Teabreak Teaser

   In the bout of Kosho in 'Hammer Into Anvil,' why didn't No.6 dunk his hated enemy No.14 into the tank of water?

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Quote For The Day

   No.2 wanted to bring matters up to date. He asked the Prisoner why exactly he wanted the job.
    "It's a job."
    It appeared that was the only reason. No.2 accused him of having no respect for tradition for an old established firm of bankers.
    "I was very good at mathematics"   {that's when McG went to work for a Bank}.
    Then later
    "I was rebelling my Lord, I was rebelling against the figures my Lord" {that's when McG left the Bank}.

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Exhibition of Arts and Crafts

                                The Village

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The Prisoner Under The Spotlight

    Number 6 likes His Dream. That's what he tells No.2 of ‘Dance of the Dead’, who warns him that if he insists on living a dream he may be taken for mad. "I like my dream" No.6 tells her. "Then you are mad" she tells him.

   But what exactly is No.6's dream? On the evening of ‘Dance of the Dead’ No.6 is down on the beach looking for a sign from his world, a light, boat, a plane. No.6 pines for his world, but the village is his world, and the dream he is now living. So is No.6 mad, well not according the Psychiatrists records in ‘Hammer Into Anvil.’ But if the village is a dream, simply in one man's head, then he either is mad, or its a terrible case of self-persecution! Either that or one man's journey of self-discovery. And if the latter is the case, what exactly have we learned?

   'Many Happy Returns,' is an episode which reflects the vicious circle that is the Prisoner. A circle within a circle you might say. At the beginning of ‘Arrival’ we have a grimaced faced man behind the wheel of his Lotus 7. Then after escaping the village in 'Fall Out,' the Prisoner returns to London, and soon after which, we see that same grimaced faced man behind the wheel of his Lotus 7, and still as much a prisoner as ever he was. Because "In his end, is the Prisoner's beginning!" And likewise it is with the episode of ‘Many Happy Returns.’ No.6 escapes from a seemingly deserted village. He makes a perilous journey back to London, soon after which No.6 is unceremoniously returned to the village at the very place of his departure. The Prisoner has been brought full circle, and is still as much a prisoner as he was, before the day he made his escape!

        'Fall Out,' as I have said that 'Fall Out' is really the only logical ending such a surreal series could have. But then again I think McGoohan could have come up with something a little more original. I mean when No.6 meets No.1 - himself, well that's been so over-done. Both literature and films are littered with scenes where doppelgangers meet one another. From a desterted railway platform in The Midnight Express, to the Conan Doyle's Crockon Sands. From The Schizoid Man to the man who haunted himself, even Edgar Allen Poe's William Wilson met and had a conversation with himself! And really all McGoohan was doing was repeating himself, he did it once in the 'Danger Man' episode 'The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove' in which John Drake met with his other self, and had a fight scene with himself, as indeed he did in ‘The Schizoid Man.

    There Never was A Number 1! How was Patrick McGoohan going to wrap it up ‘Once Upon A Time,’ to solve the question of who Number 1 is? According to Tony Sloman, Film Librarian on the Prisoner says that McGoohan was never going to solve the question. There never was a Number 1. Pat McGoohan was Number 1. We were all Number 1. There was never a Number 1. The extra shots were never there on the original. That was the end. Because ‘Once Upon A Time’ was originally just another episode, being one of the early written episodes. The piece at the end, where the Supervisor asks No.6 what he desires? To which No.6 replies "No.1" was later added.

Be seeing you

The Therapy Zone

     This is No.62, he's not a very remarkable fellow, however he does happen to be a Guardian. Certainly he has the build to be a Guardian, and how do we know he's a Guardian, by his attitude to others of course.

   Because it was during that episode Checkmate, that No.6 encountered No.62, and that is the important number 62 so mark it well, when he was trying to discover who were the prisoners and who were the warders judging people by their attitude towards him. And so as No.6 faced this man in the Piazza by the fountain, this burly set man stood up and faced No.6 down..... Guardian!

   But this was not the first man to be put to No.6's attitude test, oh no. He had already put his test to other citizens of the community, and was crossing them off upon the chess problem in the copy of The Tally Ho which he carried with him. You might say No.6 was wiping them off the board as citizens failed his test.

 

   Here is an image of the chess problem in The Tally Ho, and as you can see No.6 has just crossed out the number 8. Nothing remarkable in that, except the fact that having given his "look" at No.62, who then stood up and faced No.6 down, why then did No.6 cross out the No.8, of which there are two written on the chess problem, when it should have been 62? What's more he hadn't written 62 on the chess problem, as he had with others he had approached. There are also three 12’s crossed out! It's not such a significant point, but an interesting observation which could be seen as being a small problem in itself. But then perhaps No.6 thought we wouldn't notice!

    Is the Prisoner a "club" man? What I mean is would he join a club? Certainly he enjoyed going to Sir Charles Portland's club, where their favourite dish Jugged Hare was on the menu. But in a club can one maintain one's individuality? I joined Six of One The Prisoner Appreciation society a number of years ago, and the question was once asked amongst its membership, can an individual survive in such a society of like minded individuals? Well as long as any such individual is allowed free thought, and is able to expresses his or her opinion on the matter of the Prisoner or the society he or she is a member of. Otherwise such a society becomes oppressive, and goes against everything the Prisoner stands for.

   Also the question was posed, "would the Prisoner join such a society as Six of One?" Well I find it highly unlikely, as Six of One did not exist at the time of the series the question is irrelevant, and even if it was, why would he want to? Nor do I think the Prisoner would openly join any club where he could not be himself. In any club or society, or fan club its members are free to get involved as much or as little as they choose. A club such as Sir Charles Portland is a member of is one where you can come and go. Have lunch, dinner, or tea. Pass the time of day with other members, then go home to the wife, or girl friend, and no further duty is placed upon you. In a society such as Six of One, if its members do not get involved nothing will happen. Its a different kind of club you see. Besides McGoohan himself never allowed himself toget involved as an honorary member! But then perhaps honourary members feel they have no need to get involved!!

    The long and the short of it! this image was taken at the press conference held by Patrick McGoohan in September of 1967, as he launches his series the Prisoner.

   During the conference McGoohan was as enigmatic as ever, refusing to answer questions of the press, by posing questions of his own. "What does Rover mean?" was one such question, McGoohan's response to which was "Well, what do you think it means?"

   You see, you just can't get a straight answer from the man. Which is probably just as well. After all, if McGoohan had answered that question, and gone on to explain everything about the Prisoner, where would we be then? Well burden less, and free of any prison which answers might make!

Be seeing you

The Prisoner - Taken To Extremes!

    I'm of the opinion that ‘the Prisoner’ doesn't mean half the things we think it does, which came as a bit of a disappointment to me as you might imagine. So where does that leave me? On a raft most probably, somewhere off the coast of...... oops, mustn’t give too much away old boy, but the co-ordinates for the location of the village is in my research notes. Oh yes, there's a huge pile of research papers in the corner of my bed sit, all logically researched using reasoned logic, and not at all reading too much into ‘the Prisoner,’ or making it up as I go along. Such is the mass of information I have acquired, and one day I intend to get it all published, or failing that, donate it as a manuscript to a library somewhere. So this is how I arrived at my conclusion, that perhaps ‘the Prisoner’ doesn't mean half the things we think it does, after reading letters and articles on this very subject.

   Anyway, time moves on, and tonight is the monthly meeting of the local Prisoner group, we meet once a month in the Dog & Duck public house. And a better evening I could not envisage, a chatting about ‘the Prisoner’ over a pint and a packet of cheese and onion crisps. Mind you it wasn't like that last month. I tried to impress Doris, the bar maid at the Dog & Duck, when I downed that Whisky, Vodka, Drambuie, Tia Maria, Cointreau, and Grand Marnier in quick succession. Doris said I'd be sick, and I was, all over her and the bar!

I'm Johnny Prisoner - who won't be trying that again!

Who's That On The Telephono?

   No.2 "Number Two here, I'm on yellow!"

   No. 283 "I'm sorry sir?"

   "There's no point in being sorry. I'm on yellow!"

   "Yellow what sir?"
   "The telephono!"

   "Oh I see sir, I'm on grey."

   "Have you completed the tests on those sheets of paper I gave you?"
   "Give us a chance, we've only just started!"

   "Don't you talk to me like that!"
   "I'm sorry sir, but the tests take time."
   "Well yes, I've had an idea about that."
   "Yes sir?"

   "Have you tested for lemon juce?"

   "I'm sorry sir?"
   "Look I've already told you it's no good being sorry! Have you tested for lemon juce?"

   "Why should we do that sir, did you spill some on the papers?"
   "What?"

   "Lemon juce, did you spill some of it on the papers while you were having breakfast?"

   "No, of course I didn't!"
   "Well wouldn't it be something of a waste of time?"

   "It's certainly a waste of time talking to you! What do you mean?"
   "You want us to fast-track the results of our tests on these blank sheets of paper, and yet you want to waste our time testing for lemon juce!"
    "Because whatever is written on those sheets of paper, word, fugures whatever, could have been written in leamon juice!"

   "Oh, you mean like invisible ink!"

   "Have you tested for that?"
   "No."

   "Well get on with it!" No.2 puts the phone down on his desk, "Idiot! I'm surrounded by idiots!"

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