Rover MK II

    Was it Number 6, Patrick McGoohan, or the scriptwriter Terence Feely who gave the Guardian a name, Rover. It might well have started as an in-joke, because of the way the Guardian behaved, acting like a guard dog, or a retriever. In the series Rover is a name which did not stick, only in the minds of its devotees. Before ‘The Schizoid Man’ the Guardian had no name, it wasn’t even referred to as the guardian, in fact it wasn’t referred to in anyway. The word guardian only refers to the human guardians, not to that membranic thing. In ‘Arrival’ the Prisoner asked Number 2 What was that?” “That would be telling” Number 2 replied. And after ‘The Schizoid Man’ the Guardian went back to its anonymity and was only referred to once more, when in ‘Once Upon a Time’ Number 2 told Number 1 that he could remove that thing! So if it had not been for ‘The Schizoid Man’ the Guardian wouldn’t have had a name, would have been hardly referred to at all!

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                    “You ain’t seen me, right!”

BcNu

The Tally Ho

   It’s A Question of Time For No.2!
                                    by our own reporter  

   No.6 thought it was a question of time, when No.2 could never remember whether it was one lump or two. No.6 suggested that it was in his file, as a matter of fact yes, but it would have saved time if No.6 had just told him. To which No.6 suggested that No.2 might be running out of time! According to No.2 it’s all down to the question of biscuits, and the recent round of Government cuts. During an interview with No.2, I observed that there were no biscuits with the tea. "It's the Government cuts!" said No.2 “ They've cut the Village funding, saying far too much money is being spent on bickies, especially the proper ones, the ones with the cream inside!"   This No.2, who was due to take part in an experiment of a new drug developed by No.14. the drug being new had not been tested on animals, let alone humans. Such was the time scale, that the experiment had to be brought forward. No.14 said that she needed all of a week, but No.2 had not been given a week, he only had three days! "I haven't got a week, I've got three days. “Government cuts in Village funding continue, and are taking their toll. If we're not careful, we'll all be out of a job!" as No.2 says

  "A week! You don't want to damage him!"     It might have been more frugal for the Village Administration to have maintained a single No.2, instead of having the massive turnover in Village Chairmen. It costs a great deal to keep ferrying in new, and despatching old No.2’s. To make no mention of the time it takes to recruit a candidate for the position in the first place, and not always from the British Civil Service. One particular No.2 wasn’t at all happy having been brought back to the Village for a second term of office. This No.2 did try and save money by cutting straight to the chase, to deal with the problem of No.6 once and for all, through the process known as “Degree Absolute.” No.2 was not at all happy, as he was only given a week! What’s more he noticed that there weren’t any biscuits with the tea or coffee anymore! “If we're not all very careful” said No.2 “it will not just be a question of there being no more bickies. There won't be any more tea, coffee, even the future of the Village will be dubious !"  It would seem that the Village’s very existence has come under threat in the latest round of Government cuts. As you can see from the above photograph, building work has come to a stop on one of the cottages, which at the time was under conversion for a new arrival here in the Village. Savings of some 11.5 billion pounds have to be saved from Government spending. And a question was raised in the House of Commons about the installation known as the Village. The question appertained to whether or not the Village was good value for money? This led to the idea that The Village should be closed down, which would make an annual saving of 1 billion pounds a year. But then it was suggested by the Home secretary that to actually close The Village would raise a number of problems, not only in causing further spending in order to re-house many of the Villages citizens, and the possible long term hospitalisation of Village patients. But also the question of a rise in unemployment, brought about by the people who actually worked in The Village on a day to day basis, being placed on Jobseekers Allowance, and that would make more costs. Also there would be the  question of repatriation of the French, Poles, Czechs, and others of  foreign nationals must be taken into consideration. To make no mention of the task and cost of the actual demolition of the Village itself. So it was the opinion of the Home Secretary that to keep the Village in operation would save the Government a rise in employment, and make an instant cut in NHS spending, and any embarrassing questions through the repatriation of a number of foreign nationals. That perhaps better savings could be made, if members of the House of Commons bought their own biscuits in the first place! 

Be seeing you

Fall In At The 50th

May the sun shine on you today and everyone enjoy themselves at the

Fall In

BCNU

The Pri50ner At Fifty!

Sgt. Pepper of the Village 

                               by Nr6DE                                    

It was fifty years ago today

Pat McGoohan taught the band to play
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile
So may I introduce to you
The act you've know for all these years
Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band...

It's Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band
We hope you will enjoy the show
It's Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band
Sit back and let the evening go
Pat McGoohan's Village, Pat McGoohan's Village
Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band

It's wonderful to be see'n you
It's certainly a thrill
It's such a lovely ambience
We'd like to take you HOME with us
We'd love to take you HOME

I don't really want to stop the show

But I thought that you might like to know
That the Prisoner's going to sing a song
And he wants you all to sing along
So let me introduce to you
The one and only Number 6...
And Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band

It's Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band

We'd like to thank you once again

It's Pat McGoohan's only Village Hearts Club Band
It's getting very near the end

Pat McGoohan's Village, Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band
Pat McGoohan's Village Hearts Club Band

Village Life!

   “What’s the book?”

   “It’s called ‘A Metempiric Look At The Nineteen Sixties Television Series The Prisoner.”
   “Really, what’s it about?”
   “The Prisoner, which reaches its fiftieth anniversary today.”
   “Read something from it for me.”
    “To the question of why did the Prisoner resign, Number Two’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 Two 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 Two’s next question?”
    “So it’s about me!”
    “Well it’s not all about you.”
    “But mostly it’s about me.”

    “It’s about the Prisoner………….”
    “That’s me.”
    “……….. as the author attempts to discover the truth and meaning behind the series.”
    “When was this book published?”
    “September twenty-ninth twenty-seventeen.”
    “That’s impossible!”
    “Why?”
    “Is that a question he tries to answer?”
    “Ah…….just a minute……ah yes he does under the heading ‘The General.”
    “What does he say?”
    “Poor old General! It couldn’t answer Six’s question of why question mark, because there was a lack of sufficient basic facts that’s why! And that’s what Number Six hit on when Number Two said “The General can answer any question given the basic facts.” And yet computers just don’t blow their circuits and self-destruct when they cannot answer a question. The scene of the General self-destructing, with the Professor attempting to turn it off, and Number Twelve attempting to save the Professor, is visually dramatic. Had the General simply come out with an answer such as there is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer,” quoted from the Isaac Asimov short story ‘The Last Question’ then visually that would have seemed like something of an anti-climax to the episode. Also had the General not self-destructed, then the Professor would not have died, and therefore not Number Twelve who would have gone on to be uncovered by Number Two as being a traitor and conspirator with Number 6. And the educational experiment of Speedlearn would have gone on virtually uninterrupted, once the Professor had endured a little more mild therapy of course. So in the end the General had to be destroyed, even if Number Six had not involved himself, the Professor wanted the General destroyed, and therefore would have found another way….eventually.”
    “Interesting!”
    “What does it mean?”
    “It means the author has a remarkable grasp of events. But why life here should be documented in a book, for the author to try and make meaning out of it I don’t know. It also means we have been prisoners here in The Village for the past fifty years!”
    “But you don’t look a day over thirty-eight!”
    “And we’ve been sat here listening to the band on no less than fifty occasions!”
    “Without realizing it?”
    “Until now. What’s the last line in the book?”
    “Just a minute………… ah here we are. In the Prisoner’s end is his beginning!”
    “Bugger!”

Be seeing you

Fifty Years of The Pri50ner!

   “Appreciation Day” This is the day ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the great day when we show our appreciation of the series we all love and know so well - The Prisoner.

    The Prisoner reached the 50^th anniversary of the British screening today, Friday September 29th, exact to the day as it was in 1967. Today NETWORK are holding their one day special event to celebrate the anniversary in Portmeirion, and will be screening ‘Arrival’ at the precise time as it was screened in 1967. Although not everyone in Britain watched ‘Arrival’ on this day 50 years ago, as only two regions of ITV’s television network screened the episode, those of ATV Midlands and Grampian. After today the screening of ‘Arrival’ was staggered {as indeed was the screening of the whole series} by the rest of ITV’s regional network between October 1^st and October 27^th, by which time ATV Midlands and Grampian were already up to ‘The Schizoid Man’ in the series.

    I myself did not see ‘Arrival’ until October 6^th, so I’m looking forward to commencing a screening of ‘the Prisoner’ on that date and in black and white via a good old fashioned video player. My screening will also include the two week break in January 2018 to screen the two episodes of ‘Danger Man – Koroshi and Shinda Shima’ originally used as a stopgap in the screening caused by a delay in production of ‘the Prisoner.’ Also my wife suggested it would be a novel idea to watch my film ‘Village Day’ {produced in 1998-99} after ‘Fall Out as the 18^th episode of the series. The idea came to my wife because it was suggested in an email from a person who had been making copies of ‘Village Day’ who said it’s the 18^th episode of ‘the Prisoner.’ I should perhaps explain, for those who do not know, some hardcore fans of ‘the Prisoner’ have been somewhat passionate regarding a possible 18^th episode to ‘the Prisoner’ over the years.

  

   Will I be watching an episode of ‘the Prisoner’ this evening in order to celebrate the 50^th anniversary? No! Because for me the series does not begin until October 6^th, nevertheless the day will be marked with a mixture of music via LP and 45 records, and dialogue from cd’s.

Be seeing you

The Harmony Chronicle

Living In Harmony! 

                                       by our own reporter

   Living In Harmony! by our own reporter  “Living In Harmony” that’s got to be the biggest joke I’ve heard this month! How the town’s people of Harmony can live with themselves beats me. Only today there was another killing in town, Sam Bennett a local rancher was gunned down in the Silver Dollar saloon by the Kid.The Kid’s a two-bit gunslinger, a psychopathic killer who’d gun down anyone that dares cross his path as soon as look at ‘em! They do say the clothes he wears are from the men he’s murdered, and today he murdered another good man. Along with Les “two guns” Crawford, Frank “shoot ‘em up” Maher, and Bill Nick, the Kid is in the pay of the Judge, he owns Harmony and most of the people who live in it!  Well I tell you good people of this town, there ain’t no law and order here in Harmony. Only two days ago the Johnson boy was strung up right here in this town on the hanging tree, and for what? Selling whisky to the Indians! Now Sam Bennett has been gunned down like a dog, and in front of witnesses! No-one lifted a finger to help Bennett, all they said was that Sam drew first! Well I can’t believe it. Sam Bennett was a rancher, the only time he took his gun out of it’s holster was to scare off Coyotes, or use it to hammer a nail into a fence post! What this town needs is some proper law and order. The Judge is corrupt and someone’s gotta stand up against him, and by thunder if no-one ain’t got the spunk for the job I’ll do it myself. Because if there’s something else this town needs it’s people with backbone, and courage to face up to the Judge’s two-bit, no good, murdering gunslingers! Hot dog, we’ve gotta make Harmony a place fit to live, where families can be raised. A place where it’s safe to walk down the street without being shot at, robbed, assaulted, or raped.
   A drifter came to town a few days ago, a low down skunk smelling high plains drifter. And what happened? The Judge went and made him Sheriff! And what won’t the Sheriff do, he won’t wear a gun! But he did something that none of the town’s people have ever done, he stood up to both the Kid and the Judge. Todd Chandler reported  to me that this stranger punched the Kid in the face and left him to crawl away in the dust on the floor of the Silver Dollar saloon like the snake he is. I’d have given top dollar to have seen that. There was a fight in the street, right outside the Jailhouse. Zeke and more of the Judge’s varmnts attacked the sheriff. The Sheriff took a real beating, but he beat them, he gave them a walloping the like of which the Judge’s men have never had before. If only the sheriff would get some guns on! By jiminy then we’d clean up this town. The ones that weren't gunned down,  we’d hang ‘em and hang ‘em high that’s what we’d do. As for the Judge, he’s such an ornery critter, he’d be fixed for a good horse whipping! Then we’d tie him onto the back of a horse and skedaddle him out of town. But first the Sheriff’s gotta get some guns on before someone else in this town is murdered! So what about it Sheriff?
————————————————————————
  Price Of Horse   Flesh Rises!
   The rising price of horseflesh in Harmony is a grave concern to the townspeople. Ira Knight, owner of the Livery Stables is said to be selling horses for $5,000, and the rest are expensive! There’s always someone out to make a fast buck! But it seems to me that Ira Knight has priced his horses out of the market!

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

“How’s The Water Number Six?”

BcNu

Bureau of Visual Records

   Part of the walls of the control room are covered in a huge map of the world, opposite which is an astrological map of part of the universe. The reason for this is not given, however it is quite plausible that the village keeps an eye on the rest of the world. Of course there are external agents working for The Village the globe over, which brings us nicely to the pair of the World and Astral globes which once upon a time would come in pairs. This might be reference to those as demonstrated upon the circular wall of the control room, reflecting the ancient world and astral globes.

     The number of world globes seen upon the desk in the control room of the rocket in ‘Fall Out’ seem to have no purpose there, save to disguise the fact that there is still the aerial map of London, which Professor Schnipps used to demonstrate the destruction of the capital during the briefing of his troops during the episode of ‘The Girl Who Was Death.’

Be seeing you

Quote For The Day

    “Beautiful day.”
    “They didn’t settle down for ages, now they wouldn’t leave for the world!”
                                       {Two citizens and Number 2 Arrival}

    I wonder just how long that old couple have been in The Village, before the war, since the war, which war? And why were they brought to The Village in the first place? Did they go of their own volition, not realizing what they were walking into? Or perhaps they were abducted together, as man and wife, but who were they and why are they in The Village? Don’t you wonder? I sometimes wonder, and perhaps a short story could be woven around them. They are obviously too old for escape, and perhaps they no longer have anywhere to go even if they could. Number 2 said they didn’t settle for ages, so they resisted but were eventually brought round to Number 2’s way of thinking. Oh not this one, but one of his predecessors. Perhaps they were like the Professor and his wife in that they went to The Village voluntarily, and when they got there it wasn’t at all what they expected! On the face of it The Village is well presented as a charming, peaceful, and picturesque place. But beauty is only skin deep and it’s what lies beneath the surface that matters.

Be seeing you

Village Life!

    “Here is an announcement, would all those taking part in the Prisoner’s question time please go to the Hercules Hall immediately. I repeat, All those taking part in the Prisoner’s question time please go to the Hercules Hall immediately as the competition is about to commence.”
   “What do you think, should we go?”
   “How well do you know the Prisoner?”
   “As well as anyone can know it.”
   “What colour trilby hat does Number 9 wear in Arrival?”
   “Red.”
   “How many times does Number 58 slap Number 6 in Free For All?”
   “Seven. Now I’ll ask you a question, what time is it when the clock strikes in A Change of Mind?”
    “Four.”
    “Who thinks six if the Prisoner’s lucky number?”
    “The woman in Number Six’s dream.”
    “Is that woman Mrs. Butterworth or not?”
    “Yes.....no.......I.......I’m not sure.”
    “In the dreamy party how many oranges are being juggled?”
    “Oranges?”
    “Not easy is it?”
    “Another tea?”
    “It might be best!”
   
Be seeing you

50 Years of The Prisoner!

Where am I?
In Oakville Ontario

What do you want?

We want information, information, information

You won’t get it

By hook or by crook we will

Who are you?
The new Number Two

Who Is Number One?
You are Number Six

   On September 23^rd 2017 a party in Oakville Ontario took place, and I am privileged to post a few of the photographs taken. The party-goers threw themselves into their roles of Number 6, Number 2, the Supervisor, and citizens of The Village, all in costume. The party was policed by Rover, just in case anyone attempted to escape, carry out acts sabotage, or jamming!

Arrival, or escape deepening on how you look at it!

No.2 meets with No. 6 for the first time.

Two interim No.2’s, past or present?

    Where did they get George from, a people’s copying service? He’s a great look-a-like for the Supervisor Peter Swanwick! If The Village ever need a new Supervisor he's got the part!

   Rover, to serve and protect, as well as stopping No.6 from escaping!

The collective citizens in a group photograph.

   For more pictures please click on the following link.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jnotz42nkahku8i/AAADB8pY8Id8JipQA35jkjFPa?dl=0#

   It’s great to see enthusiasts for ‘the Prisoner’ organizing their own party in order to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of ‘the Prisoner.’ It certainly looks like everyone had a wonderful time.

Be seeing you

A Favourite Scene In Dance of The Dead

   “You make the most of your opportunities, you don’t blame us for doing the same.”
    “Meow.”
    “Ah she’s taken to you, I’m jealous. Oh she’s mine, she works here too. She’s very efficient, almost ruthless.”

   So the cat belongs to Number 2, that’s nice. Does that mean, seeing as how ‘Dance of the Dead’ was originally to have been the second episode and thereby preceding ‘Many Happy Returns,’ that when this particular Number 2 left The Village she left her cat behind. I write left The Village, but did something darker happen to Number 2 for her to leave her cat in The Village? Because when Mrs Butterworth enters Number 6’s cottage the cat is at her feet! As it is at the end of this scene the cat is left behind, locked in the mortuary, wants what we all want ultimately…to escape!

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera!

    Number 14 ordered the two men bringing in the unconscious Number 6, to take off their wet boots and macs. 14’s brusque manner, the way she gave the order made me wonder where they found her in order to bring her to The Village! If that is so, her English is very good, and not a hint of accent. It makes one wonder where she developed this new wonder drug of hers. Anyway, those boots and macs, they didn’t look wet to me, neither for that matter does that oilskin sheet covering the subject. And yet it’s been raining outside as a thunder storm rages on, hence 14’s order.

Be seeing you 

Too Old For Escape!

   That’s what Number 14 told Number 6, too old for escape, that he used chess to keep his mind alert. Well he wasn’t too old to join Number 6’s reliable men, or to show no fear towards the white membranic Guardian as it passed by. Mind you after Number 14 had put him onto how to distinguish between the prisoners and the waders, Number 6 may well have felt obliged to take him along! But just as Number 14 had himself once used his method of distinguishing between the prisoners and the warders by their attitude towards him in order to try and escape and had failed, so too Number 6. If he doesn’t watch it, one day Number 6 will be too old for escape. And yet by that time he may well have realized that all possible ways of escape have been long been tried and exhausted!

Be seeing you

Fall Out

   In an interview with Mike Smith during the television programme ‘TV’s Greatest Hits’ in 1982 Patrick McGoohan claimed the telephone lines at ATV were jammed by angry viewers after the screening of ‘Fall Out,’ just when was that? Because the screening of ‘Fall Out’ was staggered over ITV’s regional television network, which commenced on Scottish Television on the 1^st of February 1968.

February 2^nd – ATV Midlands and Grampian.

February 4^th ATV London, Southern Television, Tyne Tees, Westward, and Channel. February 9^th Border

February 10^th Anglia {which is when I saw it}.

March 1^st Granada
   I cannot imagine that each screening in turn brought about the jamming of telephone lines by angry television viewers. If what McGoohan claimed was right, then it would have been the Scots who became angry after watching ‘Fall Out’ as they saw the conclusion to ‘the Prisoner’ first. But perhaps it was the viewers in London who became angry at what they saw in ‘Fall Out.’ Another claim of McGoohan’s is that his children were attacked in the street on their way to school, and that he and his family had to go in hiding in Wales! Really? Me’ thinks he did protest too much! But all the same this would suggest that it was the viewers in London who became angry because they felt cheated by ‘Fall Out’ {if it happened at all} which means the viewers in Scotland, the Midlands, and Grampian area were not angered by ‘Fall Out’ enough to jam the telephone lines at ATV, and probably all those that followed.
    When I first watched ‘Fall Out’ I didn’t understand what had gone on at all. It being an allegory never occurred to me because I’d never heard the word before, being but 12 years of age at the time. Yes I saw the action and adventure, which seemed more to do with James Bond than the Prisoner. Yes I saw Number 6 reveal the face of Number 1, and yes they escaped The Village, only they didn’t, the automatically opening door of the Prisoner’s house was enough to prove that. The trouble was it was all over far too quickly, and I wanted to watch ‘Fall Out’ again but there was no chance of that, not until 1976! So all I could do was live with the memories I had retained, and there were few of them from ‘Fall Out.’ I wasn’t angry, but there was the feeling of having been cheated. ‘Fall Out’ was supposed to have answered all the questions of the previous 16 episodes, which at the time to me it hadn’t! But I never felt like telephoning ATV in order to complain, besides I couldn’t even if I wanted to, we didn’t have a telephone!

Be seeing you

50 Years of The Prisoner!

Where am I?
In Ontario

What do you want?

We want information, information, information

You won’t get it

By hook or by crook we will

Who are you?
The new Number Two

Who Is Number One?
You are Number Six

FOR YOUR INFORMATION!

Very best wishes to all those attending, enjoy yourselves. 

Be seeing you

50 Years of The Prisoner!

Where am I?
In The Village

What do you want?

We want information, information, information

You won’t get it

By hook or by crook we will

Who are you?
The new Number Two

Who Is Number One?
You are Number Six

   Next Friday sees the Network event held at Portmeirion to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the British screening of ‘the Prisoner.’ However, just as Britain was beaten to the premier screening of the series by Canada, tomorrow in Oakville Ontario {September 23^rd 2017} a party is to be held to celebrate the 50^th anniversary. First screened in Canada the party organiser Andrew Flint informed me that the party has been deliberately set closer to the U.K. premier of ‘the Prisoner.’
    The party begins at 1pm when everyone in Prisoner costume will be Well Come. The Village Guardian is set to put in an appearance. There will be screenings of ‘Free For All – Dance of The Dead – Checkmate – Once Upon A time and Fall Out.’ There will be time to socialize, and a break for dinner. Props, Prisoner visualizations, fun, and happiness by order!

    Replica telephones

        Replica Village badges.

Be seeing you

Names Are Not Used Here!

    Well that’s not strictly true is it? There’s Cobb for a start, no Chambers was the first, then Cobb. Nadia Rakovsky was next, if indeed that was her name. I should think Nadia was her real first name, agents and spies generally use their real first names. Well it’s easy for them to remember and react to in certain circumstances. Then came Alison, how she managed to get Number 6 to help her with her mind reading will forever remain a mystery, but something to ponder over on long dark winter nights. Curtis, I wonder where he came from? There couldn’t be two people who looked like Number 6 who worked for British Military Intelligence. If only Curtis had stood his ground against Rover, but he lost his nerve! The Professor and Madam Professor, Mr. and Mrs. Professor, but that’s not a name is it, it’s a title! I suppose that makes them unique in The Village, they neither have names nor numbers! I don’t suppose we can count Mrs. Butterworth can we? After all her surname was used outside of The Village, and we didn’t know she was going to turn out to be Number 2. But she is unique in the fact that she is the only Number 2 we can put a name to, even though it might not be her real name. That possibility had not passed me by. Dutton, he would spend the rest of his days in The Village requiring a carer {someone to look after his daily needs}, judging by his state of mind! Monique, daughter of the Watchmaker, was she born in The Village, or was she taken there along with her father, and what about her mother? More material for those long winter evenings! The Colonel, well like the Professor that’s a title, and not a name, and that goes for the other professor, Jacob Seltzman, but his name isn’t used in The Village either, just his title. Can Number Six be a name? It’s what he’s called after all, and if he is just a number, like any citizen why use the word number why not just call him Six? Is Six a name? Well there was a Franz Six, the quiet bespectacled publicity manager at the Porsche plant in south Germany, who achieved the rank of SS-Brigadeführer in the Nazi party during WWII. More than that, quite recently in credits for three separate television programmes I’ve seen the surname “Village” for three different people. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the word Village as a person’s surname!

Be seeing you

Village Life!

 “You might not believe me when I tell you about The Village, the price of drink, and Number Two. You can de-brief me as much, and for as long as you like. Ask me why I resigned, ask me all the questions you like. But one thing you don’t do, you don’t call me Drake understand!”

Be seeing you

Time Enough

    You’ll talk, soon you’ll want to talk, because everyone talks in the end, it’s only a question of time.
    You’re not running out of time then?
    Do you take sugar?
    I could tell you, it’s in my file.
    I know it, but to save time, you no longer take sugar, on doctor’s orders?
    Oh I thought you were going to say something witty for a moment, something about being afraid of putting on weight, where upon I say something in kind about nor of being reduced.
    It’s been done.
    I thought it might.
    So are you going to talk?
    Are you going to pour out that tea before it stews?
    I could have unspeakable things done to you, you realize that don’t you?
    Torture, I’d have thought that would have been beneath you.
    Physical torture, mental torture. By the time I’m finished with you, you won’t know what month of the year it is, let alone what day, I can promise you that.
    And if I talk?
    You, you of all people talk?
    It’s what you want, you want to know all about me. Why I resigned.....
    We know why you resigned. We know what you wrote in that letter of resignation of yours.
    You don’t!
    We do.
    You have it?
    We don’t need it.
    The Colonel!
    Oh don’t blame him, it was you who gave yourself away, with a little help from us.
    {Number 2 took a sheet of paper from the Prisoner’s personal file}
    What have you there?
    Your letter of resignation.
    But you said......show me.
    Is this your handwriting?
    You know that it is......how?
    Your fountain pen, or rather the one we substituted it for. Every time you wrote something down it automatically transmitted a handwritten copy to us, we have everything you have written down using that pen. A neat little gadget wouldn’t you agree?
    The wonders of modern science!
    So, are you going to be co-operative?
    Are you going to pour out that tea?
    You might as well, you’re going to be with us for a very long time.
    I’ll never be with you!
    Oh dear, I can see you are going to be difficult, Orlaff.
    {Number 2 pressed a button on the control panel of his desk, a round disc slid away in the floor revealing a dark hole through which rose a metal man}
    What’s that?
    An automaton.
    A robot.
    If you like.
    {The machine moved clumsily, yet with purpose towards the Prisoner who made a dash for the double steel doors, the doors failed to open}
    I wouldn’t if I were you.
   {The automaton drew near towards the Prisoner, up the ramp towards the doors, but it was slow and lumbering the Prisoner dodged easily out of its way, or so he thought. The automaton reached out, with a metal arm it hand gripped the Prisoner’s arm in a grip of steel}
    Now perhaps you’ll stop being foolish Number Three.
    Number what?
    Number Three.
    {The Prisoner found himself in a bear hug, he struggled but the more he struggled the tighter the automaton’s grip became}
    If you struggle too much it’s likely to squeeze the very life out of you.
    Perhaps if I wait long enough its clockwork will run down.
    Given time anything is possible, but it doesn’t run on clockwork, and unlike some of my predecessors I have all the time in the world. Now what about that tea?
    And a can of oil for Brassneck here!
    Be careful of your next witticism, it may be your last, oh the tea’s stewed!
   

Be seeing you

The Prisoner 50th Anniversary Poster

    Produced by Vice Press this very impressive but limited edition poster by Chris Western.
    It is available as a numbered print, either in Colour {limited to 125 copies} at the price of £40. Or in black and white, {much more expensive}, {limited copies 60} as the price of £50.

   The action posters have been officially licensed by ITV, depicting Patrick McGoohan as Number 6, The Village, and other characters from the series.
   For more information click on the two links below.

 https://vice-press.com/blogs/news/thought-bubble-2017

https://www.theunmutual.co.uk/newsarchive768.htm

Be seeing you

Quote For The Day

    “You’re not allowed animals, it’s the rules.”
                                                  {Number 56 – Dance of The Dead}
    Rules to which Number 6 is not subject, but he is a cat lover who is not permitted to keep a pet. So, judging by the fact that the cat belongs to Number 2, means she must be exempt from the rules! Just a minute.....the black cat first turned up in the previous episode ‘Many Happy Returns,’ so does that mean Number 2 was also in that episode? And yet according to the film library order ‘Dance of The Dead’ was to have been the second episode, so for the cat to have been in a later episode it meant that when Number 2 left The Village, if she left The Village, she left her cat behind. In a similar way Mrs. Butterworth left her housemaid Martha behind when she left The Village, fictionally speaking of course. Martha being Number 36 in ‘It’s Your Funeral.’

Be seeing you

Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                               “Oh noooooo!”

Be seeing you

Page 6

    It is, isn’t it, isn’t it different? No, ‘the Prisoner’ is basically the same, unless one messes it about. ‘Fall Out’ is where ‘the Prisoner’ begins, the start of ‘Arrival’ being at the end of the episode, so you could place that particular episode at either end of the series. In other words watch ‘Fall Out’ first and last, I did once, and it worked. Both ‘Arrival’ and ‘Once Upon A time’ are set in concrete, and cannot be moved, I think everyone would agree with that. And yet there are a further 3 episodes which however placed must follow in sequence, otherwise they make a mockery of each other. ‘Free For All’ must precede both ‘Many Happy Returns’ and ‘Dance of The Dead’ simply on the grounds of the local elections. In ‘Many Happy Returns’ the Colonel reads about a Town Council and asking if Number 6 had been a member. Number 6 said he could have been as the Town Council is elected once a year. And ‘Dance of The Dead’ must follow both those episodes as by that time the terribly inefficient democratic process has been done away with! There are a further two episodes which could run consecutively, those being ‘The General’ and ‘A B and C.’ Why that way around? Because in the one Number 2 announces himself in the opening sequence as the new Number 2, whereas in the latter he’s just Number 2. I suppose it’s possible that two further episodes could theoretically run consecutively, ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ and ‘Once Upon A Time.’ The only trouble with that is, the fact that Number 2 must have been away from The Village, because he was brought back there for ‘Once Upon A Time!” The remaining 8 episodes could then be jumbled up and slotted into the remaining gaps in the sequence the viewer may care to put them in, or not as the case maybe. For example there are certain episodes I might care to leave out, ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling’ for one, but then I would miss the music, ‘Living In Harmony’ for another, ‘The Schizoid Man’ would be a third because its flawed and didn’t need to be. Perhaps ‘The Girl Who Was Death’ for a fourth, because it’s more ‘Danger Man’ than Prisoner, ‘It’s Your Funeral,’ and ‘A Change of Mind’ to make 6, leaving only ‘Checkmate’ and ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ left to place for a mini-series of 11 episodes. Perhaps I’d place ‘Free For All,’ followed by ‘Checkmate,’ after all in the former. Number 6 did promise to find out who are the warders and who the prisoners, something he did in the latter, for what good it did him!

Be seeing you

Caught On Camera!

    Poor old chap, he’s hurt himself! It’s all very well Number 6 having overpowered the projectionist and then to take his place. Number 12 must have explained to him what to do with the Professor’s micro reduced message, but did he say anything about the periscope? If not, how did Number 6 know the projectionist sits at the periscope, and what did he think he was looking for or at? When Number 6 broke into the projection room he attacked the projectionist, rendering him unconscious. A voice over a loudspeaker asked projection to check-in, in fact he was asked three times to do so. Then he went to the periscope, pulling it down and looking into it saying “All clear, standing by.” How did he know he had to do that?

Be seeing you

Village Life!

   “Chambers!”
   “Who’s he?”
   “You, you’re Chambers.”
   “No, no I’m Cobb.”
   “Cobb?”
   “Yes.”
   “Not Chambers?”
   “No, I told you.”
   “Couldn’t you be Chambers?”
   “No.”
   “It would make it better if you were.”
   “Why?”
   “Because I was to have had a meeting with Chambers, to try and stop him.”
   “Stop him from doing what?”
   “Leaving the Foreign Office.”
   “He was defecting?”
   “Number Two mentioned Chambers, he knew I was going to meet Chambers but he never turned up. So I thought you were Chambers.”
    “Well I’m not, I’m Cobb!”
    “It would give continuity to the storyline……”
    “I’m Cobb, I was in Germany, I went back to my hotel, I think I went to bed…I was here!”
    “You went to sleep in Germany, and woke up here?”
    “Yes. Dutton’s here.”
    “Dutton, what’s he doing here?”
    “The same as you and me I should think, only it’s worse for him.”
    “Why, what are they doing to him?”
    “They….They….”
    “What?”
    “They sit him in….the comfy chair!”
   

Be seeing you

No.2 A Murderer?

    I think Number Two was greatly maligned by Number Six! He accused Number Two of killing Number Seventy-three, I don’t think Number Two was a murderer at all! And he left the office slamming the door behind him as he went. I sat back in my chair and began to consider, picturing the scene in my mind’s eye. There was Number 73 lying in bed in a hospital room, recovering from having slit both her wrists, because she had tried to kill herself. Obviously she wasn’t happy in The Village, and was having to endure another interview with Number 2. The question is where is 73’s husband? All she would say is that her husband had some work to finish, and he’s over there, somewhere over there. Did she perhaps mean behind the Iron Curtain? Number 2 attacked her husband’s devotion to 73 by taunting her with a photograph of her husband with the woman Mariah together in her hotel room. Suddenly Number 2 turns nasty, he thinks he’s wasted enough time, we are left wondering what he’s going to do next. Yes he slams down his leather document case in anger, and he does look menacing as he moves slowly and deliberately towards the bed and 73 quite naturally screams. Number 6 hears her screams, and runs to the hospital. He bursts into the room, two burly male orderlies try to restrain him, 73 screams again, leaps out of her bed and out through the open window to her death! Number 2 tells Number 6 that he shouldn’t have interfered, that he’ll pay for it. Number 6 replies “No, you will!” Later in Number 2’s office he has things to discuss with Number 6, who suggests it’s about the girl Number 2 murdered. But consider what happened. Yes Number 2 was using threatening behaviour towards 73, but he didn’t actually lay a hand upon her. Number 73 didn’t actually leap from her bed and out through the window until she saw Number 6 come bursting into the room! Number 2 simply stands there watching 73 jump to her death through the open window. It seems to me that 73 was determined to end her torment, to kill herself sooner or later. If Number 2 is guilty of anything, it’s of not looking after 73 better, and not trying to stop her. He knew of 73’s suicidal tendency, and should have taken due care. That hospital window should have remained firmly closed for a start. After all committing suicide by jumping out of a hospital window is not unheard of, there was Cobb, perhaps that’s why Number 6 went to look out of the window, perhaps just to make sure!
   But why Number 73 should take to committing suicide at the sight of Number 6 bursting into the room is quite beyond my comprehension. Is it that she recognized Number 6? If so where from, and why did his sudden appearance have such a dramatic effect on 73? Perhaps in his former life and employment Number 6 had dealings with 73’s husband, if he was in the same line of work. Did she fear Number 6 more than she did Number 2? One thing is certain, Number 2 may well have been a sadist, but he was no murderer. We shall never know what would have happened had Number 6 not come bursting into the room. However looking at it from a different angle, it maybe that 73 simply saw her chance for escape. That she used Number 6 as a diversion, that it distracted Number 2 long enough as to give her the few valuable seconds she required in order to jump to her death.
   Whereas Number 2 is a sadist who is going to hammer Number 6, Number 6 is a humanitarian, he cares about people. Number 73 was a damsel in distress, and he vowed to avenge her death, he even laid a bunch of daffodils upon her grave. Didn’t you notice that? Well who else is there in The Village who would have laid flowers on 73’s grave?    

    As for Number 2, I was pondering the idea of how he managed to smuggle his own sword shooting stick into The Village? It’s an offensive weapon, and I should have thought the shooting stick would have been confiscated and replaced with the more usual umbrella shooting stick? And why should Number 2 think he would be in need of such a weapon, unless it was for self-protection, but against whom? And if Number 1 knew enough about Number 2 to ask if he required assistance, then perhaps he knew about Number 2 threatening Number 6 with that sword. Poor old chap, he simply wasn’t up to the job this Number 2. As for Number 6, he may have been an avenging angel, but perhaps Number 1 saw him in a different light, as Nemesis, an agent to be used in order to bring about Number 2’s downfall! 

Be seeing you