Perhaps Number 6 was right when he said "Why don't you put us all in solitary confinement and get what you are after and be done with it?" That way they might have saved themselves an awful lot of time, effort, and trouble. Rather than think up complicated and elaborate exercises such as The Chimes of Big Ben - Free For All - The Schizoid Man – Many Happy Returns - Checkmate possibly Hammer Into Anvil and possibly It’s Your Funeral – A Change of Mind – Living In Harmony, and Once Upon A Time. And yet the reason for such episodes is to put Number 6 to “The Test,” to see if Number 6 can survive, overcome, and possibly turn any given situation to his own advantage!
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.
Saturday, 9 July 2016
Thought For The Day
What a lot of palaver 'the Prisoner' is! I mean take 'Free For All' for
example. Why go to all the trouble of staging an election, just so Number
6 can run for public office, the position of Number 2, when they knew all along
that they had no intention of allowing Number 6 to remain as the new Number
2. What's more there is the instruction that the tissue must not be damaged, in
other words there was only so far they could take Number 6 without damaging him
mentally. And for what? What exactly had been achieved by 'Free For All?'
Certainly Number 6 was not in the mood to talk by the end of it. What had
Number 2, or even the newer Number 2 learned by their actions in
this episode? Nothing as far as I can see. And as for the tissue, well it was a
little bruised at the end, by the punishment dished out by the two motor
mechanics, but basically remained intact!
Perhaps Number 6 was right when he said "Why don't you put us all in solitary confinement and get what you are after and be done with it?" That way they might have saved themselves an awful lot of time, effort, and trouble. Rather than think up complicated and elaborate exercises such as The Chimes of Big Ben - Free For All - The Schizoid Man – Many Happy Returns - Checkmate possibly Hammer Into Anvil and possibly It’s Your Funeral – A Change of Mind – Living In Harmony, and Once Upon A Time. And yet the reason for such episodes is to put Number 6 to “The Test,” to see if Number 6 can survive, overcome, and possibly turn any given situation to his own advantage!
Be seeing you
Perhaps Number 6 was right when he said "Why don't you put us all in solitary confinement and get what you are after and be done with it?" That way they might have saved themselves an awful lot of time, effort, and trouble. Rather than think up complicated and elaborate exercises such as The Chimes of Big Ben - Free For All - The Schizoid Man – Many Happy Returns - Checkmate possibly Hammer Into Anvil and possibly It’s Your Funeral – A Change of Mind – Living In Harmony, and Once Upon A Time. And yet the reason for such episodes is to put Number 6 to “The Test,” to see if Number 6 can survive, overcome, and possibly turn any given situation to his own advantage!
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteThe Prisoner is a wonderful mind game...and as there are several pictures of Patrick McGoohan playing chess between filming scenes...I like to think that The Prisoner is his game of chess with US...his viewers!
As chess is a game of strategy...The Prisoner seems to challenge us to figure out WHY...sometimes WHO...and sometimes HOW !
In the same way that not everyone finds chess interesting ...because it's too difficult to remember the moves of the different pieces...or too challenging??? People seem to either love or hate The Prisoner for these same reasons...or perhaps they don't like Patrick McGoohan's acting style...and therefore a lot of people either love HIM or hate him.
Just an observation ....
Best Regards!
BCNU
Karen
Hallo Karen,
DeleteThe pictures you mention are production photographs, with Patrick McGoohan and director David Tomblin playing out the moves for the human chess match in ‘Checkmate.’
You have an interesting way of looking at it. I suppose ‘the Prisoner’ is a game of strategy, the moves you make, and how you play the game!
You are perfectly correct. People either love ‘the Prisoner’ or hate it, I’ve never met anyone who is simply indifferent to it. My father hated the series, perhaps because he didn’t try to understand it, or couldn’t be bothered to try.
Best regards
David
Be seeing you
Hi David ,
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder if the people that grew up in the late sixties and seventies are the bulk of the people who love The Prisoner . ..and are fascinated with the imagery...stories and the allegorical aspects of the show.
It is beginning to look like the younger generation is mainly interested in phone games and escaping into a fantasy world . ..whereas The Prisoner fans are trying to find out what Patrick McGoohan was saying about the pitfalls of our real world .
What is your experience or thoughts on this matter ?
Best Regards ,
Karen BCNU
Hello Karen,
DeleteI grew up in the1960’s and 70’s, and there are many, many, many people from that time who became fans of ‘the Prisoner.’ Many of them remain so today, but I do know a few who have given up on ‘the Prisoner,’ having found new interests. And yet the series does still gather new fans from all over the world all the time. Fascinated by the imagery, the stories, the adventure, allegorical content, and for pure escapism, people become fans of ‘the Prisoner’ for many reasons.
Certainly at the time 1967-68 ‘the Prisoner’ attracted the younger generation, there is something about the series which attracts young minds, whereas people of the older generation weren’t. And yet that younger generation are now the older generation, who remain fans. However when I was at school at the age of 12 no-one in my class liked ‘the Prisoner’ and could not understand my enthusiasm for it. Perhaps it’s nothing to do with age, but the state of ones mind in the first place.
With the new Pokemon thing, it has people going out and about looking for non-existent beings in the real world. Some people have found themselves in trouble because of it. Others play computer games in worlds of fantasy. I suppose ‘the Prisoner’ can be described as a fantasy, but a nice fantasy, because in the real world of The Village would be far worse than the fantasy!
Best regards
Be seeing you
David