Village Life!

    “What do you fancy for desert?”
    “Strawberry cheesecake.”
    “Can’t you be a bit more adventurous than that?”
    “Be careful what you order here.”
    “Why?
    “I once ordered a Knickerbocker Glory.”

    “What’s the matter with that?”
    “Well the waiter filled my slacks with ice cream and stuck a cherry on my hat!”
    “Ah, so a custard tart would be out of the question then!”

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                            “Televised Theatre”

BcNu

The Therapy Zone

    It had to be, a fleet of four Mini-Mokes used in The Village as taxis, which I had decided to replicate via four cardboard cut-outs of the Mini-Moke and is pictured here

http://www.papercraftsquare.com/1965-prisoner-morris-mini-moke-free-vehicle-paper-model-download.html
    I assembled the required tools, a pair of scissors and a knife {tools which I’m informed were outside the pale of the law} together with a six inch ruler, a pot of glue, a few cotton buds, and the cardboard sheet itself, containing the cardboard cut-out. Carefully I scored all the folded lines and glue tabs using the back of the knife and ruler. Then I carefully cut out the first section of, and folded it giving me the front and side panelling of the Mini-Moke. Then I cut out the bonnet section, folding and gluing the glue tabs. It was a delicate operation due to the smallness of the glue tabs, hence the need for cotton buds with which to apply the glue. The bonnet section was then set to one side in order to allow the glue to set. My attention was then directed to the interior and back section of the Mini-Moke, which I cut out, and having folded the glue tabs I tested the fitting together of this section to that of the front and side panelling section. They fitted together perfectly, and I held in my hand the first semblance of a Village taxi. So using a cotton bud I applied glue to the tabs and stuck the two sections together and set the two sections to one side in order for the glue to set. Although I have to say it wasn’t easy gluing the sections, due to the small size of the glue tabs, but then they are in keeping with the scale of the model. Next up was to glue the bonnet section to the already assembled section. Here I soon hit a snag. I attempted to fit the bonnet section to the rest of the assembled section before gluing into place. However the size of bonnet section wasn’t in keeping with the scale of the rest of the model! No matter how I tried I couldn’t fit the bonnet to the space provided between the front grill and where the windscreen section would fit. The bonnet section has a depth of 15mm, whereas the relating section to which it is to be glued is only 12mm. So three mm covered the footwell and steering wheel area of the model, and there was no way I could make the bonnet section fit. I did think to reduce the scale of the bonnet section to make it fit via photocopying it, but that would have made the glue tabs far too small! The only other way would be to enlarge the scale of the rest of the Mini-Moke by photocopying to make the bonnet fit. However having attempted that three times and not being able to enlarge the rest of the Mini-Moke to that of the bonnet section I gave it up as a bad job! As Number 22 once said “Well it was worth a try Number Two!” I don’t know if the creator of this cut-out model of The Village Mini-Moke is aware of this fault or not. However I should have expected him to have actually made the model himself, or at least to check his figures when he was measuring out the model at the planning stage. I did think the fault was mine, but try as I might there is no way I could make the bonnet section fit the engine section of the Mini-Moke. So the sections remain separate on my desk, and likely to remain so until I throw them into the wastepaper basket!

 On the collecting front, I happened into the local Cancer Research charity shop. And whilst perusing the book shelves I found a copy of the book {picture on the left} by Andrew Pixley for the princely sum of £1.30p. The book published in 2008 is a second print {reset} of the book published in 2007 which made up part of the 7 DVD disc set for the 40^th anniversary of ‘the Prisoner.’ The book is clean and looks to have been unread. I’m presuming that this book made up the 6 disc Blu-ray DVD box set, or the 6 disc DVD box set, as it’s a slightly different size to the one I have in the 40^th anniversary DVD box set. It would seem that having bought the 6 disc box set, for some reason the purchaser didn’t want the book, only the discs, and decided to donate the book to the charity shop. I was only too happy to give it a new home within my collection, where it is appreciated.

    

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera!

    “Extraordinary, I’ve never seen anything like that before!”
    “I didn’t think it was possible to do it like that.”
    “What, you mean in that position?”
    “Yes.”
    “Shall I put up camera thirty-four sound and vision?”
    “No, not just yet, I think we’ll watch a little while longer.”
    “Its novel I’ll give them that, I don’t think anyone’s tried that before.”
    “What sat astride a floating tree trunk?”
    “And the paddles?”
    “Two frying pans strapped to two poles. How far upriver do you think they can paddle?”
    “We’ll give them a run for their money but alert Post Ten just in case, then orange alert. In the meantime put up camera thirty-four sound and vision.”
    “Right...................................”

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

    I wonder how Number 1 feels with so many Number 2’s who fail in their tasks? Is he frustrated by it, or is he elated to see Number 6 doing so well? If we are to take it literally that Number 1 and Number 6 are one and the same person, it looks like Number 1 wants Number 6 to suffer for acting the way he had, for resigning for peace of mind, for betraying Number 1’s beliefs. So Number 2 has to put Number 6 though a series of ordeals, as Number 1 wants Number 6 tested to his limit. There might also be an element of punishment involved, but only up to a point. Number 6 mustn’t be broken, they do not want to end up with a man of fragments. Number 6 must be taught the error of his ways.
    The trouble with it is that until ‘Fall Out’ we’re not supposed to know who Number 1 is. If its not Number 6’s other self, then it’s someone else. That someone else would want to know the reason why Number 6 resigned, presumably so that he could pass the answer onto someone back in London. On the other hand, if Number 1 and Number 6 are one and the same, there can be no question as to the resignation. Number 1 should know why Number 6 resigned.

   Does Number 6 feel guilty for that resignation? I don’t know, he probably didn’t take the decision to resign lightly, and agonized over it afterwards as we know. Number 6 wanting peace of mind, how dare he! Number 1 wouldn’t put up with that! Number 1 has power, and position, and Number 6’s resignation is a danger that could take all that power and position away. Number 6 is a danger to The Village!
   We know that Number 1 is Number 6, Number 1 must know he’s Number 6. But the thing is Number 6 doesn’t seem to know he’s Number 1, not until the encounter in ‘Fall out.’ It is said that Number 6 is told he’s Number 1 during the opening sequence, but that all depends on where one places the emphasis. Otherwise Number 2 is simply telling the Prisoner he’s Number 6.
  

Be seeing you

Fake News!

   The security of the Community will be his primary aim, said No.6 in an exclusive interview.

    The forthright candidate for the post of No.2 is determined that the citizens be safeguarded against threats to their welfare.
    “I have every confidence in my chances,” No.6 told our reporter: “I admire No.2 as a man and I pay tribute to his achievements. But the time has come for a change.

    No.6 insisted that it would be a hard fight, “but a clean one.”

   We must put he well being of the Community above everything else, he declared.

    “I did not seek the opportunity to run for our highest office,” said No.6, “But I accepted the call when it came, because it is my duty as a citizen.”
    No.6 said that his platform would be “an opportunity for everyone and freedom for all.”

I shall fight for the rights of all of us, and I shall not shirk the decisions that have to be taken.”

    In a true democracy like our community, every individual has a special responsibility to express his mind by voting for the right candidate.

   No.6 said he believed in absolute frankness with the electorate.

   “Cards on the table is my motto,” he told our reporter. “Everyone has a choice in this matter, and I know they will vote for the candidate who gives it to them straight from the shoulder.

    “To have the vote is a great democratic asset which must not be abused,” No.6 reminded an enthusiastic election meeting. “You must feel free to make your cross in the right place.”

    No.6 said he entered the contests with enthusiasm for a system which gave the ordinary citizen the right to run for the highest office.

     Such is the article by our own reporter, not No.113, written and published at such a time long before Number 6 accepted the suggestion from Number 6 that he was just the sort of candidate The Village needs. Indeed when it comes to the actual interview with Number 6, Number 113 didn’t write one syllable down in his notebook!

Be seeing you

The Prisoner And True Entertainment

   Good news, ‘the Prisoner’ returns to its Sunday afternoon screening next Sunday June 4^th with ‘Checkmate,’ which means ‘True Entertainment’ have missed out the two episodes ‘Many Happy Returns and ‘Dance of The Dead!’

Be seeing you and ‘the Prisoner’ ‘It’s Your Funeral’ tomorrow night at 10pm.

There’s Nothing Coming Through!

   “Are you sure the set’s working?”
   “Yes sir.”
   “Perhaps you haven’t given the valves long enough to warm up?”
   “The set’s working alright sir.”
   “And you’ve tuned it into the right frequency?”
   “Yes sir, there’s nothing coming through.”
   “I so wanted to watch ‘the Prisoner.”
   “There’s something coming through now sir.”
   “What is it?”
   “It’s The Persuaders, I like Roger Moore.”
   “That’s terrible.”
   “How do you mean sir?”
   “I’ll have to wait until tomorrow night now to watch ‘the Prisoner!”

Be seeing you but apparently not the Prisoner thanks to 'True Entertainment!'

I’ll Break This Conspiracy!

    “What’s going on here?”
    “Going on Number Two?”
    “You’ve removed ‘the Prisoner’ from today’s television listings!”
    “Well it’s on in the week so……”
    “What’s that got to do with it?”
    “Well we thought that seeing as Roger Moore has recently passed away we would pay tribute to him.”
    “By screening two episodes of ‘The Persuaders?”
    “Yes.”
    “But you were already screening two episodes of ‘The Persuaders,’ that’s four episodes now!”
    “I think people were getting bored with ‘the Prisoner.”
    “Bored!!!!!! What do you think they’ll be after watching four episodes of ‘The Persuaders?”
    “I didn’t think Number Two.”
    “That’s the trouble, you don’t think. I was looking forward to watching both ‘The General’ and ‘Many Happy Returns.”
    “I’m sorry Number Two.”
    “Sorry doesn’t cut it…….I’ll beak this conspiracy!”

   With apologies to enthusiasts of ‘The Persuaders.’ But True Entertainment have removed ‘the Prisoner’ from their TV listings for today, when only yesterday ‘the Prisoner’ was advertised!

Be seeing you, or rather I will not be seeing ‘the Prisoner’ this afternoon!

A

    “You never could take a hint!”
    “I don't want a hint, I want you.......I'm saving myself money!”      
                                {The Prisoner and A - A B and C}
   So it would appear that there was someone else interested in abducting ZM73. Because even if The Village administration had not had the Prisoner first, 'A' would have had him abducted from Engadine's party...this after the Prisoner had resigned his job. So instead of waking up in The Village, No.6 might have found himself waking up somewhere behind the Iron Curtain, then it might not have been so comfortable for him! There’s just one thing I don’t understand…..why abducting the Prisoner the way he did, was ‘A’ saving himself money?

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                          “Portrait of No.6”

BcNu

Village Life!

   No.113c “Read all about it get your anniversary edition now!”
   No.6 “Anniversary edition?”
   “Yes.”
   “What anniversary?”
   “The fiftieth anniversary of The Tally Ho, it’s been going for fifty years now.”
   “Really!”
    “And it’s reached its fiftieth edition, in fact you might say it’s two times fifty!”
    “That doesn’t seem many does it?!”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Well The Tally Ho is issued daily at noon, seven days a week for fifty years, work it out for yourself!”
    “Look do you want a copy of this anniversary edition or not?”
    “No!”

    “Well clear off and make way for those people who do. Read all about it, get your anniversary edition now.”
    No.38 “What anniversary young man?”
    “The fiftieth anniversary of The Tally Ho, it’s been going for fifty years now, and it’s reached its fiftieth edition.”
    “Is that all?”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Well I’ve lived in The Village for fifty years……….”
    “You must have the very first issue then.”
    “Oh no, I always use the paper to light the fire in the mornings!”
    No.15 “What’s going on here?”
    No.38 “He’s selling anniversary editions of The Tally Ho.”
    “Oh is that all. Today’s Tally Ho is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper!”
    No.113c “Look…….do any of you people want to buy copies of this edition?”
    Voice from the back of the crowd “What did he say?”
    A citizen “He said today’s Tally Ho is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper!”
    “I cut mine up into squares and hang them on a nail in the privy. Trouble is the ink rubs off.”
    “You should use the blank side instead.”
    “Oh I do, but the ink still rubs off on my hand!”
    No.113c “Look….do any of you people want to by a copy of The Tally Ho?”
    {Suddenly the sound of a high pitched siren and two burly looking Guardians arrive on the scene}
    1^st Guardian “Here, here now, what’s going on…..come on now make way there.”
    A citizen “We’re queuing up to buy copies of The Tally Ho.”
    Another citizen “It’s the fiftieth anniversary issue!”
    2^nd Guardian “Never mind all that, you people are blocking the right of way!”
    “And what are you up to?”
    “Trying to sell copies of The Tally Ho if it’s anything to do with you, but no-one’s buying them.”
    “I’m not surprised it’s full of fake news! Now get this contraption shifted, you’re causing an obstruction”
    No.31 “Fake news…… is there such a thing?”
    No.179 “Yes, they make it up as they go along!”
    “I didn’t know that. Let’s go have a cup of tea at the café, and don’t forget, it’s your turn to pay.

Be seeing you

THEPRIS6NER

     It might be imagined that I have given up on THEPRIS6NER, but nothing could be further from the truth. It’s true enough that I’ve not put finger to keyboard to write about the second series, but that’s simply on the grounds that there is less material to work with than there is with the first series, not even 50 minutes per episode! And yet with THEPRIS6NER less is more, more Village!

    2017 is the 7^th anniversary of the British screening of the series, 8 years since its American premier event in New York in 2009. And to celebrate, this April my wife and I screened the series as we do each year. And still today at the end of each episode I’m left wanting More Village, and at the end I want to sit watching it all over again. So I am as much a devoted fan of THEPRIS6NER as I was when I first watched the series back in 2010. In fact I became a fan through watching the ITV previews of the series. Somehow it was just as I imagined it would be. Not filmed in Portmeirion? So what, I personally was prepared for that! No Patrick McGoohan, well there might have been had Ian McKellen not been cast in the role of Two. Because that’s the role Patrick McGoohan wanted. Then what might the critics of the series have had to say? But there is 93, a representation of the former Number 6 played by John White. Or is he the former 93 from ‘A Change of Mind?’ No, Number 6 surely, seeing as he’s the only one who wears that dark jacket with off-white piping like Number 6 in the first series. What it would be for Number 6 to one night go to sleep in his cottage, only to wake up in a strange apartment, although rather reminiscent of his cottage in the original Village, but in a completely unknown and alien Village and find he’s now 93. Its enough to turn a sane man to drink! But why is he there? Certainly not for Two to simply go on asking the question why did he resign? People, in their subconscious are brought to The Village to be made better. Number 6 isn’t mad, well not according to his record. He does appear to suffer from an anguish pattern, that was the doctor-Number 14’s diagnosis in ‘A B And C.’ But 43 years in The Village couldn’t have helped!!!! Certainly there were no alcohol in the original Village, unlike The Village of the second series in which 93 is described as the town drunk, and in one scene 11-12 is seen to be quietly getting drunk in the ‘Go-Inside’ bar. 93 dies in a cave, and thereby escaping The Village, because death is the only escape, and that is true of both Villages. So 93, an old man, a representation of Number 6 died in a cave somewhere out in the desert. He escaped, and yet he’s still a prisoner in the original Village. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Number 6 went to the Green Dome to confront Number 2 about this other place, this other Village. But I suppose that would all depend on whether or not Number 6 had memory of the other Village! And I know, perhaps I shouldn’t be mixing the two series, that’s what the purist fan would say. But perhaps I’m no longer the purist fan of ‘the Prisoner’ I once was.

    “Tell me now, who am I?”
    “You’re Number 6.”
    “I thought you were Number Six.”

    “I’m just Six.”
    “We can’t have two Number 6’s!”
    “Why not?”
    “It says Ninety-three on my jacket.”
    “You represent the former Number 6.”
    “Really.”
    “Well no-one else in The Village wears a jacket like that, so you must be.”
    “I’m unique!”
    “So unique that you are the only citizen of The Village to be brought here from The Village!”
    “The Village being the “other place.”
    “I suppose so.”
    “Like that woman, one of the newcomers, she just got off the bus in The Village, but said she got on the bus in The Village. But this is The Village, she and her children had just arrived!”
    “That’s because there is only The Village.”
    “You are not from here.”
      “I don’t even know how I got to this place.”
    “You are a bloody miracle!”

Breath in Breath out more Village

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera!

   People quietly going about their daily lives, no fuss, no bother, in neither trouble nor strife. One could say they were all living in Harmony!

Be seeing you

Village Life!

    “Haven’t you finished painting that wall yet?”
    “No sir.”
    “Well what have you been doing all morning?”
    “I’ve been busy.”
    No.53 “Not busy painting this wall obviously!”
    “Who’s your funny friend?”
    “How many tea breaks have you had this morning?”
    “Tea breaks, that’s a laugh. I’m working to my limit here you know!”
    “Doesn’t look like it.”
    “Twice now I’ve been asked if I painted this wall, and twice I’ve had to paint it again because it’s not been satisfactory.”
    “How difficult can it be to paint a wall?”
    “You tell me mate!”

    “Well you’re not painting the Sistine Chapel!”

    “You’d think it was, the amount of fuss that’s been made over it!”
    “Well don’t leave that ladder lying there, remember health and safety.”
    “Why don’t you go and get……”
    “Yes?”
    “……….. me a cup of tea, milk and two sugars and leave me to finish this wall!”

    “Well we’ll be seeing you Forty-two.”
    “Not if I see you first you won’t!”

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera!

   Previously two instances have been observed in the early stages of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ when Number 6 appears to be in two places at the same time. First he’s seen standing on the balcony of the Green Dome, when Number 6 is still in bed, and on the second occasion Number 6 is seen standing on top of the stone Bandstand just before he leaves the Green Dome. However there is a third occasion, when in an aerial view of the central area of The Village Number 6 can be seen running along the road, moments before Number 6 is seen returning to his cottage!
   Is this a case of a 6 impersonator in The Village? Or is it Curtis at large as he begins to live his role as Number 6? Or perhaps Number 1 is enjoying the freedom of The Village while Number 6 is otherwise engaged?!

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                     “Portrait of The Colonel”

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

    I wonder how Number 1 feels with so many Number 2’s who fail in their tasks? Is he frustrated by it, or is he elated to see Number 6 doing so well? If we are to take it literally that Number 1 and Number 6 are one and the same person, it looks like Number 1 wants Number 6 to suffer for acting the way he had, for resigning for peace of mind, for betraying Number 1’s beliefs. So Number 2 has to put Number 6 through a series of ordeals, as Number 1 wants Number 6 tested to his limit. There might also be an element of punishment involved, but only up to a point. Number 6 mustn’t be broken, they do not want to end up with a man of fragments. Number 6 must be taught the error of his ways.
    The trouble with it is that until ‘Fall Out’ we’re not supposed to know who Number 1 is. If its not Number 6’s other self, then it’s someone else. That someone else would want to know the reason why Number 6 resigned, presumably so that he could pass the answer onto someone back in London. On the other hand, if Number 1 and Number 6 are one and the same, there can be no question as to the resignation. Number 1 should know why Number 6 resigned. Number 1 may well be punishing Number 6 for his betrayal of his own beliefs, and so making him suffer.
   Does Number 6 feel guilty for that resignation? He probably didn’t take the decision to resign lightly, and agonized over it afterwards. Number 6 wanting peace of mind, how dare he? Number 1 wouldn’t put up with that! Number 1 has power, and position, and Number 6’s resignation is a danger that could take all that power and position away! Number 6 is a danger to The Village!
   We know that Number 1 is Number 6, Number 1 must know he’s Number 6. But the thing is Number 6 doesn’t seem to know he’s Number 1! It is said that Number 6 is told he’s Number 1 during the opening sequence, but that all depends on where one places the emphasis. Otherwise Number 2 is simply telling the Prisoner he’s Number 6.
  

Be seeing you

Bureau of Visual Records

    Number 6 is, as far as we know, the only citizen in The Village to concern himself about Number1, perhaps unlike Number 2 he’s not an optimist!
   “I am definitely an optimist” Number 2 tells Number 6, “That’s why it doesn’t matter who Number One is. It doesn’t matter which side runs The Village.”
   These are two fundamental questions to Number 6. But the two men do have something in common, they both know too much, that they are both lifers. Number 6 is obviously staying, while Number 2 is allowed to leave The Village although the one is just as much a prisoner as the other. Because there is more than one way of being a life prisoner of The Village beyond The Village itself. In this Number 2 is not alone, there is also the Colonel and Fotheringay to name but two, as well as Cobb in ‘Arrival.’

Be seeing you

Thought For The Day

    In having changed the minds of two people through mind transference, namely Number 6 and the Colonel in ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling,’ and supposing a reversal process was needed, what if Seltzman had not been able to develop a reversal process? The Village would have been left with the mind of their choosing in Number 6’s body. They could have then briefed the Colonel about Number 6, and then all that remained would be to release him back into the outside world. The only trouble is ZM73 had already handed in his resignation about a year earlier, and no longer worked for British Intelligence! But then if he were to marry Janet Portland, he’d become Sir Charles Portland’s son-in-law, and might be able to get his old job back within the department!

Be seeing you

Prismatic Reflection

   This particular “imprint” of The Tally Ho has now reached its 50^th anniversary with this, its 50^th  issue. I say imprint because there have long since been other such Tally Ho magazines and newsletters over the years. It’s really quite remarkable that The Tally Ho has survived for so long, because when I published the first four page issue, never did I think the paper would evolve into the paper it has become. Nor could I have envisaged how popular the paper would turn out to be amongst enthusiasts for ‘the Prisoner,’ especially when taking the Internet into consideration. That is part of the reason why I originally published The Tally Ho in its “retro” format, also the fact that readers would be able to hold it in their hands. During the late 70’s and  even into the mid 1990’s such newsletters and magazines were being published by ‘Prisoner’ enthusiasts in ‘Prisoner’ local groups of Six of One the length and breath of Britain. Today I believe The Tally Ho is the last of its kind to be published. Yes its several sheets of paper simply stapled together, but it’s the content that matters. You can produce a wonderful looking glossy magazine, but if there’s nothing of interest in it…
            Another reason for originally producing The Tally Ho was simply because I wanted to do something in connection to ‘the Prisoner.’ So who were the original recipients of the newsletter? I merely sent copies out to friends four times a year, and still do so today, while other readers have become firm friends through receiving The Tally Ho. But isn’t the title of the newsletter a little obvious? Well it’s in keeping with the name of The Village broadsheet, although I did toy with the titles of ‘Village Weekly,’ ‘Village Mercury,’ and ‘Tally Ho Journal,’ all of which can be seen in the episodes ‘Arrival,’ ‘Hammer Into Anvil,’ and ‘It’s Your  Funeral.’ Obviously ‘Village Weekly’ wasn’t right as there was no way I could publish the newsletter on a weekly basis, I almost chose ‘Tally Ho Journal’ for the title, and I do still like it. So what did the first issue I published look like? Well the readers of that issue, who have remained faithful to The Tally Ho will know, and may have retained each issue since. But for readers who are more recent to the paper I have reproduced it on the  following four pages. I had to photocopy it from the original paper, because I did not bother to keep copies of the early issues on disc, as I didn’t think the paper would gain new readers, or that a “back number service” of previous issues would ever be required. Yes the issue is naïve, there’s a good deal of “white space” as I call it, and the pictures could have been larger, but I had never produced a newsletter before and had to start somewhere. And at the time when the first issue went to print the printer was playing up, hence green being the dominant colour in the pictures! But it was topical in one respect in at the time Prime Minister Tony Blair called for “Increased Vigilance Call!” That I thought to be very Villagesque! Also readers who attended this years Prisoner Convention held at Portmeirion can compare it to the report of the 2005 Convention. In fact some readers of The Tally Ho will have been there, but perhaps not read that particular brief report!
   At the same time I started producing The Tally Ho, being a fan of ‘Danger Man,’ for a short time I published ‘The Jolly Roger” which only ran for a few issues, because as well as The Tally Ho, I was working on two manuscripts regarding ‘the Prisoner,’ and carrying out a good deal of research at the same time, and so it became a question of time. So something had to give, and that was ‘The Jolly Roger!’
   So what of the future for The Tally Ho? Well as long as there are enthusiasts of ‘the Prisoner’ out there who want to read it, and as long as I am inspired to do so, it will be my pleasure to keep publishing the paper on a quarterly basis. I have to admit that in the beginning it was a struggle because I was producing all the content myself. It was my dream that readers themselves would make contributions to the paper, it took several years to achieve that. The paper has come a long way since that first issue, having grown in both size and reputation. And now a number of readers send in their contributions which I always enjoy reading, as well as publish. Only once did I refuse to publish an item, on the grounds I found it to be completely inappropriate, and libellous! I always try my best to encourage people to contribute to the Tally Ho. Firstly as the editor it makes my task that much easier, and secondly I know that people have interesting and fascinating things to write about ‘the Prisoner,’ which other people enjoy reading, but who perhaps do not necessarily feel the need to respond to {that can be frustrating in some quarters} or even to contribute themselves. So there it is, The Tally Ho, a brief history of the paper in its current format enjoyed by a modest readership which has fluctuated over the years. Well some people became no longer interested in either the newsletter or ‘the Prisoner’ itself! 

    Readers will have observed a change with this issue in that the Village font type is only used on four pages, that is because those pages had been printed before I took the decision to change the font to Times New Roman which is the correct font type for The Tally Ho, or Bookman Old Style in a couple of cases according to space used on a page. I am guilty of liking, and using the Village font too much. But it was wrong for The Tally Ho, and I knew it was wrong. However when I was writing the front page story and added the image of The Tally Ho half page, the type for the paper was blatantly obviously wrong, hence the change.
    Of course it’s said that the print font for The Village is Alberta with a modified ‘e’ and that is reflected on sign posts and wall posters around The Village, and yet that font is not used for The Tally Ho. Even the numbers on the badges worn in The Village are not Alberta, not even “Village font,” but FUTURA BOOK!  

Be seeing you                                                                                                            

The Schizoid Man

    Tonight on ‘True Entertainment’ at ten o’clock I can watch ‘The Schizoid Man,’ I grant you there’s nothing unusual in that. However, I shall also be watching ‘The Schizoid Man’ along with ‘The General’ on Sunday as ‘True Entrainment’ continues their second screening of ‘the Prisoner.’
   It’s rather a novelty really, to be able to watch a live television screening the same episode within three days, but the third screening of the episode before the second. Its rather like ‘The Schizoid Man,’ one can be either, the other way round, or simply both.

Be watching The Schizoid Man – Be seeing you

THE TALLY HO

   50th Anniversary Edition!
                           by our own reporter

   Its been 50 years since The Tally Ho first appeared as a broad- sheet in ‘the Prisoner.’ In the series there were no less than 6 issues seen on screen, although one might argue there were 7 issues. But the same issue was used for both ‘A B And C,’ and ‘The Schizoid Man,’ first for the headline ‘Is No.2 fit For Further Term?’ The second for the date Feb10th, although the date does appear in both episodes, as does the headline, which only leads to confusion amongst enthusiasts for ‘the Prisoner.’ And that raises the question, can the reader believe anything they read in the Tally Ho? Because the above issue actually contained “fake news!” True enough No.6 was interviewed briefly by a contributor to The Tally Ho No.113, and his photograph taken by No.113b. However not on word of that interview appeared in the above article, and No.6 didn’t speak his mind because the article in question had already been written and published. Even the photograph isn't right, because No.6 is pictured in mufti, when he should be pictured wearing his piped jacket and 6 rosette! And what exactly are “the facts behind Town Hall?” I don’t know of anyone who actually knows!
     Since late 1978 The Tally Ho title has been adopted for numerous newsletters and magazines published in both America and Britain by enthusiasts, to be read by fans of ‘the Prisoner.’ Suffice to say that all past “hard copy” forms of The Tally Ho have long since became part of Prisoner appreciation history. However The Tally Ho does still survive on-line at http://www.match-cut.de/tho/tallyho66.htm and at http://prisoner.gigacorp.net/tallyho.html . And then in 2005 The Tally Ho suddenly reappeared as a “hard copy” 4 page newsletter, which was distributed to a number of enthusiasts of ‘the Prisoner’ which contained news and information. But why bother to produce a retro looking newsletter, when enthusiasts have numerous web sites relating to ‘the Prisoner’ at their finger tips? I put this to the editor of the paper.
  “I simply wanted to publish such a newsletter. One that people can get their hands on, and sit relaxed in a comfy armchair with a cup of coffee or tea to read it, instead of sitting there staring at a screen. I like the  retro look of The Tally Ho, besides it wouldn’t be cost effective for me to publish a glossy magazine.” It’s a question of quantity over quality. “Exactly. Its no good producing a nice looking, full glossy magazine if the contents are of poor quality. That’s one thing about this current Tally Ho, as it has matured the issues have become bumper packed with interesting and informative articles, news, as well as being amusing, entertaining and dead interesting!” So you say. “Well ask the readers, just ask the readers, a number of whom have become regular contributors to the newsletter. Did I say newsletter, its content is more like a magazine.” So you say! “So said a couple of readers, but I like to think of it as a paper, or journal.”
   So what is the idea behind The Village broadsheet being called The Tally Ho? Who is “our own reporter”? “Tally Ho” is a huntsman's cry to the chasing pack of hounds on sighting a fox. In The Village, more often than not, its No.6 who ends up being chased by the pack! And “our own reporter”? Could it really have been someone like me, rather then No.113 who interviewed No.6, who sits in an office writing up columns such as this off the top of his head? Well someone had to have written up that article called “No.6 Speaks His Mind,” because he did no such thing, well not to The Tally Ho he didn’t. The article was made up in order to make No.6 sound good, otherwise no-one may have voted for him and he wouldn’t have been elected as the new No.2. A position he couldn’t hold for 5 minutes!

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Page 5

    5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 just checking the profundity. But 5 that’s me, not............... 5 that’s me! But is that Number 5, or my age? My age I shouldn’t wonder, after all the Prisoner’s mind had been regressed back to his childhood, just in time to begin going to school and that would be at the age of 5 in those days. I’m higher than 86, I’m higher than.............Number 7, but that’s not saying much, there’s no number 7 in The Village. And I’m not as high as 2, he’s second only to one, unless 1 is low, like the ace in a suit of cards, aces can be high or low, that being the case 1 could be the lowest of the low. And he’s no longer the boss, making me four points higher and more important than 1!

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What’s Going On Here?

  Going on Number 2? Well to begin with, you’re disrupting the work of the Observers, seeing as you’ve managed to turn everyone’s head away from their monitors! The Supervisor-Number 26 who is the most capable of the Supervisors appears to have been given an assistant, Number 60. But the trouble is, the Supervisor who also acts as a radio DJ made a mistake, he read out a bogus birthday greeting for Number 6, when it wasn’t even his birthday. But how was the Supervisor to have known that? He simply read out over the public address system what was put before him. And for that you finished him, and promoted Number 60 to the position of Supervisor. If Number 60 hadn’t been second to the Supervisor in the first place, you wouldn’t have been able to do that. You wouldn’t have been able to relieve Number 26 from his position because there wouldn’t have been anyone for you to promote in his place!
   So what’s going on here Number 2? Misunderstanding, trickery, contrivance, mismanagement on your part! There are no enemies in your midst, only the ones you create yourself, but much more than that there is no conspiracy against you or The Village. You are the unwitting subject of acts of jamming, that’s what’s been going on and will continue to go one. What’s more since you refused Number 1’s offer of further assistance, you’ve been hung out to dry!

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A Favourite Scene In The Girl Who Was Death

    There is no end to Number 6’s talents, but since when had he become a child minder, and whose children was he minding? One can only hazard a guess as to whether this was a one-off, or how many previous times Number 6 had sat there telling the three children his stories. But he did promise the children that he would return the next evening, as he didn’t think he had any other important appointments. Whether he did or not is unknown, but since he knew that Number 2 had been watching all along, it no longer mattered whether he did or whether he didn’t. But no doubt a family was engaged to get Number 6 to child mind for them, under the guidance of Number 2. But why Number 6 should take on such a task we don’t know. Although he has been known to be of assistance to people from time to time, just ask Alison-Number 24 of ‘The Schizoid Man.’ Perhaps he saw it as a harmless occupation, and he might have liked children!

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Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                    “Sometimes In My Dreams!”

BcNu

Quote For The Day

    “Jamming”
    “You mean domestic science?”
    “You’ll learn about Jamming one of these days, it’s one of the most important ways of fighting back!” 
                                     {Number50 and Number 6 – It’s Your Funeral}

    One day Number 6 will learn all about Jamming. But isn’t it possible that he is the original jammer? After all look at all those false activities he carried out, and Number 2 fell for each one in turn. It was Number 6’s jamming activities which brought Number 2 to a nervous breakdown! In my opinion there were certain citizens who observed Number 6’s jamming activities and having taken his example, they began carrying out such nonexistent plots to confuse the Observers.
   But what should Number 50-Monique know of Jamming? It’s possible that although she no longer has a mother, Number 50 is a child born in The Village. Unless of course, the Watchmaker and his family were brought to The Village together, if so it might be that the Watchmaker came to The Village voluntarily. But then the latter does not automatically preclude the former!
    As for the Watchmaker, he’s not one for jamming, he’s a dangerous radical, an anarchist who will take the hard line in order to make his protest. He’s met no-one in The Village who has committed a crime, does that mean he has committed no crime either? And when it comes to crimes, people may not have committed a criminal act, but a moral one in the eyes of The Village administration, as in the case of Number 53 the electrical engineer who invented a defence system. His moral crime was to think that all nations should have it, as it would have ensured World peace. As for The Prisoner all he did was resign!

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