Fall Out

     The green yellowed nose Lotus Seven drove over Westminster Bridge, turning left passed the Houses of Parliament, then turning right, and right again down a ramp and into an underground car park. The car paused at the barrier as the driver collected a ticket from the dispenser, the barrier rises and the car moves forwards into the depths of the car park. The man steps out smartly from the parked car and heads towards the double doors marked “way out.’ He pushes the doors open and passes through, leaving the car park along a darkly lit corridor. 

    Somewhere in an office in a building along White Hall the man pulls open a pair of double doors, and storms into the office beyond. A bald-headed man wearing spectacles is sat behind the desk doing a crossword puzzle in a newspaper.
    The man looks up from his desk “Oh no.......it’s you again!” He moves the cup in its saucer on the tea plate to once side.
    “Haven’t you got any work to do?”
    “What do you want this time?”
    “I want some answers!”
    “Answers?”
    “Who put me in the village?
    “Village, what village?”
    “Oh don’t come the old acid with me, the village where people who cannot be left around are put to have the information inside their head protected or extracted.”
    “Then what are you doing here?”
    “Looking for answers, and by thunder this time I’m going to get them. I want to see the Colonel!”
    “That’s what you wanted the last time.”
    “This time it’s going to be different. Pick up the telephone and tell the Colonel that the village has been left vacant!”
    “What does that mean?”
    “I shall that explain to the Colonel when I see him.”
    “Look I can’t just........”
    “Yes you can.....get me the Colonel at once, otherwise he’s going to have an over rated receptionist with a broken neck!”

    All it took was a phone call, and before he knew where he was, he was in the Colonel’s office.

    “And that’s what happened?”
    “Yes.”
    “It almost started World War three when that rocket, missile whatever it was, was launched.”
    “You know about that?”
    “Of course my dear chap Jodrell Bank picked up the launch, two moments later the telephones began to ring in Number Ten, the White House, and the Kremlin. Both sides denying any launching of any such rocket......a British made rocket launched from a British installation, on foreign soil. Tricky one that.”
    “They tried to make out I was responsible.............”
    “What for launching the rocket.......you didn’t, tell me you had nothing to do with that.”
    “I may have...............”   
    “Oh you damned fool!”
    “Before that, they made me think I was responsible for the village.”
    “You?! Don’t be a bloody fool. Go away, you resigned, go away on that holiday you were taking.”
    “What about the village?”
    “What about it?”
    “What will you do?”
    “Nothing. Go away and forget about it.”
    “But you had me put in that place......it was you who wanted to know why I resigned.”
    “Always quick to blame others, aren’t we Number 1!”
    “What?”
    “The trouble with you is, you’re your own worst enemy. You couldn’t live with the truth then, and you can’t live with it now.”
    “What?”
    “Your town house has been made ready for you, I suggest you go and live in it. Your butler will have high tea ready for when you get home. Oh you won’t need the key, the doors been upgraded.”
    “The front door’s been upgraded?”
    “Haven’t you yet realized, you weren’t abducted to any village, you’ve been here in the village all the time!”

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Caught On Camera!

    In ‘A B and C’ two men take Number 6 to the laboratory in the woods during the night, and through a storm. The doctor-Number 14 ordered the two men not to bring that “wet” into the laboratory, and orders them to take their boots off. However, when the two men return Number 6 to his cottage having trudged through the woods, they fail to take off their muddy boots. Thus they leave muddy boot prints leading to and from the bedroom. In the episode Number 6 appears to fail to notice those muddy boot prints in the actual episode, yet there they are. The muddy boot prints are mentioned in the original script for ‘A B and C,’ when Number 6 apologizes to the maid for the mud, as she has had to clean the carpet. Number 6 is under the impression that he’s had a party. The maid replies something in Arabic, to which Number 6 says “I’m sure you’re right.”

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Quote For The Day

   “We’ll be open in a minute. Do you want breakfast?”
                                            {The waitress at the café - Arrival}

    I always find myself mentally replying “Yes, full English, toast, marmalade, and a pot of tea for one.” But the Prisoner isn’t interested in food, only finding out the name of the village, which is The Village. There’s no Police Station, and no telephone, save for the one in the phone box around the corner.
   When the Prisoner arrives on the scene, having seen from the Bell Tower, the café being opened, the waitress is busy setting up the tables, and a man in overalls, presumably a gardener is hosing down the patio with a hosepipe. This is actually what a waitress and gardener working in Portmeiron would do every morning. Opening up the café and hosing down the patio with a hosepipe as my wife and I witnessed one morning when we were staying in Portmeirion.

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You Are Number 6

    During the open sequence when Number 6 asks and the reply is given;

    “Who is Number 1?”

    “You are Number 6.”

    And there is nothing wrong in that, because Number 2 is merely telling Number 6 who he is. However, enthusiasts of the Prisoner have changed the context of this short interchange, by placing an emphasis on the word you, or punctuation in the appropriate place. Thereby making it appear that Number 2 is telling Number 6 that he is Number 1, and that in turn has given rise to fans being under the impression that we are told who Number 1 is during the opening sequence.

   It was during one of my forays into a copy of the original script for ‘the Prisoner,’ that I noticed a line in the opening sequences, and that line appears in all the scripts which notes the full opening sequence, as not all of them do. When Number 6 asks who is Number 1 the reply comes;

    “You are our Number 6.”

    Now had that line in the script been retained unedited for the completed opening sequence, it could not have been misconstrued by fans of the series in years to come.

   If during that opening dialogue Number 2 tells the Prisoner that he is Number 1 as fans have interpreted it, in 'Arrival' when Number 6 storms into Number 2’s office why does he demand;

    “Get him!”

    “I have taken his place. I am the new Number 2”

    “Get Number 1.”

    If the Prisoner knew he was Number 1 he wouldn’t demand this, he would be telling Number 2 what to do, and could leave the village anytime he wanted to!     And it must not be forgotten that in ‘Free For All’ Number 6 asks “How’s Number 1?” To which Number 2 replies “At the summit.”
       I like a comment I read this morning on facebook “As has been pointed out numerous times Number Two tells Number six: You are Number Six, with the emphasis on the 'you'. I've always taken this to mean, 'you have no right to ask who Number One is. Your number is six and that's all you need to know.' It's putting Number Six firmly in his place and telling him - or warning him - not to ask impertinent questions.”

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What’s It All About?

    “You tell me. I didn’t ask to come here, you brought me here!”
    “I can see they’ve taken quite a liberty, but you must forgive us, a man of your ability we can find a use for.”
   “Me, what do you want with me?”
   “You are going to work for us.”
   “Why should I do that?”
   “You are going to be a man of importance.”
   “Am I?”
   “You are going to hold a lofty position.”
   “Really?”
   “You are going to be someone no-one sees.”
   “I don’t understand.”
   “You are going to be Number One!”
   “Me?”
   “You.”
   “Why me?”
   “We cannot think of anyone more qualified than you.”
   “It won’t be an easy job. You’ll be isolated.”
   “I prefer my own company.”
   “You’ll have to hide your face behind several masks.”
   “If no-one sees me what will that matter?”
   “And wear a cowled robe.”
   “Is that all?”
   “You’ll be able to see everything that goes on, and we’ll give you a telephone so that you can speak to Number Two, your subordinate.”
   “My subordinate, that makes me the boss, I’m Number One!”
   “Yes......oh and you’ll have to spend all your time cooped up in a space rocket!”
    “Will I?”

    5....4....3....2....1......Ignition!

    “Oh my god, won’t someone let me out of here? Hello this is Number One, I want someone to open this hatch and let me out. For god’s sake let me out of here, it’s cramped and getting terribly hot in here.......”

OR

    “This is Number One to ground control, I’m feeling rather queer, and I’m floating in a most peculiar way. Number One to ground control I think it’s going to be alright now, I can see the Earth it’s really beautiful. Number One to ground control there’s something wrong, can you hear me ground control, there’s something wrong, the circuit’s dead! The rocket is losing orbit, re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, I’ve no control. Number One to ground control can you hear me, can you help me ground control.........tell Number 6 he’s a complete and utter ………………. ”
    “This is ground control to Number One can you hear us Number One, can you hear us Number One............?

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A Favourite Scene In Checkmate

    Who says people do not enjoy themselves in the Village? Here a young woman lies sunbathing, perhaps she can afford to lie there until the tide comes back in. Or maybe she has but half-an-hour before she has to return to work. Other citizens are also enjoying the almost holiday resort atmosphere of the Village on the beach, playing beach ball, building sandcastles, sailing plastic boats, or simply relaxing in the sunshine or paddling in the water. Not forgetting citizens who enjoy afternoon tea on the lawn of the Old People’s Home. Less work and more play you might say!

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A Favourite Scene In Many Happy Returns

    “The Town Hall, Number Two’s residence, my house, the Old People’s Home……..”

    Our friend Number 6 is really getting excited, having made his report to both the Colonel and Thorpe he’s trying to hammer it home. He also has a problem, he seems to have forgotten his previous encounter when he went running back to his ex-colleagues. By that I mean the Colonel and Fotheringay, and the fact that they were both in the Village, didn’t seem to make Number 6 stop and think the same might be said of the Colonel and Thorpe. That they also might well be in the pay of those “masters” behind the Village! This was Number 6’s second debriefing session with the Colonel, his next encounter with the Colonel will be on a completely different level!

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