QUESTIONS ARE A BURDEN ...... FAQ's - page 2

Q. Is it true that The Prisoner first appeared as a one-off TV play? A. Not quite. There was certainly a one-off play called "The Prisoner" starring Patrick McGoohan transmitted on BBC-TV in the UK on the 21st February 1963 at 9pm, but apart from the co-incidence of the name, it had nothing to do with the later TV series in any way. It was a play written by Bridget Boland and set in an un-named totalitarian state. The action revolves around a battle of wits between a Cardinal (played by Alan Badel) and an interrogator (played by Patrick McGoohan) who is trying to prove the Cardinal guilty of treason. Whether it inspired anything later is unknown, I've never heard PMG even mention it. He made his reputation from TV plays prior to "Danger Man" and did a fair number of them in the late 50's and early 60's but the only one he ever refers to nowadays is "Brand" which he's always wanted to turn into a film but never has. For the REAL trivia buff, the original choice to play the Cardinal was Kenneth Griffith. However, McGoohan felt that he was too well known for playing comedy and was unsuitable for such a serious role and Griffith was dropped in favour of Alan Badel. According to Kenneth Griffith in a subsequent interview, McGoohan wanted to make it up to him and gave him a part in a "Danger Man" episode and later cast him as Schnipps in "The Girl Who Was Death" and the Judge in "Fallout". "The Prisoner" (the play) wasn't preserved but if you want to track it down to get a feel for the material, the story was filmed in 1955 with Alec Guiness as the Cardinal (he'd also played the character in the stage version), and Jack Hawkins. Top of the list Q. Were the thunderclaps specially recorded, are the sound effects available commercially? A. All the sound effects come from a company called World Backgrounds, an audio library located in Borehamwood near the studios and the thunderclaps can occasionally be heard in other productions. The distinctive sound of Rover in murderous flight was also created here by overdubbing several different sounds including a slowed-down lion's roar, ball bearings rolling round the inside of a car tyre and a monks' chorus played backwards! Like music tracks, film companies "buy in" sound effects - crashes, car engines, explosions, footsteps, crowd noises & etc. Because it's time-consuming to get them sounding right, it's cheaper and faster to simply buy a professionally recorded sound effect off the shelf. I doubt, for example, that the Mini Moke engine noises are actual Mini Moke engine noises. Who could tell? As to whether you could ever buy a CD with specific Prisoner sound effects on, unlikely. It wouldn't be a commercial proposition and I doubt that records still exist of which ones were used anyway. Top of the list Q. What was the Village logo called, and why was the design the way it was? A. The logo is a Penny Farthing bicycle, so named because it resembles an old British penny coin and an even older coin, the farthing, side by side. It was an actual mode of transport, although difficult to ride by all accounts. Patrick McGoohan says he chose it as a logo to symbolise progress, or rather the fact that progress is often a backward step in terms of humanity. He also says the bicycle harkens back to a more elegant time. The canopy on top is a bit of nonsense, in real life it would be impossible to mount the bicycle with it on top. The finished design was probably a function of Jack Shampan's art department, taking the various elements and fashioning a decorative and distinctive logo, as opposed to a functional engineering drawing. Top of the list Q. Is it true that Patrick McGoohan guested on "The Simpsons"? A. It certainly is. He's in an episode called "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes". Homer is abducted after entering a fake Kwik-E-Mart (Apu is a cardboard cutout reminiscent of 'Living in Harmony'), He's taken to a strange island called "The Island". "No one leaves the island" one resident says, "So I'm a prisoner?", says Homer. After constantly being gassed, Homer meets No.6 (the actual voice of PMcG). "Welcome friend, I'm No.6..." Homer replies, "I am not a number, I am a man...oh wait, I'm No.5 - ha ha, in your face No.6!" "There has got to be a way to escape!" Homer says to No.6 who informs him that he's been working on a raft for 33 years, "It's small and it's smelly but it should carry us to..." Homer jumps on the raft and takes off. Homer evades the anti-escape pod (Rover) using a fork (why did no-one think of that before?). And so on. Top of the list Q. Where was The Prisoner made? A. Chiefly at the MGM studios in Borehamwood, UK. This is where all of the interior scenes were shot and quite a lot of the exteriors as well. The most famous outdoor location is Portmeirion, located at the northern end of Wales. Portmeirion is a real-life place and is an hotel complex open for paying guests and for day-visitors as well. Most of the outside shots for "Arrival", "Free For All", "Checkmate", and "Dance Of The Dead" were shot here over a continuous period. The crew returned on a seperate occasion to do some filming for "Many Happy Returns" (note the obviously different season) and some pick-up shots for a couple of other episodes. Apart from that, all the "Village" scenes in other episodes are either culled from these five episodes or shot on a re-dressed outdoor set in Borehamwood. "The Chimes Of Big Ben" is a good example of how the Village exteriors were created by a combination of fake exteriors (actually shot indoors), re-used footage and the Borehamwood backlot. Other 'Prisoner' locations included London (Westminster, Abingdon Street carpark, Park Lane carpark, and the Prisoner's 'home' in Buckingham Place), Beachy Head, Borehamwood High Street and the surrounding area. Top of the list Q. Where is the location of The Prisoners London home? A. The exterior was Number 1, Buckingham Place in London. As the name suggests, it's quite close to Buckingham Palace and the building is exactly the same today (apart from the paint). The buildings which The Prisoner sees as he passes out from the gas are more or less where they appear to be, except he'd have to crane out of the window and look left to see them in real life. Also close by (in Stag Place) is the statue of the stag which he passes by in "Many Happy Returns". All interiors were shot at Borehamwood studios, therefore the living room where The Prisoner is overcome by gas, isn't in the Buckingham Place building. Top of the list Q. Who did the "Village Voice", the "It's another lovely day" female announcer? A. Uncredited for reasons unknown, this was British actress Fenella Fielding. She recorded all the announcements in a single session with no idea of what they were going to be used for. Fenella appeared in a number of TV and film roles, including "Carry On Screaming", a spoof horror film from the famous British "Carry On" series. Another "notable" voice-over was the Black Queen in "Barbarella" when the thick Swedish accent of Anita Pallenberg proved incomprehensible. Top of the list Q. How do I join Six of One, The Prisoner Appreciation Society? A.Six Of One has a world-wide membership and wherever you live in the world you can join instantly on line by credit card or by filling in an application form and sending it, with your subscription, to the Six Of One UK address. There is an online page which gives all the relevant details. Just CLICK HERE to get to it. Top of the list Q. What do I get from a Six Of One subscription? A. Normally four mailings per year, (there is a five-issue subscription at present as the subscription system is being changed, but this will revert to four at the end of July 2003). "Free For All", the society magazine is published four times a year and comes in each mailing. This is a 36-page professionally printed glossy A4 magazine and each one is brim full of "The Prisoner" features and photographs. It includes fan fiction, analysis, cast and crew interviews, news and a letters page plus in-depth episode reviews (which usually contain revealing new facts, details of deleted scenes, script changes and lots of extra trivia). Each mailing also contains a bonus mini-magazine which has lots of late-breaking items, reviews of Prisoner merchandise, TV screenings and opportunities to buy back numbers and other members-only merchandise such as a VCD of behind-the-scenes filming of the series in Portmeirion. The society has informal "Roadshow" events during the year which means that members can get together on a social basis. These events usually feature "Prisoner" video material, quizzes and competitions with some fab prizes. Some of the roadshows are themed differently to cater for the more serious Prisoner appreciator and involve discussions and debates on the underlying themes and meanings which are built into the structure of the series. The 'major' event though, is the semi-annual convention which is held at Portmeirion where The Prisoner was filmed. This is held over an entire weekend with human chess games, election parades, radio village and lots of indoor events. There is usually a star guest or two as well. Six Of One work very closely with Portmeirion Ltd, and can offer accomodation in the Village itself for the duration of the weekend. For more information about the society, or to read even more on the subject of "The Prisoner", click any of the 601 website links below. MAIN SIX OF ONE WEBSITES   601 USA   601 UK   Free For All   PortmeiriCon 2005

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