School Days

    “Those are the days, the days that are gone. The faces forgotten, the memories linger on…..South Minster”

   No.6: “Well I certainly shoot more like me than you do!”
   No.6: “That’s because I’m left handed!”
  “Well why don’t you shoot left handed?”
  “Because I’m supposed to be you!”
  “Oh I see. You’re supposed to be me, and I’m supposed to be the baddie!”
  “There’s no supposed about it!”
  “Come to think about it, your fencing was off as well! Not like me, who had a place on the Olympic team.”
  “I was Captain of the School boxing team.”
  “Oh, how is your boxing these days?”
  “You’ll find out in a minute!”
  “Oh that’s very good. That line is worthy of me!”
  “Shall we sing the old school song together, before I beat the living daylights out of you?”
  “The old school song?”
  “Yes. You know the words surely, being an “old boy.”
  “How could I forget.”
  “What house were you in?”
  “The out-house mostly!”              

“I was in Abbey house, colours red and white.”
“Out-house was a sort of nasty shade of brown!”
“Look, are we going to sing the old school song together or not?”
“Alright you start, and I’ll join in.”
“Those are the days……”
“Days”
“……..The days that are gone.”
“Gone.”
“The faces forgotten………”
“Forgotten.”
“…….The memories linger on South Minster.”
“South Minster.”

“Now put em up!”
“Ouch! What’s that?”
“A Chinese burn, you snivelling little creep!”

BCNU

The Prisoner Set To Be Revived in Audio Drama!

    The Prisoner audio remake, when launched in 2016 will be initially produced in a new a box-set of five CD's, containing four one-hour-long episodes and a behind-the-scenes documentary - with other box sets to follow.

   For more information click on the following link.

 www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a619443/the-prisoner-cult-classic-tv-series-to-be-revived-for-new-audio-drama.html#~p0A3JAXAPT0FBV

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A Position of Authority!

    An offer of ultimate power being offered to Number Six during ‘Fall Out?’ Have ‘they’ lost their heads? Did ‘they’ really think that they could really trust Number Six to lead them? Surely someone had made a mistake in judgement! Look what happened when Number Six obtained a position of power through the local elections as a new Number Two. He hadn’t been in office five minutes before he was trying to organise a mass breakout! He had taken control. He was to immobilise all electronic controls, and told the citizens that they are “Free. Free to go. Free to go.” Could they trust a man who was laying down ‘his’ law upon the people? To obey him and be free? But of course Number Six was never actually in control, of either the village, or himself. Yet it demonstrated just what would Number Six would do, if given half a chance.
    ‘Fall Out’ has a number of inconsistencies and illogicality's, just like the previous sixteen episodes which make up the series. So what do ‘they’ do? They bring back yet another former Number Two, who has had direct dealings with Number Six, and make him Judge. Rather theatrical I thought, but at least ‘they’ had a man who knew of what Number Six was capable. And yet the Judge praised Number Six, or Sir as he had become to be addressed. Sir had revolted. Fought, resisted, held-fast, maintained. Destroyed resistance. Overcome coercion. The right of the individual to be individual or person. And ‘they’ applauded. ‘They’ applauded his private war, and conceded that despite materialistic efforts, Number Six had survived intact and secure. And after all that build up, all that remained was the recognition of a man. A man of steel. A man who is magnificently equipped to lead them. Well, that’s as may be, and everything the Judge said was right. But really, he could not have been serious about the offer of ultimate power? Because for such a man of steel to then be asked to address them, you would have thought the delegates of the Assembly would have sat and listened to what the man had to say. Yet at each attempt to begin his speech, Number Six was shouted down by each and every delegate of the Assembly. They were not interested in what Number Six might have to say, and didn’t want to hear anything he might wish to say in his address. Number 48 was allowed to state his case. A ’late’ Number Two was allowed to address the Assembly, but not such a man so magnificently equipped like Number Six, who might one day lead them! The members of the Assembly were simply not prepared to listen to the ravings of an egomaniac!
    So why was Number Six elected to be the one to be offered ultimate power, when they were not prepared to listen to what the man had to say, after all, it might have been important! ‘They' knew what Number Six was like. ‘They’ knew what Number Six would do if given half a chance, and so given that half chance, he took it!
    So what happened? ‘They’ faced Number Six with himself. This a final throw of the dice. A final manipulation of the Prisoner, in order to break him. Well that’s how I have come to see it. And if it was, then ‘they’ failed! Whoever Number One was, either Number Six’s alter ego. Curtis of ‘The Schizoid Man,’ or simply yet another doppelganger of Number Six, he turned out to be completely unstable. A laughing maniac, who as soon as his identity was made known, made for the nearest exit. In this case a steel ladder leading up into the nose cone of the rocket, so as to try and avoid capture at the hands of Number Six. It was of course very handy to have Number One escape the clutches of Number Six, because we, the viewer, might have learned something! And that would have made things very unpleasant for McGoohan. And by the way. Have you noticed how villains, who are being chased by the good guys, suddenly have this irresistible urge to climb upwards in trying to avoid capture?
    It was soon after that ‘they’ made their greatest mistake of all. They left Number Six to his own devices in the Control Room of the rocket. As Number Six busied himself with setting the countdown and trajectory of the rocket, as the Judge paced up and down the floor of the cavern. Surely security should have been sent to the Control Room the moment the Judge suspected something being wrong, when he was trying to make contact with control, but failed to do so. Had this happened, security would have overpowered Number Six, and the situation neutralised.

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At 1 Buckingham Place, Westminster, London

  Living in the Prisoner's home, to make nothing of taking possession of the Prisoners Lotus 7! We are told by Mrs Butterworth herself that she has a taste for a little speed, but since when did an Estate Agent become car salesmen? Mrs Butterworth said that it was the Estate Agents Stumbell and Croyden who arranged it all, that the car was for sale. I mean what was the Prisoner's car to an Estate Agent? What's more, there was still six months lease to run on the house!
   So when did Mrs Butterworth take up residence at 1 Buckingham Place? Its very difficult to estimate. It might have been arranged a few days before the Prisoner set sail on his epic Sea voyage, so that Mrs Butterworth was safely ensconced in the house before the Prisoner's return to London. I think was can say that Mrs Butterworth departed 1 Buckingham Place for the Village, sometime after she was interviewed about her role in this matter by either the Police or Special Branch.
    Back in The Village, Number 6 soon discovers that Mrs. Butterworth is Number 2 {the first to operate out as well as in The Village}. Keeping her promise, she baked him a birthday cake, which has six candles upon it. Whether Mrs Butterwoth was in the Village at the outset of the episode ‘Many Happy Returns’ cannot be reckoned. She might have become involved with the plan, as we saw she was, but didn't take up her role as the new Number 2 until the Prisoner was safely on his way back to The Village, having arrived there herself some little time before him.      
   Actually, and this would depend upon just when Mrs Butterworth moved into 1 Buckingham Place, it is fortunate that she or her maid did not encounter Janet Portland of ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.’ Because in this episode Janet Portland was walking along Buckingham Place when she was her fiancés car parked outside his house. Of course she knocks on the front door and eventually encounters the Colonel, apparently having taken up residence in the Prisoner's house. Now what if one day, Janet Portland had been walking along Buckingham Place, and saw her fiancés car parked outside his house, thinking that he was back, from wherever he had been. Approaching the house with heart beating, knocks on the front door only to encounter........Martha, Mrs Butterworth’s house maid, just as the Prisoner had once done. What then? Surely Janet wouldn't accept that some woman was now living in the Prisoner's house! She would wish to speak to Martha’s mistress, Mrs Butterworth who would in all probability tell Janet Portland the same tale she told the Prisoner, showing Janet her lease to the house, and the log book of the car. It would be a tricky moment for Mrs Butterworth. But remember that she had been interviewed by either the Police or Special Branch, and they found her story reliable. So it would be a piece of cake for her to convince Janet Portland.....surely.
   And afterwards what, when everyone had gone? Mrs Butterworth and her house maid Martha depart London for The Village. The house returns to the former occupier, with six months still to run on the lease. And the Lotus is garaged once more. Well someone had had to be looking after the Lotus, because it couldn't be left parked on a yellow line in Buckingham Place. Parking tickets would have been placed on the windscreen, and if these had been ignored, then a Police warning notice would have been placed on the car, and eventually towed away to a Police car pound!

I'll be seeing you.

The Therapy Zone

   In THEPRIS6NER -09 series people are sent to The Village to be made better and then sent back to New York. Villagers are sent to The Therapy Zone for treatment. Two sent 1,100 to the Therapy Zone for treatment, but what kind of treatment I don’t know, rough treatment more than likely. However the Therapy Zone in the series is not what I would call a friendly place at all. The people are not kept in the best of condition, so one can imagine what form of treatment takes place there.

   In the original series of ‘the Prisoner,’ Number 2 said “No surveillance here, this is the Therapy Zone.” It is a place where one can be an alcoholic in perfect privacy, just as long as one returns to the flock in good time. But is it? Is there such a place as the Therapy Zone in The Village, or even on the edge of The Village? Just because Number 2 said it was, doesn’t make it so, after all Number 2 was merely looking for another way to administer a mind controlling drug to Number 6. The Therapy Zone could simply have been for the benefit of Number 6!

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A favourite Scene In The Prisoner

   In 'The General' when Number 6 has been caught carrying out an act of sabotage, the poor old chap had hurt his arm! He is taken to the Board Room for interrogation where its Number 12 who is asking the questions. He wants to know who let Number 6 into the Town Hall. What are their names? Dissidents, who is the head man? Apparently its Santa Clause! But Number 6 won't tell Number 12 anything, because he knows it was him. Number 6 is a loyal man, and he's not about to "rat" on Number 12.
    As a side observation, it looks as though the square peg has finally been circled!

BCNU

The Prisoner’s Own!

   "Slippers" said the doctor on the occasion of the Prisoner's medical, the day after his arrival.

"My size?" the Prisoner enquired.

"Naturally" replied the doctor.

   Well they would be wouldn't they, because were they not the Prisoner’s own slippers? If they had been, perhaps the Prisoner should have made comment about that. But he didn’t. But they were used slippers, and if they were not the Prisoner’s own, one would have thought they could have found him a new pair to wear. Unless of course The Village has a recycling policy! And yet it could be realised that the pair of slippers given to the Prisoner to wear were his own, those belonging to Patrick McGoohan that is. This in the same way that the pair of spectacles Number 6 found in the breast pocket of the white coat and wears in the episode ‘Dance of the Dead,’ are also McGoohan's own spectacles. If not, then the lenses are of plain glass so that he could see properly, as with John Drake when he was in the guise of an insurance investigator in the ‘Danger Man’ episode ‘Say it With Flowers.’ But then remembering that the spectacles were taken from the pocket of a white coat, they had to belong to someone. And therefore the Prisoner's vision should have been impaired by said spectacles!

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