“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.”
“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!”
“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
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