That would take it back from
March 1967 to September 1966 when ZM73 had resigned from his previous
employment. He had apparently lived in the house for at least six months, that
was up until the point when he was abducted and taken to The Village. We know
this because he explained to Mrs Butterworth about the area of dry rot behind
the writing bureau which was made good about 12 months earlier. So the lease
had run out, and “Mrs. Butterworth had taken the house on, fully furnished on a
ten year lease.
So why was a single man, albeit one who is engaged, be living in such a large house? Perhaps because he had intended to get married, and the house was for him and Janet Portland. But something went wrong, ZM73 resigned his job, he was going abroad somewhere, and what’s more he had not bothered to tell his fiancée Janet Portland, who we shall come to shortly. So what price ZM73’s future with Janet? Would Sir Charles Portland want such a man marrying his daughter, who had just resigned from his department? And what price the house once he had gone abroad? Who can say when he’d be back. And besides perhaps the owners wouldn’t want to lease out the house again.
So there we have it. ZM73 resigned his job, was duly abducted to the Village. Six months later he escapes back to London {so that’s why he knocked on the door, he knew that the lease had run out, and probably there was a new occupant} to find “Mrs. Butterworth” in residence. But she wasn’t, was she, not really. Just long enough for the Prisoner to arrive back home, and to help confirm his story either to the police or Special Branch when either one came calling. And soon after that she left London for The Village. So what about the house after that? Because at some point in the future ZM73 would be returned to London, to wake up on the morning he was supposed to have handed in his letter of resignation!
Yes all unpleasant memories had been wiped from Number 6’s mind, which had also apparently been regressed back to that day. But he didn’t. His mind may have been regressed back to that day, but not time. It wasn’t September 1966, but sometime around September 1967 long after ZM73’s lease of the house would have expired. So who either owned or held the lease of the house at that time? Because one thing is for sure, ZM73 shouldn’t have been waking up in No.1 Buckingham Place that day during ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,” as it wasn’t his house anymore! I did used to think that No.1 Buckingham Place was a Government house, that it went with a job somewhere in a Government department. But if that had been the case, then there would have been no need for ZM73 to have any dealings with an estate agent regarding the leasing of the house. So who owned No.1 Buckingham Place at the time of ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling?’
And now we come back to Janet Portland, because she seemed to be under the impression that her fiancé still had the house, seeing as his car was parked outside in the street. And because of that she thought he had come back from wherever he had been working, hence her impression that he still lived in the house. What’s more she gives no impression that she has any knowledge of his having resigned, because she thought he was working for her father Sir Charles, and he gave no impression that his future son-in-law had resigned from his department. So what’s going on? Basically ‘the Prisoner’ suffers from too many scriptwriters!
So then ZM73 was gone again, and No.1 Buckingham Place left empty once more. Until ‘Fall Out’ that is, when the house was being made ready for Number 6, along with the return of his Lotus 7. Apparently the house had been put up for sale. Two men removed that for sale sign from the railings. So it would seem that the owners of the property no longer wished to lease the house, but to sell it outright. But who owned the house? That is one fact we shall probably never know. Perhaps more importantly who had purchased it on Number 6’s behalf? The British Government, or the administration behind The Village? The former, if it’s one and the same.
So Number 6’s house had been made ready for him, he’d been given the key to the front door. And yet as it happens, he wouldn’t actually be needing that, because as soon as ZM73 returns to London he’s off again behind the wheel of his Lotus 7 in order to hand in his letter of resignation. Such as the ending of ‘Fall Out’ suggests. But when all is said and done, its probably no bad thing that ZM73 didn’t use that key to get into his house. He might not have appreciated the fact that while his house was being made ready for him, they had upgraded the front door. As when the Butler enters the house, the door opens automatically, with a very familiar electric hum. It wouldn’t have done for ZM73 to have discovered that he’d been in The Village all the time!
It’s a tricky question regarding No.1 Buckingham Place, because its as with the General when Number 6 asked it WHY?, we are not given enough basic facts! True Mrs. Butterworth does supply some information about the house, but then we cannot trust a word that woman says, when she turns out to be one of them!
So why was a single man, albeit one who is engaged, be living in such a large house? Perhaps because he had intended to get married, and the house was for him and Janet Portland. But something went wrong, ZM73 resigned his job, he was going abroad somewhere, and what’s more he had not bothered to tell his fiancée Janet Portland, who we shall come to shortly. So what price ZM73’s future with Janet? Would Sir Charles Portland want such a man marrying his daughter, who had just resigned from his department? And what price the house once he had gone abroad? Who can say when he’d be back. And besides perhaps the owners wouldn’t want to lease out the house again.
So there we have it. ZM73 resigned his job, was duly abducted to the Village. Six months later he escapes back to London {so that’s why he knocked on the door, he knew that the lease had run out, and probably there was a new occupant} to find “Mrs. Butterworth” in residence. But she wasn’t, was she, not really. Just long enough for the Prisoner to arrive back home, and to help confirm his story either to the police or Special Branch when either one came calling. And soon after that she left London for The Village. So what about the house after that? Because at some point in the future ZM73 would be returned to London, to wake up on the morning he was supposed to have handed in his letter of resignation!
Yes all unpleasant memories had been wiped from Number 6’s mind, which had also apparently been regressed back to that day. But he didn’t. His mind may have been regressed back to that day, but not time. It wasn’t September 1966, but sometime around September 1967 long after ZM73’s lease of the house would have expired. So who either owned or held the lease of the house at that time? Because one thing is for sure, ZM73 shouldn’t have been waking up in No.1 Buckingham Place that day during ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,” as it wasn’t his house anymore! I did used to think that No.1 Buckingham Place was a Government house, that it went with a job somewhere in a Government department. But if that had been the case, then there would have been no need for ZM73 to have any dealings with an estate agent regarding the leasing of the house. So who owned No.1 Buckingham Place at the time of ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling?’
And now we come back to Janet Portland, because she seemed to be under the impression that her fiancé still had the house, seeing as his car was parked outside in the street. And because of that she thought he had come back from wherever he had been working, hence her impression that he still lived in the house. What’s more she gives no impression that she has any knowledge of his having resigned, because she thought he was working for her father Sir Charles, and he gave no impression that his future son-in-law had resigned from his department. So what’s going on? Basically ‘the Prisoner’ suffers from too many scriptwriters!
So then ZM73 was gone again, and No.1 Buckingham Place left empty once more. Until ‘Fall Out’ that is, when the house was being made ready for Number 6, along with the return of his Lotus 7. Apparently the house had been put up for sale. Two men removed that for sale sign from the railings. So it would seem that the owners of the property no longer wished to lease the house, but to sell it outright. But who owned the house? That is one fact we shall probably never know. Perhaps more importantly who had purchased it on Number 6’s behalf? The British Government, or the administration behind The Village? The former, if it’s one and the same.
So Number 6’s house had been made ready for him, he’d been given the key to the front door. And yet as it happens, he wouldn’t actually be needing that, because as soon as ZM73 returns to London he’s off again behind the wheel of his Lotus 7 in order to hand in his letter of resignation. Such as the ending of ‘Fall Out’ suggests. But when all is said and done, its probably no bad thing that ZM73 didn’t use that key to get into his house. He might not have appreciated the fact that while his house was being made ready for him, they had upgraded the front door. As when the Butler enters the house, the door opens automatically, with a very familiar electric hum. It wouldn’t have done for ZM73 to have discovered that he’d been in The Village all the time!
It’s a tricky question regarding No.1 Buckingham Place, because its as with the General when Number 6 asked it WHY?, we are not given enough basic facts! True Mrs. Butterworth does supply some information about the house, but then we cannot trust a word that woman says, when she turns out to be one of them!
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