Arrival

    Number 6’s abduction must have been planned well in advance, because back in The Village Number 2 would have needed to know of his arrival in good time. Because the Round House would need to be refurbished, since its previous occupant left, if not the whole of the cottage, certainly the study area. Redecorated, refurnished, and filled with exact replicas of everything found in the Prisoner’s study back in his London home. Reconstruction work of that kind would not have been carried out overnight. Of course it might only have been the study that needed to be replicated, the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom may well have remained as they were, because although we know that both the shower and bedroom are upstairs, we do not know what they looked like in the Prisoner’s London home. Although the shower door does open to the left, so that remains the same, and they might have put the shower taps on the wrong way round!

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The Prisoner's POPularity!

    Back in 1992 when the Prisoner was being screened on Channel 4. enthusiasts asked Michael Grade, who was head of Channel 4 at the time, why the Prisoner was scheduled so late at night? Apparently the reason was because no-one wanted to watch the Prisoner apart from those fans who can recite it word for word. Well it would appear that Michael Grade has been out-Graded by ‘True Entertainment’ who are currently re-screening the prisoner at between 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning! Yesterday morning it was Free For All, did I sit there watching? Well as a matter of fact……………….

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Quote For The Day

    “I resigned for peace, for peace of mind, because people know too much, I know too much about you!”

                                {Number 6 – Once Upon A Time}

   Number 6 stated that he knew too much about Number 2, how was that? Through his previous job? From newspapers, and talk at social parties? Back then people moved in the same circles, either through work, or social position and that way people got to know about other people that way. Basically I think Number 6 is a private person, he likes to mind his own business and probably expects others to mind theirs! I wonder how he would have taken to social media? I couldn’t see him posting comments about what he had for breakfast that morning, where he’s going on a particular day, what he’s doing, and liking this or that. What’s more he doesn’t like giving away any form of information, whereas today people are only too keen to give information away about themselves on social media. People seem to have a need to be liked by others, and in turn that makes them feel good about themselves. I wonder how Number 6 would feel about that? And yet through social media enthusiasts are brought together through mass communication, if someone has an idea about the Prisoner and wants to tell the world about it, then they can in a few clicks!

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Village Life!

    “Ah here we are then.”
    “Well if we aren’t we’d be somewhere else!”
    “That’s a bit philosophical for a Thursday.”
    “Is it Thursday, one loses track of the days.”
    “What does it matter if it is Thursday?”
    “Its Appreciation Day.”
    “Is it?”
    “It must be if it’s Thursday.”
    “Do you know I thought it was February the tenth.”
    “Why did you think that?”

    “Well it’s so often February the tenth. Who was it who said its mostly February the tenth in The Village?”
    “I do not know. But today is Thursday, Appreciation Day.”
    “No its not.”
    “No it’s not what?”
    “Appreciation Day, we haven’t had Appreciation Day this year yet. It’s not for months.”
    “What was the word for last year’s Appreciation Day, can you remember?”
    “Advancement.”

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One Of These Days……..

   If I am not so very careful I shall turn full circle and end up where I began when I started writing my blog, much like the Prisoner before he handed in his letter of resignation. And then I’ll find myself beginning all over again! But then what would be the point of that?
    Once upon a time the Prisoner was something of a personal thing for me, probably because I had no medium with which to express myself when it came to the Prisoner. Not until I began writing for a number of Prisoner based fanzines back in the 1990’s. Now through my blog the Prisoner has become a very public thing, and even more so now through my book The Prisoner Dusted Down. And that’s good, because it means I can express the Prisoner in different ways, and people enjoy reading what I write. It has been said that my blog is unique, that no-one writes about the Prisoner as I do, and that to me is most gratifying. As I always like to find new angels to approach the Prisoner from, and that was my idea for writing The Prisoner Dusted Down, I wanted to write a completely different book about the Prisoner when compared to others. There’s no episode guide as such a thing is not necessary, because we all know the story behind the 17 episodes. Besides if it’s an episode guide people want there are plenty of those about in books as well as on-line. It has been my pleasure to bring something new about the series to the table in new information, details, and having made new observations about the Prisoner on both my blog and within the 496 pages of Dusted Down. It’s a book which I felt has been called for, for a long time, which is different to previous books, and unique in its approach to the Prisoner as readers of the book are finding.
   I did wonder if in having given the Prisoner a thorough dusting down, would that bring about an end to my writing about the Prisoner on my blog? Happily that has not been the case so far. But one of these days if I’m not so very careful………but then again there is always Prisoner fiction to write.

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MindGames

    The Schizoid Man seems like a game of dominos. The six against the six, and double six!

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The Prisoner Dusted Down – A Review

     I have settled down to review THE PRISONER DUSTED DOWN by David Stimpson. 

                                                by Chris Riley

    Before I get to the book, I have to review the title. It is appropriate. It is brief enough to appear on the cover and is what the author set out to do.

    In my mind I had alternative thoughts on a title;

You think you knew the Prisoner – Think again!!!!

How to quench your thirst with sea water.

How to extinguish a fire using only petrol!!!!

Or a line from that spoof soap American series – Confused? You soon will be.

    The first important point to make is that you should not be frightened by the book. I am a prolific reader. I do not have a favourite genre. I will read anything. However, I am a 300-page reader. This is a 500-page book and I am a sprinter not a marathon man person when it comes to length of book. I don’t know if this is a common syndrome. If it is and this is you, do not be put off. I have a fear of 500-page books which have 200 pages of padding.

    DUSTED DOWN has no padding. It is all meat. It is a fast flowing river from first to last page. You never rest.

    I have to be intentionally vague on detail because any slight reference to specific content would be a spoiler alert.

    I thought I knew The Prisoner reasonably well. I realised after the first few pages I did not. Having seen it numerous times over 50 years, I now realise how little I have scratched the surface.

   I likened DUSTED DOWN to reading Franz Kafka’s Das Schloss [The Castle]. I read The Castle on my brother’s advice annually for several years. On each reading I noticed more hidden meanings which I think the author had inserted subliminally or that I had perceived with no intention by the author to have had any relevance to the story. One has a similar experience from DUSTED DOWN. The book has the ability to make the reader delve much more deeply into the episodes which may have been considered to be of less depth or importance than others. While readers of this review may presume which episodes I am referring to, I am not going to name them. Even this would be a spoiler alert because one cannot assume that we all have the same prejudices or preferences.

    The depth of analysis is incredible. I read any spare second I have. On the bus, on the train, coffee breaks at work or having a pint (I have sent the author photographic evidence of this].

    I have missed my bus stop on several occasions, having been so engrossed.

    DUSTED DOWN makes you think about The Prisoner from a much deeper viewpoint and from a different angle.

   You are not just thinking about it from the view point of watching a programme and trying to understand it whilst enjoying it. My subjective opinion is that with THE PRISONER DUSTED DOWN you are trying to place yourself into Patrick McGhooan’s mindset and deciphering how he approached the episode, dialogue, choice of prop, location, in fact every aspect of the writing, filming and editing of a scene or episode.

   The author digresses into how dialogue, characters, props and locations fit with matters outside of the series, be it fact, myth or meaning. The author digresses more than Ronnie Corbett in an armchair monologue. You are taken on journeys where you thought the series could never transport you.

   I was so enthralled, interested and intrigued that I was drawn to email the author as I read to advise on my thoughts. Most of my comments were to advise that having considered the author’s observations, that this had not cleared matters but rather it had caused me to think more deeply about a scene or episode and had caused me to form a different view.

    Each chapter is compartmentalised to cause the reader to adopt a fresh mindset and to concentrate the memory on a particular episode.

   As I said at the outset, any particular reference to text could be a potential spoiler alert to any reader. This is because if every person in the world read this book, they would approach it from a different angle.

    So, has DUSTED DOWN dusted down The Prisoner for me?

    What does DUSTED DOWN mean?

   To prepare something for use, especially after it has not been used for a long time.

   To dust off old books to start studying.

    As I opened this review, the book is whatever you perceive it to be. It is not possible to give it a title which fits the text and would fit on the cover.

    As simply as it can be put, it is a book which makes you think about The Prisoner afresh and from at least one other viewpoint.

    This is an excellent and incredibly detailed book which is the result of a vast amount of research and effort by an author who knows his subject.

    I would advise anybody to read it, even if you have not seen The Prisoner. After one chapter you would watch the series and then read the rest of the book. I now need to watch whole series again!!!!!!

One of my best ever reads.

 Chris Riley –