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Friday 30 December 2016

New Years Greetings

And so we arrive at the last piece of blog for 2016 and this is it!
But fear ye not, postings will commence again next Tuesday because I’m having another three days rest.
So all that remains to do is to wish all my readers and friends
Happiness, good health, and prosperity for the New Year.
David
Be seeing you

Christmas 1966!


  This Christmas I was sent this card.
   This was apt as far as ‘the Prisoner’ and this Christmas is concerned. Because in December 1966 Patrick McGoohan had art designer Jack Shampan design a Christmas card which was given to cast and production crew members.
   And as it so happens just yesterday the following card arrived in the post.

  The card is of course a reproduction of the December 1966 original. And yet to receive such a card this Christmas is very apt indeed for the 50th anniversary of the production of ‘the Prisoner.’

Be seeing you

The Citizens Advice Bureau - They Do A Marvellous Job!

   Here at the Citizens Advice Bureau we aim to give help and advice to everyone. Not that we are over stretched in that department, indeed we are by far and away the quietest department in Village administration! However we do on occasion have the odd citizen of interest seeking our help. For example:

Q:    “I have recently taken up residence in the Old People’s Home. Much to my dismay I discover that I’m now living with people with whom I have nothing in common. They are old and retired, some have to be pushed about in wheelchairs. There's a grumpy old General of questionable military background, and an ex-Admiral who keeps on recommending me to "try the boat" saying he’s sailed her many a time, that she’s good in any weather. The boat being the stone boat, it don’t go nowhere! What's more, my room is no better than theirs, when in fact I think my room should reflect my once high office position here in The Village. What's more, I am expected to eat with these inmates, sometimes even having to share a table! I did not plan to spend my retirement here with people I have nothing in common with, but elsewhere. What’s more I have no privileges!                       Ex-Number 2.....retired. 
A:    “You seem to think you are hard done by and are receiving a raw deal. However you have more in common with the people you share the Old People’ home with than you think. They are all senior citizens, some of whom are retired. Do try to fit in. The General likes to play chess. As for the ex-Admiral he is a little eccentric, but harmless. Do try to settle down to your new surroundings, and remember that you might now have been lying in pieces in a cold dank grave in The Village cemetery!
                                 _______________________________________

    Q: “I enjoy being a shopkeeper, but I do have a lot to do, what with serving customers, stock-taking, book-keeping and the like. I hardly get a day off, whilst others like Number 6 swan about all day with nothing to do and all day to do it in! And now to make matters worse they want to look at my books! I consider it to be most unfair!"                                           Number 19.”
   A:  “If I were you I should closely guard those utterances of yours. All I can say is, Number 19, you seem to enjoy your work serving the community, so pay no heed to those who having nothing to do. For them life with nothing to do all day is twice as long as it is for you. The days go by much more slowly. As for the audit of your books, he who has nothing to find, has nothing to hide!”
                             __________________________________________
    Q: “The man at the kiosk wouldn’t sell me any sweets. He said my credit allowance had been all used up, and I can't go a whole day without my sweets. What can I do?"              Number 38
    A: “Go back tomorrow. Or better still get that Number 6 to buy you a bag of candy!"
                         _____________________________________________
    Q:   “I am one of the persecuted here in The Village, and it’s all that Number 6's fault. Huh! He questioned my security of The Village you know, and Bizet, I’d heard enough of him to last me a lifetime. There is something on one of these records, a message of some kind, but I still can’t hear it! And that note to XO4 from D6….its not me who’s unstable. Who is XO4 anyway, I’ve never heard of him! Hiding blank sheets of paper in the stone boat, course there's nothing written on them, they're just blank sheets of paper, I knew that! Putting messages in the personal column of the newspaper........ more harm in the village than is dreamt. I'll give him Don Quixote! And that head of psychiatrics, he’s got it in for me! And that Band Leader, he’s next to an idiot, and that Supervisor’s no better, birthday greetings for Number 6 from 113 do they think I’m stupid…pygmies!! Him with his coded message, pat-a-cake pat-a-cake, baker’s man........ I knew what he was doing, I knew he was a plant he didn’t fool me! Couldn't trust anyone, enemies everywhere, even Number 14, he's ambitious. Asked if he’d slept well, I'll give him asked if he'd slept well! Psychiatric report, well it’s not me that’s mad! That doctor’s got it in for me I tell you. It’s all that Number 6's fault, I wouldn't be in this psychiatric wing if it wasn't for him!"                 An ex-Number 2
   
 A:   “Don’t worry, you’ll be well looked after. They’ll get the best specialists to treat you!"

Be seeing you

Citizen No.66


    Number 2 described Number 66 as being an ex-Admiral, noting that he no longer retains his rank. Why not, after all this Admiral would have retired from the Royal Navy years ago, so where would the harm be in the Village administration allowing him to retain his rank?
    The only thing about Number 66 is, we have no idea how long he has been in The Village, or what crime if any, he committed to see himself brought to The Village in the first place. I cannot imagine, well I could, that the Royal Navy was trying to save themselves a pension! But I think we have to take it at face value that Number 66 was a British Royal Naval Admiral in his former life. Perhaps he had
committed some serious misdemeanour while in command. Perhaps he lost some important naval plans or a new type of torpedo, or some new naval electronic defence system. Whatever the reason was, it saw him stripped of his rank, and placed in The Village.
   Of course it might simply have been that Number 66 had been brought to The Village because he had knowledge which was important to the Village’s administration, that knowledge then extracted, and Number 66 then put in quiet retirement in the Old People’s Home. But that doesn’t explain the removal of the ex-Admiral’s rank, after all if he was abducted to The Village when an Admiral why not let him retain his rank? Personally I like the idea that the ex-Admiral had had his rank stripped from him, and had been put in The Village because of some disgrace!
    I always enjoy listening to his joke about the Stone Boat, that she’s good in any weather, that he’d sailed her many a time. It makes Number 66 appear to be one ship short of a flotilla, when in actual fact his mind it still as sharp as ever. After all he knew to tell Number 9 that they are all pawns in The Village, perhaps recognizing Number 9 as being a pawn!

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

    Who precisely was the Colonel working for in ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling?’ If it was for the department run By Sir Charles Portland, one would have expected him to recognize the Colonel. “Hello Colonel, and what can I do for you?” he might have said, or something like that. And yet on the other hand, if Sir Charles was “in” on The Village plot, then he might well have feigned not knowing who the Colonel was, having sent him to The Village himself, knowing full well that ZM73 was who he claimed to be but in the guise of the Colonel. However if not, then the Colonel probably didn’t work for Sir Charles Portland, but for another department within British Intelligence, and it was they who sent him to The Village. Sir Charles might well be innocent in this affair and knew nothing of The Village. If that is correct, then the race between those behind The Village and Sir Charles Portland and his department to find Doctor Seltzman was on. Whether Sir Charles believed the Colonel/ZM73’s story or not, he couldn’t afford his department to fall behind in the race and miss out on finding Doctor Seltzman. So Potter was despatched to follow the man who claimed to be ZM73, after all he is the only link to Doctor Seltzman. And if Sir Charles was only too aware of the new identity of ZM73, then for The Village’s sake he could not afford to lose him. So Potter would be on hand not only to collect Doctor Seltzman in the net but also retain ZM73. And yet there is that final scene in the basement of the Barbers shop, the sudden appearance of an undertaker in the uniform of a chauffeur. Armed with a nerve gas gun, he not only rendered ZM73 unconscious, but Potter also. Potter not working for The Village might well have otherwise put up a struggle against the agent in the pay of those behind The Village. But whether Potter was then taken to The Village along with ZM73 and doctor Seltzman is of course unknown. But if he wasn’t, he would certainly have some explaining to do to Sir Charles Portland!

Be seeing you

Wednesday 28 December 2016

The Prisoner - Original Soundtrack

    I did wonder if Christmas would produce any presents relating to ‘the Prisoner,’ and to my high delight there were two. The first being a scarf of the type worn by Number 2, which I shall not wear as Number 2 {this being my first instinct, although the only time I did portray the role of Number 2 was during a pop video ‘Another Number’ with Australian musician and singer Carmel Morris back in 2001} but in the spirit of ‘the Prisoner.’
   The second present was ‘the Prisoner’ – original sound track {black vinyl opposed to white} gatefold produced by Network in 2015 featuring tracks from legendary film and TV composers Ron Grainer, Albert Elms and Wilfred Josephs, and additional new tracks previously not available on vinyl. This version is presented in a gatefold sleeve and limited to 1000 copies.
Side One – approximately the duration 21mins
1. Arrival – composers Robert Farnon; Wilfred Josephs; Ron Grainer

2. Once Upon A Time

3. A, B and C

4. The General

Side Two (duration 22mins approx.)
1. Standard Titles & Episode Opening composer Ron Grainer

2. Free For All

3. Hammer Into Anvil

4. Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling

5. Living In Harmony

6. Fall Out

7 End Titles – composer Ron Grainer

  It wasn’t long before this vinyl record was placed on the turntable, and as I sat listening to each track in turn, my mind was transported to each scene taking place. I think listening to this LP was the perfect way to begin celebrating the 50th anniversary of ‘the Prisoner’ 1967-68. I find it an interesting choice of music used for the record/ All the tracks are to be found in my list of favourites, and heard on vinyl for the first time, certainly by me!

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera!


  What’s that Number 6 looking at? He’s just tried to follow Number 240 into the Town Hall, but as the gardener tells Number 6, it’s fussy who it lets in, hence the electrical force field. Perhaps Number 240 was wearing an Electro Pass which synchronized with the alarm system and let her through! But I digress. Perhaps as Number 6 walked away, the gardener said something under his breath and Number 6 heard him. Or the cyclist rang her bell and that made Number 6 look back over his shoulder.

Be seeing you, but not if Number 240 sees you first!

It’s Carnival!


    Everyone is having a good time outside. We know why Number 6 has no costume, he assumes it’s because he’s still himself. But why doesn’t the Butler have a fancy dress costume?
   What’s more, apart from wearing his cloak inside out, he’s not wearing his black tails, perhaps it’s his day off!

Be seeing you

Quote For The Day

    “They might let me go, if you gave me some sort of information.”
                                          {The Maid-Number 66 – Arrival}

    The Supervisor thought the maid was going to pull it off, get the required information that is, the answer to why the Prisoner resigned. Okay it looked a half-cocked affair sending Number 66 in like that, and she did try, by playing on the Prisoner’s sympathies, he might tell her what they needed to know. But this prisoner has to be handled very differently, after all the game has only just begun, this is only an opening gambit on Number 2’s part. While in the middle game there are intricate moves to be made, as well as sacrifices, the first Number 2 for example. That was a clever gambit, to replace Number 2 so that when Number 6 came to call on Number 2 in his office, he would be faced with his successor, forcing Number 6 back to square one with a new Number 2. Thereby keeping the Prisoner off balance, unable to get used to one person, which was rather neat. The end game results in a lesson for Number 6, that escape from The Village is not possible. Yet that will not stop the Prisoner from trying!

Be seeing you

Saturday 24 December 2016

Seasons Greetings

  And that is all for now, time for less work and more play, leisure being our right. Blog postings will resume again on the 28th.
 Have a happy and very Merry Christmas.
David

Thought For The Day

     I like to think that ZM73 resigned because he became fed up, and possibly disillusioned, with the kind of work he did. But perhaps symbolically, it’s not ZM73 we see resigning from his job, but Patrick McGoohan resigning from his role of ‘Danger Man’ John Drake!
   Of course no matter how close they had ZM73 under surveillance, they could have watched him writing his letter of resignation, but if he didn’t write down the reason in that letter, and he was by no means obliged to, they wouldn’t know what he was thinking, or why he resigned. They needed him to tell them!
   I imagine they only wanted to know why the Prisoner resigned because it was one detail missing from his personal file. However if they managed to get Number 6 to tell them that, then perhaps all the other information might quickly follow. As Number 2 said “If he will answer one simple question, all the rest will follow. Why did he resign?”
    One would expect that Number 1 would have already known why his other self, Number 6 had resigned. But perhaps it was Number 1 who resigned, and because of that Number 6 was kept a prisoner, as that self didn’t want to resign, and so remained loyal. Remember Number 6’s anguish pattern, in ‘A B and C’ Number 6 reliving the moment he handed in his letter of resignation, or rather his other self the Number 1. On the other hand, if it was the Number 6 self who resigned, perhaps he was keeping that from his other self, the reason why, he could not admit to himself, and for that reason Number 1 had Number 6 put in The Village in an attempt to extract the reason why Number 6 resigned, because Number 6 had managed to keep that from his other self the Number 1!

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                   “Inner Sanctum!”
BcNu

Generally Speaking!

   Number 2 told Madam Professor that he and Number 6 are old friends, meaning they had previously met in ‘A B and C.’ And yet in ‘The General’ Number 2 is very much relaxed, he’s in confident mood, self-assured. When asked who he is? “The new Number Two” he states with authority. Yet when it comes to ‘A B and C’ he’s Number 2 nervous, and his former confidence has been knocked out of him. He’s a little fraught, nervous, under pressure, and he’s not indispensable! Judging by Number 2’s mood change, it would have been more consistent had ‘The General’ featured in the series before ‘A B and C,’ the two episodes then running consecutively, especially when it comes to being simply Number 2 in ‘A B and C’ and the new Number 2 in ‘The General.’ The one can go before the other, but not the other way around. Although with Number 2 saying in ‘The General’ that he and Number 6 are old fiends, that does suggest they have met previously, in ‘A B and C.’ And yet there is a question mark in The Tally Ho about Number 2’s fitness for a further term in office, that further term being in ‘The General.’ However there is another way of looking at it, had ‘The General’ featured in the series before ‘A B and C,’ and those two episodes had run consecutively, it might seem that Number 2’s term in office had run its course over two episodes, and would not have affected the question over Number 2’s fitness for a further term unless there was a question of a third term in office!

Be seeing you

Thursday 22 December 2016

Caught On Camera!


  It has been said that The Village enjoys a temperate climate, and that the only time it rains in The Village is at night during the episode of ‘A B and C.’ Yet observe if you will, the damp road and large puddle of water, suggesting that it also rained during a night in ‘Free For All.’

Be seeing you

Heard On Camera!


  The Beatles heard playing “All You Need Is Love” in The Cavern for the first time!

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

    I know the Oriental taxi driver said to the Prisoner that he’ll never know who he’ll meet. However it seems somewhat incomprehensible that Cobb had been put on the same hospital ward as the Prisoner, simply so he might encounter him there, and even if he was, for what reason? Perhaps Cobb was a plant, his encounter with the Prisoner in the hospital being the start of the build up to his funeral, where Number 6 and Number 9 would be brought together. If it was, then it was far thinking on someone’s part.
    Cobb couldn’t tell the Prisoner much, he couldn’t remember much. He thinks he’s been there three perhaps four weeks, months, it’s difficult to work out he said. So Cobb was disorientated as to time. They keep asking him questions, they want to know all about him. Did he tell them? No, he’s so tired he wants to sleep. But who brought him to The Village, how did he get there? Cobb said he was in
Germany, he remembers going back to his hotel, he went into the bedroom, and thinks he went to bed, he was here! What, in The Village hospital? Perhaps Cobb had been drugged back in Germany so that seemingly he had died at the hotel. Eventually undertakers had been arranged to take the body away, and so he was effectively abducted!
   Back in the hospital it seems to me that Cobb might well have been undergoing the same kind of treatment that Roland Walter Dutton went through. But I expect Cobb also woke up in what he thought was, a room in a hotel in
Germany? Well the two undertakers, or whoever they were, didn’t extract Cobb from his home like they had the Prisoner. So he could hardly wake up in The Village in what he thinks is his own home, that would confuse Cobb on two levels. Firstly that he’s suddenly back in his own home when he went to bed in a hotel room. And secondly to find he’s not at home at all, but in a replica of his home in The Village!

Cobb!
    Suddenly an alarm bell sounds. The doctor and the Prisoner quickly return to the hospital ward, where the medical orderly reports that the amnesia case, Cobb, has jumped out of the window…..he’s dead! It’s a pity Number 6 couldn’t get to look out of the window as he does after Number 73 jumps through a hospital window to her death in ‘Hammer Into Anvil.’ He would have seen there wasn’t a body lying on the ground below!
   So Cobb was an amnesia case was he? But he recognized an old colleague soon enough, the Prisoner, when he started asking him questions. Yes he found it difficult to say how long he’d been in The Village, but he remembered being in
Germany, going back to his hotel, and into the bedroom well enough. But if Cobb’s amnesia was real, then it wouldn’t be worth their while trying to find out everything about Cobb {hadn’t they got a file on Cobb then} he wouldn’t be able to remember! Perhaps Cobb was in the hospital because the doctors were trying to induce Cobb’s memory to return. And it would seem that they succeeded judging by Cobb’s state of mind at the end. But if Cobb’s amnesia was a fabrication, presumably it must have been for the Prisoner’s benefit!

Cobb – He’s Dead!
    Cobb was supposed to have been a hospital patient suffering from amnesia. Apparently they want to know all about him, but if he has amnesia he wouldn’t be able to tell them anything, because he wouldn’t be able to remember! Perhaps that’s why Cobb was in the hospital, the doctors were trying to induce his memory to return. But then again…………
   Even before the Prisoner’s arrival in The Village someone had had the forward thinking idea of bringing Cobb to The Village in order to stage the encounter between Cobb and the Prisoner on the ward in the hospital. And yet how did they know the Prisoner would end up in the hospital when he did? Was it purely a question of percentages, that at some point the Prisoner would encounter the Guardian as he did on the beach, and then unconscious, be brought to the hospital and so placed on the same ward as Cobb. But even if it wasn’t for that encounter, they would have found another way of putting the Prisoner in hospital, and on the same ward as Cobb. Of course the most important part of that encounter was Cobb’s staged death in order that a funeral could then take place in Cobb’s name. After all, his funeral would certainly be an attraction for Number 6, and a way of bringing him and Number 9 together at Cobb’s funeral. Number 9 would have been briefed on the plan, and having been given a background story placed as a lone mourner at the funeral. She would also become an attraction for Number 6, especially having encountered someone else who knew Cobb, that would allow her to play on Number 6’s sympathies, and draw him close to her. The rest of the plan we know, and watch as it’s played out.
   As for Cobb, had he been brought to The Village as being part of the plan, just as the Colonel and Fotheringay had been during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ and the Colonel in ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling?’ As for Cobb’s new masters, who he mustn’t keep waiting, he is a Civil Servant which serves the Government of the day. Back in
Britain there had been a General Election, and that brought about a change in Government, hence new masters. In Britain the Government might change, but not the Civil Service which owes the same allegiance to whichever Government is in power. How Cobb knew that there had been a change in Government is perhaps less easier to explain. However seeing as he’s working for The Village it would not then be unreasonable for communications to take place between The Village and London. And in one such communication news might easily have arrived regarding a change in Government, because such a change might bring about a change in Village policy. Besides which, any new Minister for the Foreign Office would need to be briefed on The Village, as well as the new Prime Minister himself!
   But returning to The Village, Number 6 once suggested that Number 2’s clever, “Clever aren’t you!” to which he replied “They are, damned clever!” They must be, to be able to come up with such a plan so in advance as they had in ‘Arrival,’ and to stage everything so well for that plan to work out so perfectly. Even if it was simply to teach Number 6 a lesson!

Be seeing you

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Seasons Greetings


Compliments of the festive season.
Wishing all my friends and readersa very merry Christmas
Be yuling you

A Familiar Scene Or Is It?


    Oh it’s you!
    I want a word with you, in fact I want several words with you.
    If you’ve come here looking for an argument you’ve come to the wrong office, try further down the corridor.
    Do you know what you are?
    No, but I expect you’re going to tell me.
    You are without doubt the most god awful ******* ******* it has been my misfortune to meet. I hope that one day you **** ** **** **** * *** *** ***** ** **** ******* ****!
    That’s not an argument, that abuse. And I’m not going to stand for that.
    Why not?
   Now look what you’ve done. You’ve upset my cup and saucer, and broken the tea plate!
    What are you going to do about it?
    Please do not raise your voice at me. I shall just have to report it.
    Report what?
    The broken tea plate when the tea lady comes back to collect them.
    About me, what are you going to do about me?
    I can see that you are dead set on having an argument. Go along the corridor until you see room twelve b.
    Twelve b.
    Yes.
   And this room?
   Is five, number five.
   Along the corridor.
   Yes that’s right.
    Twelve b along the corridor.
    Yes?
    This is room twelve b, is it?
    Why do you ask?
    The man in room five told me to go along the corridor to room twelve b.
    So what’s your problem?
    Is this Twelve b?
    No, it’s room Thirteen, twelve b is next door but one, back along the corridor.
    This room..............
    What about it?
    It’s identical to room five!
    Really? I’ve never been in room five.
    There’s a chap in that room, he’s sat behind a desk, just like yours, what’s more he’s the dead spit of you!
    Well we won’t argue about it
    Why not argue about it?
    Look I’m a passive kind of man. I find arguing a waste of time and energy
    I find it relieves the feelings. I told that other one what I thought of him, and for all I know it might have been you I was telling.
    You would! Room twelve b back along the corridor.
    I know, next door but one, back along the corridor.
    This must be it!
   Ah there you are!
   Yes here I am, and I don’t mind telling you that I’m pretty well pissed off by now. I’ve been pushed from, pillar to post...................
    Don’t you mean room old boy?
    Let me tell you that I’m not going to take any more of this. Just who do you think you are?
    I might ask you the same question. You come barging in here laying the law down..................
    I came here................
    Looking for an argument, well you won’t get one from me. You’re fired!
    What?.......................Just a minute, this room, it’s not the same as the others.
    What others?
    Rooms five and thirteen, it’s different, the room it’s mirrored to the others.
    Mirrored? Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve just had the furniture rearranged that’s all.
    I’ll rearrange you if you’re not careful.
    Violence will avail you nothing. Now go home and I’ll send someone round soon. Your services are no longer required.
    I am in the right office?
    My dear chap, you’ve been in the right office all along!

    Fired, they can’t fire me, I’ll resign first............................

Be seeing you

Why Did You Resign?

   To the question of why did the Prisoner resign, Number 2’s response was “Now that's all we really want to know,” the words spoken during the debriefing session on the morning of the Prisoner’s arrival in The Village. Now it’s my own personal opinion that the reason why the Prisoner resigned isn’t that important. The fact of the matter is he had resigned, the reason seems inconsequential no matter what it was, and he’s not obliged to give a reason. Number 2 said that they like to know everything, and seeing as the reason why the Prisoner resigned is one detail missing from his file, it’s only natural that they should want to bring his file up to date! But once again the Prisoner is not obliged to give a reason for his resignation, certainly not to people who have taken quite a liberty of having him abducted to The Village! Had the Prisoner given an explanation of why he had resigned, what then would have been Number 2’s next question?

Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

    In ‘Arrival’ the Prisoner walks on the grass and up the steps onto the Piazza. A chap comes along, gives a salute and wheels a Penny Farthing away. Then two senior citizens pass by and greet the Prisoner.
    “Beautiful day.”
    The question is, do the couple greet the Prisoner that way off their own bat so to speak because it is a beautiful day, or because they’ve been told it’s a beautiful day via that public announcement made a few minutes earlier?
        “Good morning all, it’s another beautiful day.”


Be seeing you

Sunday 18 December 2016

Caught On Camera!


    And so it begins. The Butler stands watching his master who is about to go on his way to hand in his letter of resignation. As for the hearse, well its looks innocent enough, but little does ZM73 know that they have acquired their target…him. The two undertakers will follow behind his Lotus 7 through the streets of London to an underground car park, where they will wait for him to re-immerge, and then follow him again. And realizing where he’s going, the two undertakers are sat waiting in the hearse as the Lotus turns into Buckingham Place, the rest we know!

BCNU

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                     “Desire For Escape!”

BCNU

Generally Speaking!

   Number 2 has been speaking to Number 1. Well we assume its Number 1, certainly Number 2’s caller is male as he calls him sir. He makes a number of reassurances, that there is no problem, that they are getting a hundred percent co-operation from everyone, and Number 2 is anticipating a truly exciting result. And about the Professor, well that was just a mild aberration, a couple days rest and adjustment and he’ll be doing everything they’ll need. And Number 2 will keep in close touch, in the closest touch.
   “Probably the most important human experiment we’ve ever had to conduct, he’s treating it like a military exercise.” If I were Number 2 I’d keep my thoughts closely guarded, let alone speak them out loud, even to just myself, you never know who might be listening!
   Just a minute! That telephone……it’s the normal ‘L’ shape, not that over-sized red curved phone this Number 2 is forced to use in ‘A B and C,’ why’s that then? Is it an indication that ‘A B and C’ should have featured in the series after ‘The General?’

    I should have imagined that once Number 2 had used that curved phone in the one episode he’d have to use it in the other. But then ‘The General’ was produced before ‘A B and C,’ so that phone must have come in later. Only two actors were forced to use that over-sized red telephone, Colin Gordon and Patrick Cargill, although there was another two Number 2’s to have the phone on their desk. That was in ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,’ and ‘The Girl Who Was Death,’ except in those episodes we do not see either Clifford Evens or Kenneth Griffith use the telephone. Number 1 also had that same red, curved, over-sized telephone but he was never seen to use it!

Be seeing you

Friday 16 December 2016

The Chimes of Big Ben!



   The chimes of Big Ben are due to fall silent for a period of three years! for importnat events such as the new Year a recoding of Big Ben will be used.




     It has been said that when you hear the chimes of big ben, you know you are home.

Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

    I can understand why Number 6 asked Mrs. Butterworth if he could see the logbook of the Lotus Seven. He wanted to see proof of ownership, the same as when he asked to see the lease of the house. The lease of the house which still had six months to run when he had possession, even though the estate agents named on the lease were not the ones he did business with. What I cannot understand is, why the need for a new logbook for the Lotus Seven! What happened to the old one? Was it really necessary to expunge Number 6’s name from even that? It’s not as though the television viewer would have been able to read the previous owner’s name of the logbook. Perhaps those who organized the new log book, as well as the new lease of the house, didn’t want Mrs. Butterworth reading the name of the previous owner of the Kar. But I cannot imagine why not. Unless it was thought that either Number 6 or Mrs. Butterworth would let slip his name by mistake!

Be seeing you

Anti-social That’s Our Friend No.6!

    During the opening scene of ‘A Change of Mind,’ it looks like Number 6 is in training for the “big break.” But why doesn’t he use The Village gymnasium? According to Number 6 he prefers privacy, but that could be deemed as anti-social behaviour. And yet Number 6 is seen using the same homemade gymnastic apparatus in the woods during his daily activity prognosis in ‘It’s Your Funeral.’
   Number 6 has used the Village gymnasium, but only on two occasions. Once when he shoots it out, and fences with his “economy pack” counterpart in ‘The Schizoid Man.’ The second time was during his daily Kosho practice in ‘It’s Your Funeral,’ although I suppose it could be said that Number 6 used the gymnasium on three occasions, the third time during ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ when Number 6 is challenged to a bout of Kosho by Number 14, even though both Kosho matches are one and the same. And yet Number 6’s daily activity prognosis indicates that he uses the gymnasium on semi-weekly basis {twice a week} for his Kosho practice. And yet at
7:30am Number 6 has a physical workout using his homemade gymnastic apparatus. One can train as a gymnast in solitude, however Kosho is not something Number 6 can practice alone, he requires an opponent. But semi-weekly, what’s Number 6 practicing Kosho for, is there to be a Kosho tournament, if not then what’s the point?

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A Favourite Scene In the Prisoner

   That would be in ‘Arrival’ when the white membranic Guardian puts in its first appearance. First a small sphere balancing on the waterspout of the fountain, and then growing to its full size 6 feet in circumference on top of the Gloriette. Number 2 gives the order to “Wait, wait be still,” and everyone including the Prisoner stands stock still, no-one is moving……except for a young chap in a striped jersey. But all he does is dash about, he doesn’t run away. The young man seems to be part of a demonstration, a demonstration of power as the Guardian attacks him. In other words step out of line and this is what happens to you. I have always taken this to be a demonstration laid on for the Prisoner’s benefit.
   “What was that?” the Prisoner asks.
   “That would be telling” Number 2 replies.
   But why the order to “Be still?” Perhaps because the Guardian is attracted to movement, that’s why it attacked the young man, who runs out of the pool, spins about, then arms stretched out he backs off facing the Guardian, as though he’s waiting for the inevitable. No attempt is made by the young man to actually run away. So he either volunteered, or was coerced into taking part in this demonstration.


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Wednesday 14 December 2016

Fall Out

    I recall reading an old magazine article that when finally confronted with the truth - that he was Number 1, the Prisoner seemed to go berserk, bringing destruction to The Village before escaping with Number two, the Butler and Number 48. Yes the Prisoner does chase Number 1, I expect he wanted to lay his hands on the man who had held him prisoner in The Village! It seems to me that it was Number 1 who went berserk, charging about the Control Room, and screaming in that maniacal way, before clamouring up the ladder into the nose cone of the rocket. I like to think that Number 1 did that because he had been confronted with the truth that he has Number 6 all the time!

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Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

          “When The Village Clock Strikes 4!”

BcNu

The Therapy Zone

    ‘The Prisoner,’ it hasn’t varied one jot these past 50 years, it remains constant, it does not change. Well let’s face it, it’s hardly likely to, and yet in some ways ‘the Prisoner’ has changed, in appearance at any rate. Visually it’s been re-mastered, put in High Definition, and given more clarity in Blu-ray. So much so it looks as though the series was made yesterday! In some respects all that has helped enthusiasts like myself make observations within the series which were never possible before. And yet there are those who chose to improve ‘the Prisoner’ visually, and at the same time enhance all its shortcomings. But then we knew those shortcomings were there in the first place, it’s just that they were less noticeable then.
    I am reliably informed that ‘the Prisoner’ is once again to be released in a box set for the 50th anniversary. I wonder if enthusiasts can be encouraged to purchase ‘the Prisoner’ yet again? After all I myself, and no doubt many like me, already have the series several times over, both on VHS tape and
DVD, and lest we forget, ‘the Prisoner’ has already been released in what was termed to be the “ultimate” box set. So how can the “ultimate,” meaning last, most significant, most extreme example of its kind, not to be improved upon, be surpassed? I Think the 50th anniversary box set would have to contain something really, really special to encourage enthusiasts to part with their credit units to buy it, but what that could possibly be I’ve absolutely no idea. I should have thought that all and any material appertaining to ‘the Prisoner’ had been all used up. Once upon a time I used to collect anything and everything to do with ‘the Prisoner’ memorabilia, and merchandise. But in more recent years I have been more selective. I’m even going to watch ‘the Prisoner’ for the 50th anniversary in black and white, and via good old fashioned VHS tape, so re-mastering, and digitizing of the series won’t matter one jot.
   So perhaps for me ‘the Prisoner will have changed this time next year, for me at any rate, from colour to good old fashioned black and white. Television companies no longer screen programmes made in black and white, with the exception of black and white films. In producing ‘the Prisoner’ in colour, when people in Britain only had black and white television sets showed a great deal of forethought, and secured the series for the future. Yes ‘the Prisoner’ has endured over the years and decades because of the television series it is. But had the series been filmed in black and white it might never have been repeated on television the number of times it has, especially that in more recent years black and white television series have fallen out of favour. ‘The Prisoner’ may well have been completely forgotten by television companies. Only to be viewed via VHS tape,
DVD, or YouTube! Mind you having written that, when was ‘the Prisoner’ last screened by a television company so that it could be viewed here in Britain? It was screened ITV4 and that was a good number of years ago now. And even then they didn’t use the original animated Penny Farthing commercial bumpers!

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Monday 12 December 2016

The General


    The General thinks the chess pieces aren’t what they might be you know, he said he used to be quite a handyman once. In fact he thinks he’ll carve a chess set for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition.
So the General used to be quite a handyman did he? He was also in the army, we take it the British army judging by his cap, but we don’t know which regiment. Well that’s not really important, I expect someone who has his file knows. The General is wearing his Village badge on his jersey, not on his cap to hide his cap badge, what’s more Number 2 refers to the elderly gentleman as the General. So the man has retained his former rank, as he must surely have retired from the army years ago. And yet Number 6 once played chess with another military man, another elderly gentleman whom Number 2 described as being an ex-Admiral. A General and an ex-Admiral, perhaps that’s why Number 66 wears his Village badge on his naval cap, to hide the badge, and the reason why he is an ex-Admiral, unlike the General Number 54, who doesn’t, and so retains his rank!
   Looking at it another way, we know that names are not supposed to be used in The Village, although at times they are. Both the General and the Admiral act like names, they make the two men individual!

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Point of Observation


   The way the Butler looks down on the cat as he walks past, makes me think that there should be more to it than that, as it seems deliberate. Perhaps the Butler only has the cat to look down upon, where as everyone else looks down at him!

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