The Manager No.20

    It’s no wonder the Prisoner got annoyed in the manager’s office of the Labour Exchange, he recognized the man tinkering with the children’s construction set, Potter! Potter formally of the same department of British Military Intelligence, and here he was working in The Village asking him questions! Of course Potter is the first ex-colleague the Prisoner encountered in The Village, but he wouldn’t be the last by any means. Then Potter was promoted to assistant to Number 2 during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben,’ when he seemed happy to suggest to Number 2 that there are methods they haven’t used against Number 6. Perhaps it was that suggestion that saw him moved sideways down to the Control Room, and assistant to the Supervisor-Number 26. But perhaps it might have been more to the point that Potter was moved on due to the fact there was nothing for him to do. Thinking about it there was precious little for Number 2 to do, for him to warrant an assistant! And yet the Supervisor-Number 26 was a most organized and capable operative, who had the Control Room running like clockwork, and had the respect of the Observers. So really even in the Control Room there was precious little for Potter to be doing. That’s why when he’s seen, he’s seen to be standing about doing nothing! Even as the Labour Exchange manager tinkering around with that wooden construction set, he appears to have little to do. The line from ‘The Girl Who Was death may spring to mind at this point.... “Busy Potter?”

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