News reached me today via The Unmutual
website, with the passing of Moris Farhi, who died on March 5th 2019
aged 84.
Moris penned the unused script for the Prisoner entitled The Outsider.
The Outsider
an unused script by Moris Farhi
The
script for The Outsider opens with the early morning, brilliant sunshine and
No.6 acting in the most peculiar way. He's on the top of the cliffs and
measuring the edge with a length of string with hooks on both ends. Then jots a
figure down in a note book. There is a heading in the notebook Cliffs West and
below the figure a segment of a geological map is taking shape. And Beach Area
18 and a completed map of the particular section scale 1:1000 and then suddenly
there is the drone of an aircraft!
No.6 reacts instantly at hearing the drone
of a jet aircraft which instantly reaches a deafening crescendo. He cups his
eyes whilst trying to spot the aircraft then the drone cuts out, instead a
whistling whine, and an explosion tears the air. There is a geyser of smoke and
fire shoots up in the distance. No.6 pockets his notebook and runs in the
direction of the column of smoke, zig zagging through the trees. He finds the
pilot who ejected before the aircraft impacted with the ground.
Finding the pilot, who's first instinct is
to go for his gun, but then thinks better of it seeing as how the approaching
figure is unarmed. He addresses No.6 in some indistinct language, a cross
between Latin and Nordic. No.6 asks the pilot if he is the only one, but there
comes no reply. He asks if the pilot speaks English, there is a moments
hesitation, then his English is perfect and without any accent. A brief
conversation breaks out between the two. The pilot works for an outfit The
Meteorological Bureau, weather observation you know. He saw a seaside Town
No.6: "No."
Pilot: "A gamekeeper?"
No.6: "No. A prisoner."
Pilot: "Aren't we all? On parole?"
No.6 examines the parachute
Pilot: "A government issue!"
"What government?"
"How many have you got?"
"How’s the leg?"
"I'll survive."
No.6 manages to get the pilot into a cave,
its mouth well camouflaged with growth and foliage. Inside No.6 checks the
walls for hidden surveillance, there is none. The cave is only home to the bats
who reside there. The pilot has a survival kit, compass, which No.6 instantly
sees as being useful and a map. The map depicts the southern tip of America Argentina Chile Falkland Islands . Although the pilot is injured, No.6
ties him up in the cave, the pilot referring to himself as the Prisoner's
prisoner!
During the opening exchanges within the cave,
the two men engage in a cat-and-mouse game about the supposed location of the
village. The map found on the pilot suggests the southern tip of America Argentina Chile Falklands Islands
The story
line then unfolds with No.6 determined to use the pilot to concoct an
escape attempt. And the main village action of the script concerns a game of
poker between No.2 and No.6, No.6's chair having been wired to a lie detector
in the control room. But No.6 spots the wire and thereby spoiling No.2's plan.
But this is a most interesting premise, the village could have probed No.6 for
information about the crashed aircraft, and certainly about the whereabouts of
the missing pilot. This under the guise of monitoring No.6's responses in a
harmless conversation during the poker game.
Then the action moves to "The Palace
of Fun" which is never before used or even mentioned in any of the 17
episodes of the Prisoner, only seen on the "Maps of Your Village." In
the Palace of Fun No.6
The climax of the story involves an
intriguing plot which called for a helicopter to rescue the pilot using a
transmitter beacon hidden in the pilot's flying suit. The transmitter having
been activated and then hidden as a crafty decoy, while No.6 lights a bonfire
on the hillside. However this would have been another decoy as No.6 and the
pilot signal the helicopter by lamp from the beach.
No.83 mysteriously turns up on the beach
and joins No.6 and the pilot. No.83 who is said to be an undergraduate who is
studying for her exams, and who has been assigned to No.6, and who he rejected
in The Palace of Fun.
No.83: "I've been searching for you,
it is my duty to please you.... then I saw him" pointing to the pilot.
Pilot: " I was outside looking for
you, and there she was." Imitating No.83's voice "I have come to
please you." What is she, mad?"
No.83: "Pleasure Hostess!"
Proudly.
{This is the first insinuation of sex
taking place in the village!}
But the pilot isn't keen on taking the girl
with them, in fact he wants to kill her, having taken out his gun. She's happy
here, our world won't make her happy. And even No.83 wants to be killed
"Please... I'm so happy... so happy.
"Yes, kill me! Kill me! But please don't take me..."
But No.6 is adamant that the girl goes with
them. So the beacon on the beach it lit, a signal transmitted, and a helicopter
despatched to make the rescue of the pilot, all carefully observed by No.2 and
the supervisor in the control room. in fact the plan for the escape would have
succeeded if only No.6 had not drank that cup of drugged coffee!
It had all been one of No.2's little games.
The pilot hadn't crashed at all, that had been staged, an explosion, plane wreckage
scattered about. The pilots broken ankle, the cyanide capsule... all
psychological warfare. The village never does anything by half measures!
No.6: "I guessed as much. But one
mustn't pass any chances. Good training. Was it worth your while?"
Pilot: "Indeed. it should convince you
there is no one you can trust, no one can help you. No way out."
This after No.6 has awakened in the
Georgian residence of No.2 who offers him tea. The pilot is now the new No.2!
After a short interview No.6 leaves the Georgian house. Around him the village
is coming to life. No.6 starts walking towards his cottage, a man unbroken. The
camera moves to an aerial panoramic view of the village. Two prison gates
suddenly clang shut in the foreground. In the centre of the screen we see a
white dot coming at us like a bullet. It is the face of the Prisoner. It stops
just behind the bars...... final fade out.
There is no indication as to why this
script was rejected. Indeed information has it that The Outsider was to have
gone into production in January 1967. Moris Farhi was only told by script
editor George Markstein at the very last minute that the proposed episode had
been dropped. This on the word of Patrick McGoohan, on the premise that hero's
do not bird watch. The script called for No.6 to observe the migratory birds so
as to ascertain which part of the world the village might be. And during the
torture scene of extreme temperatures, this would cause No.6 to sweat. As
McGoohan thought it to be, heroes do not sweat!
To my mind The Outsider would have made one
of the strongest scripts for the Prisoner, a pity it was never included.
May Moris Farhi
Rest In Peace
Thank you. I miss him.
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