Hooked on The Prisoner

  Before the Prisoner there was ‘Danger Man,’ and John Drake was my boyhood hero. So that when ‘Danger Man’ finished in 1966, and when ‘the Prisoner’ came along in 1967, to my mind Number 6 was John Drake. Yes there was a change in the character, but then incarceration in The Village would cause a change in anyone’s character. But at the time I never thought about that.
    And then there was the opening sequence, strong and powerful, my attention was captured with the first clash of thunder, dark clouds in the sky and a green, yellow nosed Lotus Seven {in black and white at the time} racing along that deserted road, or runway, depending on how you look at it. Little did I know then as I watched, riveted by the opening sequence, that I too had become a Prisoner!
   The whole series captured my imagination. And at that time it was uncomplicated to a child’s mind, it was an adventure. Yes there were questions, of course there were questions. Who was Number 2? Why did the Prisoner resign? What was the white balloon supposed to be? I don’t remember being frightened by Rover, after all I had watched ‘Quatermass and The Pit,’ on television and it did not frighten me, so why should a balloon be all that scary? I just wanted to know what it was. As I wanted to know which side ran The Village, and would Number 6 finally escape at the end.
   I remember thinking that during ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ Number 6 and Nadia had actually escaped The Village. And felt deflated when Number 6 returned to his cottage. And then later ‘Many Happy Returns,’ and Number 6 did actually escape The Village. A dangerous sea voyage, and the gun runners were just that. It never occurred to me at the time that they might be working for The Village. But in the end he did return to his home in London. Yes there was Mrs Butterworth, a kind lady who helped him on his way. It came as a shock to see her turn up in The Village as Number 2. It was also deflating to see Number 6 returned to The Village so easily, after having undergone such a struggle to escape in the first place. But at least Number 6, and more importantly, I knew the location of The Village!

   And so the episodes went on, and each week I was very eager to see what he would be going to do each week, what would happen to him next. At school there was no-one in my class who liked the Prisoner as I did. My parents didn’t like it, my father hated the series, so really it was a wonder I was allowed to watch it at all. Probably it was simply because we would watch all the ITC series at that time. But how was it all going to end? Well the Prisoner did come to a sudden pause, due to the fact that the screening of the series had caught up with the production, and so two episodes of ‘Danger Man’ ‘Koroshi’ and ‘Shinda Shima’ were screened to plug the two week gap. I cannot remember how I felt about this, I think I took it all in my stride, disappointed of course because of the break in the screening of ‘the Prisoner.’ But eventually there came ‘Fall Out,’ and the promise that all the questions generated by the previous sixteen episodes would be answered. I thought I would discover the identity to be that of John Drake, seeing as his name had never been used in the entire series. And it did puzzle me that no-one, not even Janet Portland would use his name. But alas I found that hardly any of my questions would be answered. Yes I did discover who Number 1 was, Number 6! And then the moment was gone! And when Number 6 was invited to address the members of the Assembly I thought right, now I’ll find out what all this is about. And was thoroughly disappointed when Number 6 said practically nothing! Then there was Rover, it seemed to me that it came from another planet, seen in a crater amid a misty atmosphere of an alien environment during ‘Fall Out.’ A touch of Quatermass II I thought in later years. An alien creature, being grown in a large dome!

   But then there it was, the closing credits to ‘Fall Out,’ and I was left more perplexed than I was before that final episode came along. If it wasn’t bad enough before, I was left trying to get my head round what I had seen in that final episode. And it was difficult trying to remember what I had seen, let alone make any sense of it. And there is was…..gone. It would not be until 1976 when I would see the series again, but ‘the Prisoner’ remained with me up until that time. I couldn’t remember all the details of the series of course, I had just general remembrances which remained in my mind. But there was one thing that was etched in my memory and that was the theme music. That I did not forget.

   The Prisoner had a profound effect upon me. At the time there were no deep meanings for me, it was more of an adventure. But since the age of 12 I have always kept The Prisoner in mind, I have never forgotten.

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A Few of My Favourites And Least Favourites!      

Favourite Episode: For me that just has to be "Arrival." It sets the scene perfectly for the rest of the series.
Favourite No.2: Leo McKern, followed by Colin Gordon.
Favourite Actress: Nadia Gray.
Favourite Actor:   Colin Gordon
Favourite Scene:    The taxi scene in ‘Checkmate’ Number 6 has stolen a Mini-Moke and Number 8 after him.

Favourite Piece of Dialogue: From Arrival.
   Waitress “We’ll be open in a minute.”
   Prisoner “What’s the name of this place?”
   “You’re new here, aren’t you?”
   “Where?”
   “Do you want breakfast?”
   At which point I always find myself saying “Yes, full English, with tea toast, and marmalade.”

Favourite character: No.51 the watchmaker, if only for that immortal line, “Must get on with my work!”

Least Favourite Episode: ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling’ there are far too many holes in the plot!

Least Favourite Character: Janet Portland, she seems superfluous to the plot!

Least Favourite Moment: Nigel Stock playing the Prisoner

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The Pri50ner - SCREENSIX Productions

BCNU

The Therapy Zone

    What’s it all about? “Our prize prisoner, the one we call Number Six. The toughest case I’ve ever handled. I could crack him of course, but I can’t use the normal techniques. He’s too valuable, mustn’t damage him permanently say our masters.” Well that’s according to Number 2 of ‘The Schizoid Man.’ But what exactly are the “Usual methods?” After all Number 6 is put through a number of extraordinary, and elaborate ordeals during his confinement in The Village. The first being fooled into thinking he’s escaped The Village, and is back in an office he knows very well in London, the Colonel’s. But of course he’s nothing of the kind.

   The following episode they get into Number 6’s dreams, and manipulate them from within, thanks to a new drug developed by the doctor and bio-chemist Number 14.

   Its one thing to face oneself in the mirror, but to actually come face to face with yourself. At the outset they took away his identity and replaced it with a Number, 6, and then they even took that away from him, and made him out to be someone else!

    The Village was deserted, so instead of sitting on his backside Number 6 built himself a sea-going raft, and set out on a voyage of discovery. And Number 2 let him go, just like that. Didn’t’t they realize the dangers? They might have really lost him in an accident at sea. What prize then their prize prisoner Number 6?
    ‘Dance of the Dead,’ perhaps the darkest of all the 17 episodes. Put on trial for the trivial matter of possessing a radio, the Prisoner is found guilty and sentenced to death for a breach of the rules! But it could not be believed, not seeing as how Number 6 is seen to have a future with The Village, and so must be handled very differently. ’Dance of The Dead, that’s handling the Prisoner differently is it, and to what end?

   It may be supposed that the mind transference which Number 6 underwent with the Colonel was the most outlandish and elaborate of Number 6’s ordeals. After the mind transference wiped his mind of all unpleasant memories of the Village. Regress his memory back to the morning he was supposed to hand in his letter of resignation, then take him back to London, back in his house, and let him wake up. After that his own situation will make him find Seltzman, and lead them to him! What’s more, just for once ZM73 needed The Village, as that’s where his body lay in order to rectify his current situation, and that of the Colonel’s of course.

    As for ‘Living In Harmony’ children do like to play Cowboys and Indians, however Number 8 had taken the game a few steps further, in a style of virtual reality. There was no real danger to Number 6, only it took him time to come to realize that. But there was no real reason to beat himself up over it!

    Telling tales! Number 6 is good at that, especially fairytales. ‘The Girl Who Was Death’ seemed not to be a last desperate throw of the dice, but a nothing really. Scraping the bottom of the barrel it might be said. Whatever gave Number 2 the idea that Number 6 would drop his guard with children? If the three children were born in The Village, the whole story would have been a fantasy to them, as they would have no concept of the outside world unless they were taught about it in school. Either that or through Speedlearn!

    ‘Once Upon A Time’ two men were locked in a room where they could enact any part of a man’s life from the cradle to the grave. Degree Absolute, it’s a recognized method in psychoanalyses. The patient must come to trust his doctor. Sometimes they change places, is extreme cases!  This seemed to be the last throw of the dice, but the last resort was yet to come, to try and get Number 6 to give the reason behind his resignation. And it cost Number 2 his life. Had it been any other man other than Number 6, Number 2 may well have succeeded in the endeavour. But Number 6 is not like other men, he doesn’t wear down easily. He may have said he resigned for peace of mind, because too many people know too much, certainly the administration behind The Village knew too much, or too little because they didnt know why the Prisoner resigned. Is that what the Prisoner meant by people knowing too much? He said he knew too much about Number 2, and Number 2 was surprised to hear that.

    ‘Fall Out,’ and what I see as the real last resort to bend Number 6 to their will. Bribe him, or give him compensation for all that had happened to him. Offer him ultimate power, together with the opportunity to lead them or go! But Number 6 didn’t know, he couldn’t make up his mind. Give him the opportunity to address the delegates of the Assembly, but don’t listen to a word he has to say for himself. And then let him meet with Number 1, and when he’s faced with the fact that he’s responsible for his own incarceration in The Village, well he’ll want to put that right! Which he did. The only trouble with that was, he could escape The Village, but no matter how far he ran, he can never escape himself!

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Exhibition of Arts And Crafts

                           “Going Home!”

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Fantastic Stories Part Two

   “Quatermass, Impact with the meteorite in ten second..9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.”
 “I see it on the monitor Leo, atomic motor reaching critical.”
    A few hundred miles from Earth there is a blinding white light, the meteor has been blown to pieces and incinerated in the heat of the explosion……

   A small piece of the meteorite actually entered Earth’s atmosphere. Surviving the enormous heat, the meteorite plummeted downwards, but at an angled trajectory.  Through the upper stratosphere, through dense cloud, travelling across the sky at tremendous speed, giving off bright light. Suddenly the ground below loomed up towards it, and then the sudden impact!
   The meteorite came to ground at Barwell in Leicestershire. Quatermass immediately despatched a search in order to retrieve the meteorite. But a second agency was there hours before the Professor’s team, two men in black, who had already extracted the still hot meteorite from the large crater.

  In The Village, two laboratory technicians worked on the meteorite. At first it seemed to be just what it was, and then a small piece of membrane tissue was discovered in a small cavity.

  “What do you think that is?”
  “It appears to be some form of membrane, but it can’t be!”

  “Shall we put it to the test?”
  “We’ll have to. My god…..”
  “What is it?”
  “It’s alive!”

    The membrane was transferred to a Petri dish, and subjected to ultra violet light, gamma radiation, and sub-atomic transmutation for weeks. Until one day the membrane began to expand and take on a circular form, about the size of a table tennis ball.
   “How did you do that?” asked Number 242.
   His colleague was bemused, baffled, and completely dumbfounded. “I’ve have absolutely no idea.”
   “We had better inform Number Two.”
   “No, not yet, we must run more tests. We don’t know if it’s intelligent or not.”
   “But if it should get out of the laboratory and into The Village……”
   “What harm can a little thing like that cause?”
   “That’s just it, I don’t know. And neither do you!”
    That night, all alone in its Petri dish, the white membranic being began to glow. It rolled itself out of the dish and onto the bench, across the bench dropping down to the floor. It had stopped glowing. Large parts of the sphere took on a pinkish hue, veins stretched out across it, linking the large pinkish areas. It rolled about the floor, as though it was looking for something. A small mouse suddenly appeared. It gave out a squeak, and in an instant the sphere was on the mouse covering its face with its membrane, suffocating it until the mouse fell dead.

    The next morning the two laboratory technicians upon discovering the empty Petri dish, sealed the laboratory, but having made a complete search, discovered that they were too late. The membrane had escaped! Number 2 was alerted, and the whole Village placed on Yellow Alert. Yet it was not long before the membranic sphere was discovered, in the Piazza, and it had grown massively in size! Not only could it roll and bound along the ground, but it had the ability to lighten its mass and float through the air. What’s more it had a voice. Well it could make a noise, a cross between a roar, a man breathing through an aqua lung, a bicycle pump, and Gregorian Chant! Because of possible impending danger to citizens, the electronic defence system called “The Beam” was activated, and stunned the alien creature. Quickly laboratory technicians created an electrical containment area for the membranic “thing.” Eventually neurosurgeons worked on the heavily sedated membrane, and implanted neuroreceptors which when activated by neurotransmitters release a protein making it possible to control the membranic sphere.

   Eventually the sphere was integrated into the alarm system of The Village, and given the name Rover, but became generally known as the Guardian. For reasons of safety a containment area was created for the Guardian some distance away out at sea on the seabed. The Guardian was massively increased in size, but only a segment was to be released when an Orange Alert was ordered, or Rover sent out to patrol The Village. Such is Rover’s balloon like quality that it is able to reduce itself in size, but any single segment is unable to exceed a 6 feet circumference. Thus its growth is restricted.

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Quote For The Day

Quote For The Day

    “Unmutualism Number Six, more now, you must agree than just a game.” 

                                   {Number 56 - A Change of Mind}

    Number 6 is a disharmonious sort of fellow, he’s been dissatisfied with his life in The Village ever since the day he arrived there. And as if that wasn’t unfortunate enough, now his been posted as being Unmutual! That means no more credit, no more taxis, and no-one will talk to him {having been sent to Coventry} in fact no-one will have anything to do with him. And there’s only one way to deal with Number 6, he has to undergo the operation known as Instant Social Conversion. There would be three possible outcomes to this operation. That nothing would happen to the patient. That his aggressiveness would be curbed by the operation, leaving the patient docile as like the Lobo man Number 6 encounters in the hospital. Or they could lose Number 6 mentally, and he would never be the same again. When I first watched this episode as a child, I couldn’t believe in its central plot really. Such a man as Number 6, considered to be so important that the usual methods could not be used against him. Mustn’t be broken, the tissue must not be damaged permanently, after all Number 2 didn’t want a man of fragments. And now all of a sudden Number 2 is allowed to gamble with Number 6’s mental capacity? Of course as it turned out it was all a trick, and no such operation was to have been performed on him. But at the time, the first watching of ‘A Change of Mind,’ the threat did seem so very real to Number 6. It seemed real to me, and so I wondered what had changed their attitude towards him? But even before being posted Unmutual, Number 6 was a man in isolation, cut off from the world he knew. Unmutualism isolated him even more!

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Thought For The Day

    Number 51, the Watchmaker, said that he had not met anyone in The Village who had committed a crime. Perhaps he like the Professor and his wife, went to The Village of his own volition. Certainly Number 53, the Rook, had not committed a crime, not a physical crime. His was the crime of thought, not deed. Having invented an electrical defense system he thought that all nations should have it, because in his eyes it would have ensured World peace. And that was enough to see him abducted to The Village, or was it? The joke was that some bumbling bureaucrat let the plans get swiped anyway. But who swiped the plans? It might be supposed that it was the Russians, but another thought might lead to an agent working for The Village. After all, the Administration for The Village might see the need for a defense system of their own, and having swiped the plans, what better than to have the inventor of that electronic defense system install it in The Village, on a smaller scale of course, and name it The Beam! The Beam as once deployed in the episode of ‘Hammer Into Anvil!’ More than that, if anything should go wrong with The Beam, Number 53 was on hand to affect repairs, even perhaps to service and upgrade the defense system from time to time. He might even find employment in the electronics department. Such an electronics expert as Number 53 would be invaluable to The Village as a whole. So why not make him useful and put him to work?!

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