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QUESTIONS ARE A BURDEN ...... |
| ... but not really. The questions below are typical of many I receive via email. If you have any other Prisoner-related questions I don't pretend to be the oracle but after being associated with this durn programme now for thirty years I can probably find out the answers for you. BUT . . . please don't ask me about 'hidden meanings' or what it's all about or who was Number One etc, etc. That's speculative stuff and your guess is as good as mine. |
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Q. I keep hearing that Six Of One (The Prisoner Appreciation Society) is in trouble. What's the truth? A. This is just pointless hate-mail in the 'alt.tv.prisoner' newsgroup from disaffected people who have nothing better to do but spread gossip, misinformation and plain lies. What was once a useful and informative forum for The Prisoner has now become an unpleasant place to be. The truth is that, like all amateur free-time fan clubs, Six Of One has it's internal squabbles from time-to-time and it's coordinators fall out. Some of them, rather than leaving with dignity, prefer to spread their grievances around in public and other people seem to take it up as a "cause". Disagree with something if you like, that's your business. Register your disagreement in writing if you like, vote with your feet if you must, but then get on with your life. Move on for heavens sake. Escalating things like this into a flame war is pathetic, deliberately twisting things to make a "case" is reprehensible and simply lying when you can't actually find any dirt is criminal. Two wrongs have never made a right, The Prisoner is a TV series, not a religion, and there are far worse things to worry about in the world anyway. What sort of people have so little in their lives that they need to behave like this is a mystery to me, but they do have a website dedicated to a small piece of yellow paper which Six Of One issued nearly two years ago. Draw your own conclusions. Personally, I wasn't around 601 when all this blew up, but I've been a member and a co-ordinator of the society in the past and therefore very well aware of the quality of the work, the depth of information it provides and the high level of work and dedication which goes into it. Attempting to smear the whole society just because you've fallen out with one or more of the coordination team is just stupid and achieves nothing. Rubbishing the whole of the society's output irrespective of it's quality is likewise stupid because, no matter what the newsgroup mafia would have you believe, what the society provides to it's members is as good today as it's always been. It's interesting that all of this has actually re-vitalised my own interest in The Prisoner and in Six Of One on the basis that, if someone is trying so hard to keep me away from it, it must be worth finding out why! If you're interested in the series (and you must be, otherwise you wouldn't be here), then consider taking out a year's subscription. It's worth it just to get the quarterly magazine which is an A4 size quality professionally-printed glossy item, full of articles, episode reviews, Prisoner-inspired short stories, production photos, discussion subjects and artwork. Six Of One remains the only official appreciation society for The Prisoner, supported (although not financially) by Carlton International and Portmeirion. The society has provided (unpaid) information and help with just about every commercial extension of the programme, including books, video and DVD releases, soundtrack albums, TV commercials, pop videos and so on. Complete information on how the society is run and how to join can be found by CLICKING HERE. Top of the list Q. Can I buy the soundtrack albums? A. All three of the original soundtrack albums have been re-released by Silva Screen. They're in a different format this time, with selections being re-arranged in a more logical order. Also, the sound quality is be much better, having been re-processed using the modern technology not available at the time of the original releases. Bonus items include 12-page full-colour booklets with information, photographs and biographies of some of the composers and music editors. The albums can be purchesed online, CLICK HERE for more information. Although the original-issue Prisoner soundtrack albums are no longer available, they do appear from time-to-time on the Ebay auction site and it's worth visiting them and checking for the albums occasionally. Ebay is also the best place to find other rare PRISONER memorabilia - sooner or later, whatever you're looking for turns up. HOWEVER, BE AWARE THAT NOT ALL ITEMS ARE NECESSARILY LEGAL. It's OK to sell single items from private and paid-for personal collections, quite another to have copyrighted photos reproduced without a licence and offered for sale. Don't line the pockets of the pirates. Top of the list Q. Are there any MP3 files of the soundtrack on the internet, will you tell me where they are, can you supply them? A. Yes, no, and definitely not. Top of the list Q. Is there a midi file of the theme music anywhere? A. Yes, Annie Wallace has produced quite a good file of the opening credits version of the theme. RIGHT-CLICK HERE and choose "Save Target As" to download it. You can also download this and other SF midi files by CLICKING HERE. Q. I see you have a couple of personal versions of the theme on your site in legal MP3 format. Can I have the midi-file of those? A. No. They were developed from Ron Grainer's original manuscript and therefore aren't mine to give. Top of the list Q. Will you send me MP3's, WAV's, production stills, Patrick McGoohan's address and phone number? A. This isn't a proper FAQ but I get it all the same in one form or another. Sorry, no on all counts. Please don't ask. Top of the list Q. Weren't there alternative versions of "Arrival" and "The Chimes Of Big Ben" with different music/different characters/different story/different ending? A. Yes, yes, no, no, and no. Up against a deadline to get the series launched, a couple of rough edits of "Arrival" and "Chimes" were produced for press and media screenings. These were essentially the same as the final versions but needed final editing (tightening up the action and removing surplus material). Also, not all the music had been chosen yet, so whatever was to hand was inserted to fill the gaps, including the rejected but not yet replaced main title theme. In theory these rough edits should have hit the dumpster after the series' launch. In practice they got overlooked and found their way into the pile of release prints and were subsequently broadcast in a couple of places in the USA. Both of these "alternate" episodes have now been released on DVD. Top of the list Q. Will there be a film of The Prisoner? A. Rumours are always being put about and they're always "this time it's for real". There's been rumours of such a film for over twenty years, but it's mainly been wishful thinking. Every bright new kid on the block is going to write it/direct it/act in it. The writer of the latest "Apes" film, for example, is "definitely going to write it." Ho hum. The Prisoner newsgroup (alt.tv.prisoner) always has the latest "news", complete with posts from people who are convinced that it's definitely happening. Here's a general rule of thumb for such things. If you read it on the internet, it's a rumour. If you read it in a newsgroup, it's total fabrication. It's certainly a property which will keep coming up for film treatment consideration from time-to-time, and one day it might happen, but do we want it? Do we need an overpaid pretty-boy Number Six poncing about in a computer generated Village, grappling with a poorly executed storyline, over-the-top villains, excessive special effects and eventually getting the girl in a predictably happy ending. That's Hollywood, folks - that's about what you'll get - and remember that it will only get made if it's going to make money! Forget integrity, allegories or the deeper meanings beloved of so many prisoner fans. Crash! Bang! Wallop! "I'll be back", not "Be seeing you". Personally I'm not even remotely interested. The Prisoner was a product of it's time and no amount of poncy special effects are going to make it any better. Leave it where it is! if you want to do something really useful with your time, I suggest you get up a petition to try to stop it before it starts, because I guarantee it will be Kerrrrr-appp! Top of the list Q. The last episode was always a great disappointment. The key question of the series was 'Who was No 1?' Who ran the camp - us, them or a third party for both sides? The ending seemed to duck this question. Do you have a different theory? A. This falls into the area of "speculation" and your guess is as good as anyone else's, but McGoohan, when asked the same questions, said, "The answers, such as they are, are all in the episode - what you see is all there is." If in doubt, please re-read that. In other words - he doesn't know either, and no amount of "yes but' will alter that. To be fair, the series was wrapped prematurely and he was only allowed to finish one more episode when it was cancelled, and wrote what became "Fall Out" over a single weekend. Actually he only part finished it, Ken Griffith had to write his own speech and there's no dialogue at all in the latter part. According to Alexis Kanner and others, they made most of the action up on the spot and the musical director describes "miles of wasted film". All of which perhaps means that McGoohan did Fall Out as expensively and obscurely as possible as a gesture of defiance. I say "perhaps". We'll never know. As to whether "Fall Out" (or indeed any episode) actually means anything, probably not. Sounds like heresy I know, but I've interviewed or heard/read interviews with a fair number of Prisoner actors, writers and production people over the years, McGoohan included, and none of them actually say that there are any "hidden meanings" and such-like that they're aware of. But if people want to analyse, theorise and fantasise then, fine, it's fun, free and non-fattening. Nothing wrong with that at all, it's a relatively free country, but beware of taking it all too seriously is my humble advice. It was an allegory, PMG put a lot of his own ideas on life (and his predjudices) into it and it was a great series, but as he said on yet another occasion "If anybody admits to understanding it, then please pass the understanding on to me." There's a bit more on this subject on the last page of the episode guide. (Then hit the 'back' button to get back here) Top of the list Q. What was the 'white balloon' and what was it called. A. This was the Village perimiter guard system, operating on a "chase, disable and bring back" principle but occasionally used as brutal killing machine. It appears to have the ability to change in size, perhaps to allow it to flow through any obstacle, and can travel through water as well as on land and through the air. It can be called up from the control room and directed towards escapees but also has a degree of self-motivation. This can result in unintended deaths. It subdues it's victims by partial suffocation but might also possess a tranquiliser drug which is administered by skin contact. Victims will often emerge from contact in a helpless and confused state which requires hospital treatment. This is known as a "nasty experience"! The device was only ever referred to by name in one episode (The Schizoid Man) as "Rover". Top of the list Q. What was the name of the Village Newspaper. A. The Tally Ho. Top of the list Q. Was Number Six actually John Drake from "Danger Man? A. We're bordering on speculation here, but according to Patrick McGoohan "No". According to George Markstein (who arguably co-created The Prisoner) "Yes". Also, when I interviewed Frank Maher some time ago, he said that in the early discussions he had with McGoohan, he asked if The Prisoner was going to be a continuation of the Danger Man character and was told, "Yes, but we're not going to say so." It's probably reasonable to assume that in the original format he was Drake in all but name and it was written that way; but as the series progressed and became more allegorical in nature, PMG saw that Number Six didn't have to be Drake or anyone else really and so Number Six became "Everyman". Hence the black suit, the familiar "Danger Man" mannerisms and similar past life - all built into the early treatments. Q. But doesn't Leo McKern's Number Two refer to him as "Drake" in the "Once Upon a Time" episode? A. Ah, that old chestnut. No, the line goes "See me in the morning break!" (as is written in the script). McKern emphasises the word "morning", differentiating between the morning break and the afternoon break. Wishful thinking (or cloth ears) hears the line as "See me in the morning, Drake". Q. But doesn't John Drake actually appear in one episode? A. Cor, persistent aren't you? The episode "The Girl Who was Death" is parody episode and sort-of combines elements of "The Avengers" and "Danger Man". Number Six appears in a comedy "Danger Man" guise and one character, Potter (played by Christopher Benjamin), also appeared in Danger Man. However, it's never been proven that all this means that Number Six is John Drake, the episode simply reflects the comedy/fantasy/adventure TV style of the time. Q. Yes, but doesn't ....? A. Yes, yes - I was coming to that! In the cricket match, the bowler is played by an actor called John Drake. While a sardonic in-joke can't be ruled out, John Drake is his real name and he's a professional actor. Interviewed some time later, he said that he was hired as an actor to play a role and is not aware that the co-incidence of the name played any part in him getting it. He does express the desire to play a fictional character called "Patrick McGoohan" though! Q. Yes, but .... A. Oh, for heavens sake! All right, in the Danger Man episodes "A Very Dangerous Crime", "That's Two Of Us, Sorry", "Such Men Are Dangerous", "Fish On The Hook", "Dangerous Secret" and " Whatever Happened To George Foster?", John Drake is heard to say "Be Seeing You". It still doesn't prove a link. These aren't Prisoner-isms or Drake-isms, they're McGoohan-isms. You can hear it in Columbo as well. He says the phrase just like Arnie says "I'll be back!" And, just as a lastword, here's PMG's comments on the subject.
Top of the list Q. What was the car which The Prisoner drives in the opening title sequence? A. It was a Lotus Seven, registration KAR120C. It appears in nearly every episode; during the opening title sequence using footage shot for ARRIVAL plus appearances in MANY HAPPY RETURNS, DO NOT FORSAKE ME and Fall Out. However, several different cars were used to portray KAR120C. MORE INFORMATION Q. Can I buy one? A. Unless you can find a previously-owned model, not really. Lotus ceased production of the Seven many years ago. However, Caterham Cars bought the production rights and have manufactured their "Caterham Seven" variety ever since. They actually produce a replica "Prisoner Seven" which you can buy if you have the appropriate number of oncers. MORE INFORMATION Top of the list Q. What's the definitive episode viewing order? A. There isn't one! Your preferred order is as valid as anyone else's. Top of the list Q. Didn't Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, appear in one episode? A. Not unless they dug him up first! No, there's an actor called Ian Fleming who appears briefly in "The General" as "Man at Cafe" - same name, no relation. |
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