A B C and F For Failure!

    One wouldn’t think things could get much worse for this No.2, the trouble is he placed too much faith in both Speed Learn and the General. What’s more he underestimated No.6…….he failed and two men lay dead on the floor, the Professor and No.12, and they do not like failure here. So its surprising then that they gave this No.2 a prolonged term in office, I refrain from writing second term in office because its possible for ‘The General’ to run consecutively with ‘A B and C, or vice versa if one goes by the television screening order of ‘the Prisoner.’ In both ‘The General’ and ‘A B and C’ No.2 drinks milk, this was prescribed at the time for people who suffer from a stomach ulcer, hence The Tally Ho headline “Is No.2 Fit For Further Term.” It’s not a question about this No.2’s ability, but it’s more a question about his health.
    So why not terminate this No.2’s term in office at the end of ‘The General?’ Perhaps it was a question of time, that with the Speed Learn experiment coming to a premature end they had no time to have a replacement No.2 brought in.

    Despite ‘A B and C’ and ‘The General’ being written by two different scriptwriters, Anthony Skene and Joshua Adams respectively, the episodes are similar in the way No.2 oversees two experiments. In ‘A B and C’ the use of No.14’s new drug, and in ‘The General’ the educational experiment of Speed Learn both of which end in failure. Also the character of No.2, {Colin Gordon} is played identically in both episodes, the fact that he’s suffering from a stomach ulcer hence the need to drink milk in order to sooth his suffering. And at the end of both episodes, the reason why No.2 fails is because he underestimates No.6, in that the warder allows himself to be out manoeuvred by the Prisoner!  As an after thought, perhaps it’s Colin Gordon who was suffering from a stomach ulcer at the time and not the character of No.2. And the drinking of milk was simply worked into the scenes.

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