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Monday, 23 December 2013

Thought For The Day

   I remember reading in an old magazine article that when he was finally confronted with the truth - that he was No.1, the former No.6 seemed to go berserk, bringing destruction to the village before escaping with Number two, the butler and the youth.
   Well in my opinion the Prisoner didn't go berserk. Okay the former No.6 did try and lay his hands on No.1. But to me he appeared calm and calculating, in the way he set the countdown for the rocket, and the way in which he was instrumental in commencing a bloody and violent revolution.
  As I see it, it was No.1 who went berserk, charging about the Control Room, and screaming wildly, clambering up the ladder into the nose cone of the rocket, when confronted with the truth that he is No.6!

Be seeing you

PICTORIAL PRIS6NER

     "I miss you....do you miss me? I think you do. Oh yes you miss your dear Two. Oh look at us we have so much, we are the fortunate ones."
    Two may try and fool us, he might even try and fool himself. I'm not so sure that M2 would agree with Two about being one of the "fortunate ones," see....she sheds a tear! In fact M2 sheds a tear just as 313 sheds a tear when alone in the desert with Six.
    Helen/M2 may have created the fabric of Village in her subconsciousness, but beyond that she has no control. Life in the Village has not turned out like Helen would have wished, certainly for M2 it hasn't. Seeing as how M2 appears to be unable to take an active part in the Village.
   This is by way of one of the deleted scenes of THEPRIS6NER, from the episode of Anvil.

Breathe in.....breathe out.....more Village!

Village Life!

   "What makes you think I know who Number One is?"
   "The smart money seems to be on you!"
   "Really!"
   "Yes. David Tomblin said you're big headed enough to make yourself Number One!"

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Put On Trial by our own reporter

   Joseph K, was arrested, and put on 'trial' for a crime he did not know, nor had he committed. No-one would take him seriously at his trial, at which he was found guilty. Taken away, and..... murdered!
   No.6 on the other hand, was put on trial for the simple crime of possessing a radio set. That's not a crime? Well if it had been anywhere else but here in the village I would agree with you. But when it is forbidden to listen to such radio sets, for fear of citizens hearing word from the outside world, well it becomes a more serious crime.
   Three judges presided over the proceedings. They heard from the prosecutor, and the defender. However, the Prisoner was not allowed to address the court, but instead asked for a character witness to be brought forward, Roland Walter Dutton, but to ill effect I'm sorry to say. What the character witness would have said, if capable, we, and the court, shall never know.
   As for the Prisoner, well he was found guilty as charged, and duly sentenced to death! The judges sentenced in the name of the people, the People carry out the sentence in the name of justice. However, for No.6, unlike Joseph K, there was a reprieve. Why? I cannot say, not being privy to the inner most working of village administration.
   Some would have it that the Prisoner was placed on trial a second time, in Fall Out.' But this is incorrect. The Prisoner, who became known as "Sir" was never put on trial, unlike No.48, and the "late" No.2. Sir was given the opportunity to address the delegates of the assembly, but wasn't allowed to be heard! Why? Well perhaps the delegates already knew what "Sir" was going to say, and simply weren’t prepared to listen to his have crazed rantings!

Our own reporter'

The Therapy Zone

    No.66 the ex-Admiral, who shares the same number in the same episode as the Prisoner's personal maid, but that's a continuity error, surely.
   I'm not so sure that the old fool is as senile as he makes out you know. He knows that "We're all pawns," and tells No.9 that to her face. He also enjoys a private little joke with No.6, when No.6 says he feels like a bit of a walk. The ex-Admiral suggests No.6 try the boat, he says that she's good in any weather, that he's sailed her many a time. But then perhaps the Prisoner was never in the Navy, and therefore unable to appreciate the ex-Admirals little joke. Indeed I didn't "get it," until I'd done some in-depth research into Stone Boats!

    The new No.2 here, Mrs Butterworth, is seen to wear a badge with a black background, a white penny farthing, and a white numeral 2.
   And it is the white numeral 2 which makes this badge unusual. As the norm for this "negative" style of badge is to have a red 2. As far as I am aware, this is the only badge of it's kind in the entire series of the Prisoner. This is one of the mysteries of ‘the Prisoner’ that will forever remain unexplained!

Fashionable And Trendy
   Never did a school blazer ever become so fashionable, trendy, and dare I say it? Yes even sexy! I wonder if it's simply because of the Prisoner that piped jackets and blazers have become very fashionable these passed few years, and remain so today, especially for the fairer sex. I bet Patrick McGoohan never thought a piped blazer from the Prisoner would be sexy!

    The Watchmaker-No.51 from ‘It's Your Funeral.’ He has met no-one in the Village who has committed a crime. He is an unwitting accomplice in the execution of No.2. He sees himself as being a radical, a reactionary, and anarchist to boot. He sees the assassination of No.2 as a way of waking the citizens of the Village out of their lethargy, and in a way that will not be forgotten.
   Why No.51 was brought to the Village in the first place is unknown. It might be that he was recruited through an employment bureau. Perhaps in so being, the Watchmaker, like the Professor and his wife, he came to the Village of his own free will, along with his wife, and possibly his daughter, if Monique was not actually born in the Village. But certainly the Watchmaker and his daughter are an indication of family life in the Village.
   Whether No.52 has allowed himself to be persuaded by No.100's indoctrination, or was a willing confederate, seeing as a way to achieve his own ends, will never be known. But there is one line which No.51 speaks, and I often use it myself saying "I must get on with my work!" It is a favourite line from the series.

The Prisoner
   You can just tell it's going to be one of those days, when you wake up and suddenly something feels different. Then as you make a search of the Village you discover that everyone's gone but you! Imagine, everyone escaped The Village but No.6. What could be worse than that? Me being left alone in the Village! Mind you, I don't have the necessary skills as our friend No.6 here. Oh I could chop down trees and probably make myself a raft. But then what? I'm no sailor, and have very limited navigational skills, and besides which, it's a very long way home! So if it were me in No.6's shoes, I'd probably have to sit down and wait to see what happens next. And if then no-one turns up, well I'd probably pack necessary provisions and head off across country, but keeping well away from those mountains!

Be seeing you

Sunday, 22 December 2013

The Prisoner's Question Time - The Answers



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Quote For The Day

   "We all have to make mistakes. Sometimes we have to."
                           {No.14 - A B and C}
    And in that sentence spoken to No.6, lies the mistake made by actress Sheila Allen. Because later in the episode she repeats the line, but correctly.
    "We all make mistakes. Sometimes we have to."

Be seeing you