September 29th to October
1st 2017 sees a weekend of special events celebrating the 50th anniversary of ‘the Prisoner’ to
be held in Seattle, WA
The event includes special guests,
discussions, and screenings of the series.
The event
is officially sanctioned by ITV Studios.
Further
details are to be found on the
http://www.theprisonercon2017.com/
website.
Be seeing you
A life time fan and Prisonerologist of the 1960's series 'the Prisoner', a leading authority on the subject, a short story writer, and now Prisoner novelist.
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Tuesday 31 May 2016
Monday 30 May 2016
Citizen No.236
So,
you’re one of the Committee members are you? What nothing to say for yourself,
oh no of course not, only the Chairman of the Committee is permitted a voice.
All the rest of you…….well to use another’s words, can you laugh? Can you cry?
Can you think? Or are you no better than those brainwashed imbeciles of the
Town Council? You know I realize you’re within Administration, but really, does
that black Top Hat go with that striped jersey, me’ thinks not. You should be
wearing a black, suit, overcoat, white shirt and black tie. Unless of course
you and your fellow Committee members, including the Chairman, are not that far
up within the administration section that you don’t get the full Administration
uniform, being only a Committee member! And don’t look at me like that, I’m not
here to be put under scrutiny by the Committee!
Be seeing you
The Pri50ner
Well that’s another piece of history gone
linked to ‘the Prisoner,’ that of the Coliseum cinema at Porthmadog. I was
wondering what happened to the plaque which was on the wall indicating that the
daily film rushes of ‘the Prisoner’ were screened at the cinema? It either
ended up amongst the rubble, in a skip, or maybe someone saw the value in the
plaque, saved it, and one day it will appear for sale somewhere like ebay. Mind
you I can think of a few fellow enthusiasts of ‘the Prisoner’ who might have
gone to Porthmadog and asked someone if they could have the plaque. But the
memories of queuing outside the Coliseum on a Saturday night waiting for the evening
feature film to end at ten o’clock, this in order the we Conventioneers should
go inside and watch 2 episodes of ‘the Prisoner’ on the big screen. That was during
Prisoner Conventions of the 1990’s. So ‘the Prisoner’ is 50 years of age.
I don’t know of any other television series whose anniversary spans three
years, 1966-68. Mind you I do know that even after 50 years, there are aspects
of the series which can never be resolved, and will forever remain a mystery to
us. I have been assessing my likes and dislikes about ‘the Prisoner.’ My four
favourite episodes are ‘Arrival,’ ‘Free For All,’ Dance of the Dead,’ and
‘Checkmate.’ Why? Well because they each contain the most film footage of
Portmeirion I suppose. Although I’m a fan of the series as a whole, I’m less
keen on the episodes which rely on film stock footage, sets, and large painted
back-drops of Portmeirion. My favourite No.2 is still Leo Mckern, followed by
Colin Gordon. Favourite actress Nadia Gray of course. Favourite character the
Supervisor-No.26, because he’s a capable man who runs the Control Room like
clockwork. What’s more he appears to be in a more secure position than No. 2.
Yes he was once removed from his position as Supervisor, but that was a mistake
on the part of No.2, and No.26 was soon reinstated to his position.
What next for me? Well I’m going to have a nice cup of tea with lemon, and nibble on a short cake biscuit! I’m suddenly feeling a little nostalgic, and have the desire to go through my collection, perhaps to take time to read some fanzines about ‘the Prisoner’ produced as far back as the late 1970’s, some of which I have been fortunate enough to have collected. I think also to play ‘the Prisoner’ LP record produced in the mid 1980’s by BAMCARUSCO for Six of One: The Prisoner Appreciation Society. Larry Hall of the society at that time was involved in that as I recall.
And then there’s the question of No.1. Yes I
know what McGoohan said about No.1 being the alter ego of No.6 who he was
trying to beat, but that was after the event. I was not aware of that at the
time, when I first watched the series at the tender age of nine. What was it
Cobb said as he was about to leave The Village, “Mustn’t keep my new masters
waiting!” That doesn’t sound like No.1 to me. And in ‘The Schizoid Man’ No.2
told No.6, who was as No.12 at the time, “Our prize prisoner, the one we call
Number Six. Toughest case I’ve ever handled, I could crack him of course, but I
can’t use the normal techniques. He’s too valuable, mustn’t damage him
permanently say our masters.” That “Our masters” doesn’t sound like No.1 to me,
does it to you? There has to be a No.1 of course, but in The Village, these
“masters” sound as if they are beyond The Village, back in London presumably.
There are a number of characters I feel
sorry for. No.2 of both ‘A B and C’ and ‘The General.’ Twice he underestimated
No.6, you’d have expected him to have learned his lesson the first time! Madam
Professor, she was left a widow, living out the rest of her life in grief and
in The Village, alone and without friends. No doubt in time she would carry on
with her art seminars, what else had she got left? Then there’s No.2 of ‘Hammer
Into Anvil,’ not a strong character at all, who is left a broken man forced to
report himself as a breakdown in control. I imagine his sad end as being a
patient on the psychiatric ward of the hospital! Then there’s No.36 who cannot
go a day without her sweets. Originally it was to have been cigarettes 36
couldn’t go a day without, the nicotine you see being addictive. But as it is
No.36 is now addicted to sugar, unless of course she has recently given up
smoking, and uses the sweets as a substitute for cigarettes To pacify the
craving for nicotine!
I suppose my least favourite episode is ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,’ because there’s so much in the episode which doesn’t really make any sense. I can see the reason for Sir Charles Portland, because this time No.6 is effectively the Colonel, and he has to go running back to someone from the department he once worked for. As for Janet Portland, she seems to be quite superfluous to the episode! And even after 50 years I still cannot make my mind up if there is just Sir Charles Portland and British Intelligence who want to know where Seltzman is, or The Village as well, or if both are one and the same! As for The Village, No.2 might not know where doctor Seltzman is, but that didn’t stop them from acquiring the Seltzman machine! I mean where did they get that from, if they didn’t know where Seltzman was? I suppose if they had been looking for Seltzman, they might have got close on his heels, so close in fact that at one point he may have been forced to abandoned his experiments, and his machine in order to evade capture. At the end of ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,’ No.6 said “the good doctor’s mind now inhabits a body perhaps not to his liking, the Colonel’s. Doctor Seltzman had progressed more than any of us had anticipated, he can, and did, change three minds at the same time. He’s now free to continue his experiments in peace.” Experiments, does that mean doctor Seltzman has previously left a trail of subjects, or victims, with their minds wrongly housed in other people’s bodies, and now he’s free to continue that trail? After all, he’ll need at least one subject if he’s to change the Colonel’s body for that of someone else!
I suppose my least favourite episode is ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,’ because there’s so much in the episode which doesn’t really make any sense. I can see the reason for Sir Charles Portland, because this time No.6 is effectively the Colonel, and he has to go running back to someone from the department he once worked for. As for Janet Portland, she seems to be quite superfluous to the episode! And even after 50 years I still cannot make my mind up if there is just Sir Charles Portland and British Intelligence who want to know where Seltzman is, or The Village as well, or if both are one and the same! As for The Village, No.2 might not know where doctor Seltzman is, but that didn’t stop them from acquiring the Seltzman machine! I mean where did they get that from, if they didn’t know where Seltzman was? I suppose if they had been looking for Seltzman, they might have got close on his heels, so close in fact that at one point he may have been forced to abandoned his experiments, and his machine in order to evade capture. At the end of ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,’ No.6 said “the good doctor’s mind now inhabits a body perhaps not to his liking, the Colonel’s. Doctor Seltzman had progressed more than any of us had anticipated, he can, and did, change three minds at the same time. He’s now free to continue his experiments in peace.” Experiments, does that mean doctor Seltzman has previously left a trail of subjects, or victims, with their minds wrongly housed in other people’s bodies, and now he’s free to continue that trail? After all, he’ll need at least one subject if he’s to change the Colonel’s body for that of someone else!
Another anomaly is referenced by Piet Hein
in his column in regard to the fault in the dates used in ‘The Schizoid man,’
which I shall not repeat here, as he has gone into it in-depth already.
However despite its faults ‘the Prisoner’
is a remarkable television series which has held me captive for the past 50
years, and looks most likely to do so for many years to come. It has a powerful
opening sequence which held me spellbound when I first saw it back in 1967. As
a boy I was excited by the series, it captured my imagination. It was action
and adventure, the undertones of the political commentaries about education,
politics, surveillance, the question of information etcetera didn’t bother me
at the time. In fact I didn’t think too deeply about ‘the Prisoner’ until
several years later. Oh I had questions of course, as for ‘Fall Out,’ that left
me totally bemused at the time. It might have been better if I could have
watched the episode again, but that was an option not open to me of course, not
until the mid 1970’s in fact!
I’ve collected ‘the Prisoner’ on video and DVD. I’ve read the books, worn the badge
and blazer, collected the memorabilia, and merchandise produced over the years.
Been a member of Six of One, attended Prisoner Conventions at Portmeirion. Have I got Patrick McGoohan’s signature? I think I have, on
a photograph, but I’m not sure if McGoohan actually signed it himself or not!
But I do have other signatures of actors and actresses who appeared in the
series, as well as one or two members of the production crew which I’ve been
lucky enough to collect. Many of them written in my presence so I know they are genuine.
What next for me? Well I’m going to have a nice cup of tea with lemon, and nibble on a short cake biscuit! I’m suddenly feeling a little nostalgic, and have the desire to go through my collection, perhaps to take time to read some fanzines about ‘the Prisoner’ produced as far back as the late 1970’s, some of which I have been fortunate enough to have collected. I think also to play ‘the Prisoner’ LP record produced in the mid 1980’s by BAMCARUSCO for Six of One: The Prisoner Appreciation Society. Larry Hall of the society at that time was involved in that as I recall.
Be
seeing you
Saturday 28 May 2016
More Village!
This is 11-12 spending a little time
getting to know his mother M2. He is the reason why Helen and Curtis
volunteered for The Village project, because they simply wanted a child. It
would seem that for whatever reason, this was impossible for them in the
outside world, that other place, that is New York.
But 11-12 isn’t like any other son, he was
born of The Village. Not physically, M2 did not physically give birth to 11-12,
he was created within his mother’s subconscious. Which bodes the questions, at
what age was 11-12 born in ‘The Village, and how did he first appear? Perhaps
one day 11-12 wasn’t there, and the next he was, as though he had been with Two
all the time. It cannot be written that 11-12 was with his mother M2 all the
time, because he wasn’t, M2 spent the majority of her time sedated in her bed.
Being woken up only occasionally when Two wanted to spend a little time with
his wife. To reassure himself that it was still possible to do so.
It is highly unlikely that 11-12 had a childhood, because he has no memories of his childhood. In the cellar of Palais 2 there are 11-12’s toys, a red lorry that Two said his son loved. But 11-12 has no memory of the red lorry, his other toys, or indeed any part of his so called childhood. He doesn’t even know his mother, that’s why in ‘Schizoid’ Two allows 11-12 to spend time with his mother, M2, in order to get to know her. And that works both ways, she does not know her son! At one point when M2 is spending a little time awake with her husband, Two, she has to ask him how their son is.
11-12 might be born of The Village, but he has an enquiring mind, he has a want to know more about the “other place,” it’s as though he is beginning to outgrow The Village. And tells his mother that he wants to go to the “other place.” “Oh I don’t think so” his mother tells him “Village is best for us.” Is it possible to go there 11-12 asks, well yeah it is, for some people, just not for him. But then why would he want to, when he has The Village? But 11-12 persists, especially regarding the holes that appear in The Village when M2 is awake. “Why don’t we leave?” he asks. Only some people can go there, to the “other place,” people who exist there, people that were brought o The Village, people that weren’t born in The Village, like 11-12. M2 sees The Village is enough, but for 11-12 Village is not enough! M2 is losing control of her son, if 11-12 leaves The Village, to try and go to the “other place” she will lose him forever. 11-12 would cease to exist. So perhaps that is how he simply appeared one day in The Village, as an adolescent teenager.
It is highly unlikely that 11-12 had a childhood, because he has no memories of his childhood. In the cellar of Palais 2 there are 11-12’s toys, a red lorry that Two said his son loved. But 11-12 has no memory of the red lorry, his other toys, or indeed any part of his so called childhood. He doesn’t even know his mother, that’s why in ‘Schizoid’ Two allows 11-12 to spend time with his mother, M2, in order to get to know her. And that works both ways, she does not know her son! At one point when M2 is spending a little time awake with her husband, Two, she has to ask him how their son is.
11-12 might be born of The Village, but he has an enquiring mind, he has a want to know more about the “other place,” it’s as though he is beginning to outgrow The Village. And tells his mother that he wants to go to the “other place.” “Oh I don’t think so” his mother tells him “Village is best for us.” Is it possible to go there 11-12 asks, well yeah it is, for some people, just not for him. But then why would he want to, when he has The Village? But 11-12 persists, especially regarding the holes that appear in The Village when M2 is awake. “Why don’t we leave?” he asks. Only some people can go there, to the “other place,” people who exist there, people that were brought o The Village, people that weren’t born in The Village, like 11-12. M2 sees The Village is enough, but for 11-12 Village is not enough! M2 is losing control of her son, if 11-12 leaves The Village, to try and go to the “other place” she will lose him forever. 11-12 would cease to exist. So perhaps that is how he simply appeared one day in The Village, as an adolescent teenager.
Village is best for us!
Be seeing you
Be seeing you
Persecution of The Prisoner-No.6!
The understanding is, that Number 1 and
Number 6 are the alter ego of the other, or their other self, or ‘Second self,”
being so close to each other that each is an essential part of the one.
The alter ego could be another side of
oneself, a second self, another aspect of one’s personality. Or it could be an
intimate friend, or a constant and intimate companion. On the other hand an
inseparable friend, a perfect substitute or deputy. I like the idea of Number 6
being a perfect deputy or substitute for Number 1, and not the other self.
Because one cannot physically meet one’s other self. Perhaps Number 6 was
chosen as a perfect substitute or deputy for Number 1. It might be that the
President, together with those white robed delegates of the Assembly were going
to usurp Number 1, by putting Number 6 in his place. Something like ‘The Man In
The Iron Mask,’ in which the cruel King Louis the 16th is replaced
by his secret twin brother Philippe. That would explain the physical meeting
between Number 1 and Number 6.
Perhaps Number 6 and Number 1 are secret identical twin brothers, separated at birth. Number 1 having been incarcerated in The Village, somehow brings Number 6 there and sets about persecuting him by constantly putting him to the test. But not so much as to damage the tissue, after all there is such a thing called brotherly love!
Perhaps Number 6 and Number 1 are secret identical twin brothers, separated at birth. Number 1 having been incarcerated in The Village, somehow brings Number 6 there and sets about persecuting him by constantly putting him to the test. But not so much as to damage the tissue, after all there is such a thing called brotherly love!
Be seeing you
The Tally Ho
The Return of The Native
by our own reporter
by our own reporter
So he’s back in The
Village! The Tally Ho wondered where Number 6 had been for almost a month. And
so your own reporter hopped along to ‘6 Private’ in order to get an interview
with the man. Unfortunately I found Number 6 in a most un-co-operative mood
{when isn’t he} and he slammed the door in my face! However that has never
stopped me from writing a good story before! I contacted the Bureau of Visual
Records, the people there were most helpful in allowing me to view the recorded
surveillance film footage between February 20th to 22nd. As I understand it
Number 6 woke up one morning, around Feb 20th to find The Village deserted {I
find that difficult to believe}. He carried out a search, found a number of
buildings locked to him, all except the Green Dome, but that too was
uninhabited, there being no sign of Number 2, or of his diminutive butler.
He found an abandoned taxi in the street, the key was in the ignition, turning the key the engine fired into life. Having raided the workman's shed, Number 6 chopped down several small, yet stout trees. From a workshop he emptied the contents of a number of oil barrels down a drain. Also from the workshop he took rope, and with these materials Number 6 built himself a Kon-Tiki style sea-going raft. This does appear to fit, because a number of oil drums, lengths of tree trunks, and rope had to be cleared away by street cleaners from the quayside before the citizens woke up. What’s more Number 19 the shopkeeper reported that the General Store had been broken into. I asked the shopkeeper what items had been taken. 19 had taken an inventory, and found a copy of The Tally Ho, a black loudspeaker, a Cannon Dial 35mm camera had also been taken. Along with a number of tins of Village Food. Tins of corned beef, baked beans, and tinned fruit. As well as a packet of Village darning needles and a jar of cooking oil. What’s more the burglar had left his calling card “I. O. U. 964 No.6?” had been written in chalk on the counter! So with his provisions packed in crates, a barrel filled with tap water, and a bucket, he stowed these aboard his raft. Then Number 6 set about The Village taking pictures with the camera he took from the General Store. Why? Well your guess is as good as mine. I did ask Number 6, but he shouted for me to mind my own business, from the other side of his cottage door! So Number 6 sailed his raft to the mouth of the estuary and out into the Atlantic Ocean. What happened after that? Well it smacks of escape, daring do, and adventure. One can only imagine the perils of putting out to sea aboard an open raft, because Number 6 wasn’t prepared to tell me when I tried to ask him. In short he refused to open his cottage door to me, and shouted to me to buzz off! And then one day, Number 6 returned to the Village. Oh not in the conventional way by helicopter, as surveillance film footage shows, but by jumping out of an aircraft and descending to the beach on the end of a parachute.
There seemed to be no-one about, only The Village Cat, as Number 6 crossed the beach, walked up the hill into The Village, along the cobbled street, and back to his cottage. Well it was the only place he could ever go. I suppose Number 6 in having left The Village, and coming back the way he did, it’s rather like the local taxi service. You can go as far as you like, just as long as you arrive back here in The Village, in the end! Although there was no fatted calf for the return of this prodigal son, there was however a cake, the symbolism of which had not escaped me. The cake, upon which were six lighted candles, having been baked and presented to Number 6 by Number 2 herself.
He found an abandoned taxi in the street, the key was in the ignition, turning the key the engine fired into life. Having raided the workman's shed, Number 6 chopped down several small, yet stout trees. From a workshop he emptied the contents of a number of oil barrels down a drain. Also from the workshop he took rope, and with these materials Number 6 built himself a Kon-Tiki style sea-going raft. This does appear to fit, because a number of oil drums, lengths of tree trunks, and rope had to be cleared away by street cleaners from the quayside before the citizens woke up. What’s more Number 19 the shopkeeper reported that the General Store had been broken into. I asked the shopkeeper what items had been taken. 19 had taken an inventory, and found a copy of The Tally Ho, a black loudspeaker, a Cannon Dial 35mm camera had also been taken. Along with a number of tins of Village Food. Tins of corned beef, baked beans, and tinned fruit. As well as a packet of Village darning needles and a jar of cooking oil. What’s more the burglar had left his calling card “I. O. U. 964 No.6?” had been written in chalk on the counter! So with his provisions packed in crates, a barrel filled with tap water, and a bucket, he stowed these aboard his raft. Then Number 6 set about The Village taking pictures with the camera he took from the General Store. Why? Well your guess is as good as mine. I did ask Number 6, but he shouted for me to mind my own business, from the other side of his cottage door! So Number 6 sailed his raft to the mouth of the estuary and out into the Atlantic Ocean. What happened after that? Well it smacks of escape, daring do, and adventure. One can only imagine the perils of putting out to sea aboard an open raft, because Number 6 wasn’t prepared to tell me when I tried to ask him. In short he refused to open his cottage door to me, and shouted to me to buzz off! And then one day, Number 6 returned to the Village. Oh not in the conventional way by helicopter, as surveillance film footage shows, but by jumping out of an aircraft and descending to the beach on the end of a parachute.
There seemed to be no-one about, only The Village Cat, as Number 6 crossed the beach, walked up the hill into The Village, along the cobbled street, and back to his cottage. Well it was the only place he could ever go. I suppose Number 6 in having left The Village, and coming back the way he did, it’s rather like the local taxi service. You can go as far as you like, just as long as you arrive back here in The Village, in the end! Although there was no fatted calf for the return of this prodigal son, there was however a cake, the symbolism of which had not escaped me. The cake, upon which were six lighted candles, having been baked and presented to Number 6 by Number 2 herself.
Be seeing you
Friday 27 May 2016
ESCAPE!
Number 2 once said he’ll eventually go back
to his room, it’s the only place he can
ever go. Well there he is, standing roughly where he stood on the morning he
woke up to find The Village deserted, and now he’s back there, where he started from! All that time and effort, for what?
Escape? Escape to where? Back there! He might have saved himself the trouble.
Didn’t Number 2 once say that they’ll get
him sooner or later wherever he goes. Well Number 6 made it easy for them. And
it looks like Number 2 was right, his room is the only place he can ever go! Strange
as it seems, The Village is the only place now where he fits in!
Be seeing you
Quote For The Day
“You’ll make yourself sick sir!”
{Doris
the barmaid at the Thatched Barn - The Girl Who Was Death}
And
she was right, having drunk a cocktail of drinks, imagining Mister X with his
head in the toilet is not a pretty picture to conjure up! I’ve never been able to make my mind up whether Mister X’s pint of beer had actually been laced with poison or
not. If it had been, then the barmaid Doris, is guilty of attempted murder. A
poisoner no less! Of course the Girl had obviously put Doris up to it, and she must have agreed to use that beer glass with the
words YOU HAVE JUST BEEN POISONED, etched on the bottom of it when Mister
X asked for a pint of his usual. Perhaps the Girl told her that it was a joke
between friends. But somehow I don’t think poison was ever
used, I cannot really see Doris actually putting poison into a customers drink. The
message etched on the bottom of the glass would be enough to achieve the same
result, as we witnessed.
I recall how I had purchased a number of “You have just been poisoned” stickers from the Prisoner shop in Portmeirion in
1988. I gave one to the Landlord of my local public house, and asked him to
stick it on the bottom of a pint glass. He didn’t mind, and having stuck said sticker on the bottom of a straight beer
glass, placed it on the shelf with all the other glasses. As it happened my
Uncle Stan was given that glass, purely at random, but the result was hilarious
as I remember. In fact I didn’t think it would work as
well as it did. He didn’t automatically demand a
cocktail of drinks to make himself sick or anything. But he was confused,
wanting to know what the hell was going on!
Be seeing you
Thursday 26 May 2016
The Therapy Zone
The thing about ‘the Prisoner’ is, it’s all about the Prisoner! After all Number 2 doesn’t
keep asking other prisoners why they resigned. In fact the only other prisoner
Number 2 interrogates personally is Number 73 in ‘Hammer Into Anvil.’ Number 8 in ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ is questioned why she was swimming away from The Village, asked if she
was attempting suicide. But that doesn’t really count, as Nadia isn’t really an inmate of The Village. Roland Walter
Dutton is also interrogated, but it’s the doctor-Number 40
who is conducting the experiments to try and extract all the information Dutton
knows. Cobb would be another interrogatee, seeing as he said they wanted to
know all about him. But it’s Number 6 who is put to the test, but not by the
usual methods, why not, what’s so special about Number
6?
It’s always Number 6 who
tries to escape, no other prisoner attempts to escape. No-one tries to escape
by helicopter, or sail away on a small homemade boat, or by jet boat for that
matter. The Professor did try to run away once, but I suppose that doesn’t really count, seeing as he couldn’t have got very far. The fact of the matter is, we
never see anyone one else trying to escape when Number 6 is about! The reason
for that might be that everyone else is too busy Jamming. Not really trying to
escape at all. But then wouldn’t that have been an ideal
time for a known Jammer to escape? After all if say Number 77 was a known
Jammer and the Observers knew he was a Jammer, and so let ride anything he did,
then surely he or some other Jammer would be afforded the perfect chance to
escape! And you’ll notice it was Number 6
who Number 2 got involved with Plan Division Q, because it was thought that
Number 6 would give the assassination plan credibility, a man to be believed,
and without whom the plan might fail. But Plan Division Q did fail, so
what price Number 6’s involvement then?
Its Number 6’s dream they get into. It’s Number 6 who is just
the kind of candidate they need to stand for election! It’s Number 6 who comes face to face with himself. Its up
to him to destroy the General. Number 6 is the cabaret at the Ball in ‘Dance of the Dead,’ who also leads a group of so
called reliable men in a daring escape attempt, as well as giving the orders!
Why is it that it’s Number 6 who has to
avenge the death of Number 73? Perhaps because he’s Johnny on the spot! Just like it was when he was put on trial for the
possession of a radio! Thankfully it’s not Number 6 undergoing a leucotomy, the
operation known as Instant Social Conversion. That delight is left to another
citizen. Number 6 being too valuable, the brain tissue mustn’t be damaged, well
not permanently! And who turns up living in Harmony? Number 6! Why can’t they let someone else have a go for a change? But in
‘The Girl Who Was Death,’ at least we get to see part of Number 6’s life, the kind of work he used to do…………a bit like John Drake really! And ‘Once Upon A Time,’ well who else could survive both the physical and
mental ordeal of Degree Absolute? It had to be Number 6. And then in ‘Fall Out’ he got his just reward,
compensation for what he had been put through, as well as meeting Number 1, and
that had to be Number 6, damn the man! But if that wasn’t enough, he has to put
himself through it all over again, trust him to want to continue to be the
centre of attention.
Be seeing you
Bureau of Visual Records
On the evening Number 6 and Nadia set sail
on their escape route, their activity went unnoticed by the Observers. Number 2
must have instructed the night time Supervisor to tell the Observers to wink a
blind surveillance eye at Numbers 6 and 8’s activity. Seeing that no-one missed
either Number 6 or Number 8 until well into the following morning. Otherwise
had an Observer observed them taking the pieces of sculpture, as well as 38’s tapestry out of there Recreation Hall down to the
beach, the game would have been up. And Number 2 couldn’t have had that now,
could he?
Be seeing you
Thought For The Day
Who was Nadia Rakovsky going to give her
report to? Somehow I don’t think it was Number 1,
seeing as she was dressed for leaving The Village. So it must have been some
authority outside The Village, those masters whom both Cobb in ’Arrival,’ and Number 2 of ‘The Schizoid Man’ mentioned. Masters
within British Intelligence, certainly not the Colonel. He happens to have
first hand knowledge about how the plan failed, so there‘s no need to report to him. And who is to say that the
Colonel and Nadia were working for the same department? Don’t forget Fotheringay had to get back to London before any embarrassing questions were asked, that
might also be said of the Colonel. That would suggest a different department
altogether, yet possibly within British Intelligence. Secondment is a word
which springs to mind where both the Colonel and Fotheringay are concerned,
seconded from another department. In the same way Curtis was seconded to The
Village. You’ll recall how Number 2
had to pull strings to get Curtis seconded back to The Village. Which in turns
suggests Curtis had worked for The Village before! Curtis and Nadia had one
thing in common, they were both field agents, seconded to The Village regarding
Number 6. Also they both encountered the Guardian. However unlike Nadia’s experience, Curtis found his to have been fatal! But
then it might be expected that unlike Nadia, Curtis might not have been briefed
about the Guardian. Whereas Nadia’s experience with the
Guardian had been planned, and so it may be expected in her case she had been
briefed on the Guardian. But I expect that even that would not have fully
prepared her for what to expect. A gutsy lady Nadia Rakovsky, a good agent in
the field, who unlike Curtis survived in order to report to her masters,
whoever they may have been!
Be seeing you
Tuesday 24 May 2016
The Prisoner 50th Anniversary
News on the 50th anniversary of 'the
Prisoner.' September 29th 2017 marks the anniversary of the British
screening of 'the Prisoner,’ and
Network DVD will be hosting the official
50th anniversary celebrations in Portmeirion. At the moment I have no further
details other than this. I became aware of this event yesterday via The
Unmutual website.
More details will be announced on The
Unmutual Events Page closer to the time. http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/events.htm
Be
seeing you
60 Second Interview With A Gardener
“We’d like a word with you.”
“Then you’ll have to wait. I’ve no time to bandy word with the likes of you!”
“Do you know who we are?”
“No, who are you?”
“I am Number One-one-three, and this is my photographic colleague Number One-one-three-b. We contribute to The Tally Ho.”
“Smile.” {click goes the camera}
“Oh, it’s for the gardening section is it?”
“Gardening section?”
“The reason you want to interview me.”
“There is no garden section in The Tally Ho.”
“Then why are you trying to talk to me under false pretences? You’re not interested in gardening!”
“We never said we were. We’re just looking to a have a word with you.”
“Well I haven’t got all day, even if you have. I’ve this border to sort out, and then there’s the lawn to cut, bedding plants to plant, and the roses need dead-heading. Its all go being a gardener you know. Not like so called journalists who sit about typing up a few words for a broadsheet. You want the editor to get a garden section put into The Tally Ho, or better still, a glossy insert about gardening. I could write an interesting article about lawn mower maintenance. Or about roses, and when it’s the best time to prune them, and how to deal with green fly. Snails and slugs can be a problem, there are several different way to deal with them. And then there’s compost, I could give a lecture on how to go about making the best compost…….”
“Well it’s actually that bald-headed gardener we wanted to talk to you about. We don’t know his number, but perhaps you know him?”
“Yes I know him, he gave up being a gardener, and went to be an electrician.”
“So you both still have a great deal in common.”
“How do you make that out?”
“Then you’ll have to wait. I’ve no time to bandy word with the likes of you!”
“Do you know who we are?”
“No, who are you?”
“I am Number One-one-three, and this is my photographic colleague Number One-one-three-b. We contribute to The Tally Ho.”
“Smile.” {click goes the camera}
“Oh, it’s for the gardening section is it?”
“Gardening section?”
“The reason you want to interview me.”
“There is no garden section in The Tally Ho.”
“Then why are you trying to talk to me under false pretences? You’re not interested in gardening!”
“We never said we were. We’re just looking to a have a word with you.”
“Well I haven’t got all day, even if you have. I’ve this border to sort out, and then there’s the lawn to cut, bedding plants to plant, and the roses need dead-heading. Its all go being a gardener you know. Not like so called journalists who sit about typing up a few words for a broadsheet. You want the editor to get a garden section put into The Tally Ho, or better still, a glossy insert about gardening. I could write an interesting article about lawn mower maintenance. Or about roses, and when it’s the best time to prune them, and how to deal with green fly. Snails and slugs can be a problem, there are several different way to deal with them. And then there’s compost, I could give a lecture on how to go about making the best compost…….”
“Well it’s actually that bald-headed gardener we wanted to talk to you about. We don’t know his number, but perhaps you know him?”
“Yes I know him, he gave up being a gardener, and went to be an electrician.”
“So you both still have a great deal in common.”
“How do you make that out?”
“You both work with bulbs!”
“Are you trying to be funny?
“Apparently not!”
Reporter No.113
Photographer No.113b
“Are you trying to be funny?
“Apparently not!”
Reporter No.113
The Tally Ho
No.6 speaks his mind! You wouldn’t expect
The Tally Ho to be able to print that, would you? And as it happens, what is
written in the accompanying article to that photograph isn’t what he said to
the newspaper reporter Number 113. Nor is the article what the newspaper
reporter wrote in his notebook during an interview with the candidate Number 6,
how could it have been? Seeing that only a few minutes after speaking with the
reporter Number 6 was handed a copy of The Tally Ho by Number 113c outside the
Town Hall containing an already written interview with Number 6! The security
of the community will be his primary objective, that’s not Number 6 talking, its Number 2! The author of the article is unknown, but
goes under the title of “Our Own Reporter” who could be anyone. That’s because we don’t know who produces The
Tally Ho, whether or not it’s an independent newspaper, or one controlled by
The Village Administration. But largely speaking, it’s rather likely to be the latter
rather than the former. And why use that particular picture of Number 6? It
would have been more seemly if a photograph of Number 6 in Village attire had
been used, complete with him wearing his number 6 rosette. But that’s the thing about The Tally Ho, no-one pictured on the
front page, not even when its Number 2, are pictured wearing Village costume.
But then only two people ever appear on the front page of The Tally Ho, Number
6 and Number 2! And mentioning Number 2, its quite surprising that The Tally Ho
was allowed to print that article sub-headed “Security of The Community,” what amounted to be the
ravings of a delusional paranoid! Or was he? After all there were dissidents in
The Village, Jammers, and in the following episode an interim Number 6 had a
list of malcontents, top of that list was Number 6!
Be seeing you
Monday 23 May 2016
The Colonel Did His Duty!
“Tell Number One I did my
duty.”
Yes Professor Jacob Seltzman’s mind escaped The Village, or at least we assume he
escaped the Village, in a body perhaps not to his liking, the Colonel’s. Why
assume? Well we can only go by what Number 6 said, that the Professor is now
free to continue with his experiments in peace. For all we know Seltzman could
have been brought back in the helicopter, the pilot ordered to do so over the
radio. Or even flown back in the helicopter by remote control, just as the
Prisoner was when he tried to escape The Village in ‘Arrival.’
But what of the Colonel? He was another
traitor, or turncoat just like two of his predecessors. Well one that we know
of, and another possible. The Colonel, worked for The Village when called upon.
Perhaps he had once been a prisoner, and had been turned like Cobb,
Fotheringay, and his Colonel. His mind died in the Seltzman’s body, therefore he couldn’t be retuned to the department of British intelligence
from whence he came. If he was married he certainly couldn’t’t be returned to his wife and family. So no doubt he
was buried in The Village cemetery, in an unmarked grave, seeing as he had no
number!
I always felt sorry for this particular
Colonel, because he had been seconded to The Village, no matter how gratified
he was at being sent there by the highest authority, but without being told
why. Its no wonder he looked nervous! Did he take it like a man when they told
him he was to undergo a mind transference with Number 6? Or did he go kicking
and screaming, before they sedated him I wonder? But he did his duty, and an
old soldier can do no more than his duty.
Be seeing you
The Therapy Zone
I sit here typing these words with The
Village in my mind’s eye. Even though it has been several years since I was
there, I can still walk its streets and cobbled paths. Passed familiar
buildings, walking in the footsteps of Number 6. It’s a sunny day, there’s the regular Brass Band concert, but no human chess match today. People
in brightly coloured clothes are promenading in the Piazza, around the pool and
fountain. A vendor is dispensing The Tally Ho, the headline reads “What Are Facts Behind Town Hall?” As if they would tell the general citizens that, do
me a favour! Enough was learned about Town Hall and its workings in both ‘Free For All’ and ‘Dance of The Dead. In the latter we learned that
democracy in The Village had been dispensed with, seeing as even at best, free
democracy is remarkably inefficient. But just a minute, originally ‘Dance of the Dead’ was to have been the
second episode in the series, and ‘Free For All’ third. So if that had actually been the case in the
screening order of the series, and if we are to believe what Number 2 told
Number 6 in ‘Dance of The Dead,’ about democracy having been dispensed with in The
Village. Then the democratic process of local “free” elections of ’Free For All’ might well have been
reinstated just for the benefit of Number 6!
Be seeing you
Caught On Camera!
Number 6 is helped ashore after he
successfully escapes The Village on a raft made from two rubber lilos, after
the Rook chickened out! This is his third attempt to escape by raft, so its
third time lucky for Number 6!
“Where, where is this
place?”
“Ireland Paddy me’ boyo. You’ve come home!”
“That’s right Paddy, the first man to cross the Irish Sea on a raft!”
“Ireland Paddy me’ boyo. You’ve come home!”
“That’s right Paddy, the first man to cross the Irish Sea on a raft!”
“Why is he wearing his old
school blazer?”
“He’ll be thinking its Regatta week!”
“Well he’s certainly come dressed for it!”
Be seeing you
Sunday 22 May 2016
ESCAPE!
Have you noticed, but when Number 6 attempts
to escape by land, either driving a Mini-Moke in ‘Arrival’……………….
Or by sea
behind the helm of a jet boat in ‘Free For All,’ the end result is very much the same!
In ‘Arrival,’ when Number 6 attempts to
Escape The Village for the first time, he does so driving a Mini-Moke along the
beach, having fought off two Guardians. Soon after which, as the vehicle heads
towards the outer zone, it impacts with something in the sand which causes the
Prisoner to be thrown out of the Mini-Moke, leaving him sprawling on the sand.
Then in a later episode, ‘Fall Out,’ Number 6 again attempts to escape The
Village, this time by sea. Having fought off two motor mechanics aboard the Jet
boat, Number 6 heads for the open sea, but pursued by Number 2 in the
helicopter. Number 2 instructs the Prisoner to turn back before it’s too late.
Ahead the membranic Guardian appears on the water, skimming across the waves on
a course straight for the boat. Number 6 turns the helm this way and that, but
to no effect! As the Guardian gets closer and closer Number 6 abandons the boat
and dives into the water. This in similar way when Number 6 parted company with
the Mini-Moke. Both actions cause a confrontation with the membranic Guardian.
The one time he is rendered unconscious, the other he is taken in tow by three
Guardians. As for the jet boat, it was taken under remote control by an
operative in the Control Room, in the same way M. S. Polotska was sailed back
to The Village at the end of ‘Checkmate.’ And in ‘Arrival,’ when Number 6 loses
control of the helicopter, it was taken under control by an operative in the
Control Room, and flown back to The Village remotely when Number 6 attempted
his second escape. All of this makes the Mini-Moke the odd vehicle out, not
having remote control capability!
Be seeing you
Village Interiors
The Board of Education chamber with its purple
and orange wall. The large disc with its canopied Penny Farthing {a variation
on the design} attached to the chamber wall, or suspended from the ceiling. The
chair, with its “dazzled” paintwork, appears to be a nod to German
expressionist films of the 1920's. Then there’s the circle of green baize
topped tables. The chamber is entered through a pair of steel doors, much the
same with Number 2’s office.
The Board of Education chamber in ‘The
General’ looks as though it could double up for the Committee chamber in ‘A
Change of Mind,’ except there doesn’t appear to be the tall steps which lead
down from the foyer of the Town Hall as there are in both the Committee Council
chamber and the Council chamber. However if we take these three as separate
underground chambers, then three large pits much have been excavated under the
Town Hall during the construction of The Village. A fourth, if you include the
underground chamber below the Labour Exchange!
Be seeing you
Saturday 21 May 2016
He Was Not A Number He Was A Free Man!
Is a new BBC drama which commences on BBC Two at 9:30, Wednesday, June 1st 2016. Below is a photocopied extract from The Times Saturday Review of ‘Versailles,’ which my wife drew my attention to a few moments ago.
You may be interested to read the following enlarged section from the above extract.
Be seeing you
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