Wednesday, 5 October 2016
The Chimes of Big Ben
Number 2 has something of an easy ride in this episode, that it’s Nadia
Rakovski who has the hard time. Imagine her horror at being half drowned, half
suffocated by that white membranic thing of a Guardian! And some little time
after that whilst under interrogation.....if the operator of the electrified
floor hadn’t switched it off in time,
well it would have been his funeral as well as hers! And even the Colonel took
Number 2’s place to interrogate the Prisoner, “the night is young and there are
many questions, first why did you resign?” And it might have worked had it not
been for the poor timing. But then Number 2 wasn’t in any trouble over it, he
would be able to leave The Village for London without a stain on his personal file! As for
Nadia, she would stress it in her report that Number 2 did his best. Well
thinking about it perhaps his best just wasn’t good enough. Who was responsible
for the time of Post 5’s wristwatch? And just who was Nadia going to report to?
Not Number 1 obviously, as she looked more ready to leave The Village than
Number 2 was. Would Fotheirngay be leaving The Village in the same helicopter
as Nadia, seeing as he had to get back to London before any embarrassing questions were asked. The
Colonel would be returning later, possibly after a de-briefing session with
Number 2. So it wouldn’t be the Colonel Nadia had to report to, seeing as he
had had firsthand experience of the failure of the plan. Perhaps Nadia had to
hand her report in to those masters Cobb mentioned back in London!
I wonder what this particular Number 2 did after this episode? Perhaps his term of office didn’t conclude with the failure of this plan. Besides the helicopter could only hold three people at a time, not including the pilot.
I wonder what this particular Number 2 did after this episode? Perhaps his term of office didn’t conclude with the failure of this plan. Besides the helicopter could only hold three people at a time, not including the pilot.
Be seeing you
Monday, 3 October 2016
Village Life!
Kiosk Vender “What you here again?”
Number 6 “What do you mean by that?”
“What do you want this time?”
“A copy of The Tally Ho………….”
“And a bar of soap, what did you do with the last one?”
“I don’t know what you mean?”
“Not five minutes ago you bought a copy of The Tally Ho and a bar of soap. What’s more you bought Number 36 a bag of sweets.”
“Why should I do that?”
“How should I know? Perhaps you felt sorry for the old girl!”
“I can assure you that I’ve not been to this kiosk today, and you didn’t serve me with a copy of The Tally Ho or a bar of soap!”
“You trying to be funny Number Six, because I can well do without your antics this morning what with one thing and another!”
“Are you suggesting that I was here not five minutes ago?”
“I’m not suggesting anything, I’m telling you!”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Then you’ve got a double, and a right pair of Sixes you would make!”
“There’s no need to be offensive.”
“Look I’m having a terrible day. Number Thirty six was moaning about her sweets and I couldn’t serve her because her credit allowance had been all used up. Now I’ve got this boy wanting to buy 20 woodbine cigarettes saying they’re for his dad. I’ve told him I don’t serve cigarettes to underage smokers until I’m blue in the face! Now what was it you wanted?”
“A copy of the newspaper, a bar of soap, and twenty Woodbine for the boy.”
Number 6 “What do you mean by that?”
“What do you want this time?”
“A copy of The Tally Ho………….”
“And a bar of soap, what did you do with the last one?”
“I don’t know what you mean?”
“Not five minutes ago you bought a copy of The Tally Ho and a bar of soap. What’s more you bought Number 36 a bag of sweets.”
“Why should I do that?”
“How should I know? Perhaps you felt sorry for the old girl!”
“I can assure you that I’ve not been to this kiosk today, and you didn’t serve me with a copy of The Tally Ho or a bar of soap!”
“You trying to be funny Number Six, because I can well do without your antics this morning what with one thing and another!”
“Are you suggesting that I was here not five minutes ago?”
“I’m not suggesting anything, I’m telling you!”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Then you’ve got a double, and a right pair of Sixes you would make!”
“There’s no need to be offensive.”
“Look I’m having a terrible day. Number Thirty six was moaning about her sweets and I couldn’t serve her because her credit allowance had been all used up. Now I’ve got this boy wanting to buy 20 woodbine cigarettes saying they’re for his dad. I’ve told him I don’t serve cigarettes to underage smokers until I’m blue in the face! Now what was it you wanted?”
“A copy of the newspaper, a bar of soap, and twenty Woodbine for the boy.”
“They’ll stunt his growth! There you are
lad, they’ll kill you, you know. In a way they’re like a slow suicide.”
The boy “I’m in no hurry mister. Do you know what?”
Kisok vender “No what?”
“Smoking killed my granddad.”
“See!”
“Yes, he was run over by a Mini-Moke on the way to the tobacconist!”
The boy runs off.
Kiosk vender “You cheeky little monkey. You know where he gets it from don’t you Number Six?”
“No!”
“You, that where he gets it from, you’re a bad influence, and if its not you then it’s the other you! Yes madam what can I do for you?”
“Twenty Number Six please and a box of matches.”
“Oh no, that’s all we need!”
The boy “I’m in no hurry mister. Do you know what?”
Kisok vender “No what?”
“Smoking killed my granddad.”
“See!”
“Yes, he was run over by a Mini-Moke on the way to the tobacconist!”
The boy runs off.
Kiosk vender “You cheeky little monkey. You know where he gets it from don’t you Number Six?”
“No!”
“You, that where he gets it from, you’re a bad influence, and if its not you then it’s the other you! Yes madam what can I do for you?”
“Twenty Number Six please and a box of matches.”
“Oh no, that’s all we need!”
Be seeing you
I Saw A Man Who Wasn’t There!
On the day of his arrival in The Village,
the Prisoner takes his first tentative steps outside his Cottage. Looking up at
the Bell Tower he sees a man leaning out of a window
looking down at him. The Prisoner rushes round to the door of the Bell Tower and rushes up the steps. But the man
isn’t there, instead the Prisoner comes face to face with a statue of a woman.
I cannot believe the statue was hauled up to the top of the Bell Tower simply for the benefit of the
Prisoner, but if it was, perhaps the man leaning out of the window was one of
the men who hauled the statue up there!
It puts me in mind of the poem by William
Hughes Mearns 1899.
“Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away...
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door...
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...”
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away...
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door...
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...”
Like in the poem the man in the Bell Tower wasn’t there at all! If he was, where
did he come from, where did he go!
A parallel can be drawn between the man in the Bell Tower and the housemaid standing on the balcony of ‘6 Private’ flicking a yellow duster. Having attempted to buy a map of the area, the Prisoner leaves the General Store, and sees said housemaid standing on the balcony of his cottage flicking a yellow duster. He rushes round to the door of his cottage, but by the time he gets inside, the housemaid is no longer there, but fleeing down a set of steps! But what made the housemaid run away in the first place, didn’t she want to be caught there by the new occupant? And why was she there in the first place? The cottage’s interior hardly looked like it needed dusting. But then if she hadn’t been there in the first place, she couldn’t have left her duster and so had to go back for it later, when she tried to lean on the Prisoner’s sympathy in attempting to extract some sort of information from him!
A parallel can be drawn between the man in the Bell Tower and the housemaid standing on the balcony of ‘6 Private’ flicking a yellow duster. Having attempted to buy a map of the area, the Prisoner leaves the General Store, and sees said housemaid standing on the balcony of his cottage flicking a yellow duster. He rushes round to the door of his cottage, but by the time he gets inside, the housemaid is no longer there, but fleeing down a set of steps! But what made the housemaid run away in the first place, didn’t she want to be caught there by the new occupant? And why was she there in the first place? The cottage’s interior hardly looked like it needed dusting. But then if she hadn’t been there in the first place, she couldn’t have left her duster and so had to go back for it later, when she tried to lean on the Prisoner’s sympathy in attempting to extract some sort of information from him!
Be seeing you
Arrival
Originally there was to have been a fight between two men in a fish pond
located outside Lower and Upper Trinity cottages. However the scene having been
shot, was cut from the finished episode. And yet, if you watch carefully as the
Prisoner mounts the steps leading up to the Piazza, there are two men fighting,
they grapple with each other and fall into the pool of water. As the scene
plays out the two men continue to fight in the water, they appear to be
squabbling over something yellow in the water. But then a few moments later
when Number 2 gives to order to “Wait, wait” the two men in the water are
suddenly no longer there! But what about that chap wearing a dark piped blazer,
straw boater messing about in a little dinghy in the pool. The dinghy is pulled
along by the chap who goes running about to eventually be smothered by the membranic
Guardian. The dinghy probably manhandled instead of being rowed because the
water isn’t deep enough for him to use a pair of oars!
Be seeing you
Saturday, 1 October 2016
The Prisoner?
The above image is taken from ‘Fall Out’
{although its actually unused film footage originally shot for the opening
sequence to ‘the Prisoner’} and so at this precise moment, as ZM73 drives over
Westminster Bridge and passed the Houses of Parliament he is not the Prisoner,
because he’s between two situations. In the first place he has just returned to
London having escaped the confines of The Village, and in the second place he’s
just driven from his home on his way to hand in his letter of resignation
because after that, the end of ‘Fall Out’ is the beginning of ‘Arrival,’ in effect
completing the circle.
Home
At Last! The former Number 6 has dealt with Number 1, used force to free himself of The Village with the aid of three confederates, and after a long journey has managed to return to his home in London. However he is not a man to let the grass grow under his feet, and no sooner is he home then he’s off again behind the wheel of his Lotus. We see him driving passed the houses of Parliament obviously on his way to that underground car park again, and then to an office he knows very well where he originally handed in his letter of resignation. But this time he’s back, and he’s looking for answers, and by hook or by crook he expects to get them…..well something of that nature.
Using a certain amount of artistic license the end of ‘Fall Out’ is similar to how it was in ‘Many Happy Returns,’ that having returned to London, he eventually has two calls to make, one in town, the other in the country. So that when we see that final scene in ‘Fall Out,’ he’s making two calls, one in town, the other to see the Colonel at his country residence!
Physically the former Number 6 has escaped The Village, however mentally he is still a prisoner, on the basis that he doesn’t have the answers to his questions. For example he’s not sure which side runs The Village, and if he doesn’t find the answer here, he’ll find them elsewhere!
Be seeing you
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