Hi jan

Sorry for taking so long to respond. I think we agree on about 99.666% of everything here ..... but ..... my point is that just as Moby Dick is a highly deatiled adventure story anchored in history it is still from beginning to end an allegory .... with no compromise of the beauty of imagery..... the same goes for The Prisoner including Fall Out.

In Fall Out the former No.2 asks "How was it done ??" in reference to his resurrection from the dead. I think that neatly opens the door for sc/fi fans to speculate not on the philosopher's question of "Why?" but to focus on the scientific (sci/fi) question of "How??" could No.6 confront No.1 ..... that is what my little musings in an earlier post were all about.

BCNU

Tommcfearsom

Thanks for the clarification.

Moor Larkin wrote:
I doodled some *alternative* scripts a couple of years ago. I found where I'd left the idea I used for my final episode and have uploaded it to another blog. I was rather fond of it, and still think it is fun. I daresay there would have been rather more phone-calls if Patrick had gone down this pearticular dead-end though....

On the other hand it would have been a much cheaper production....

I wonder how Angelo would have coped with dialogue

numberschizx.blogspot.com/

Hi Moor

Thank you for sharing your doodlings with us... and a fine doodling it was too

Oh yes, me thinks the ATV phone lines would have burned out if 'Fall Out' had this alternative ending

As a concept though, your idea is certainly a fascinating one. An idea ripe for expansion, perhaps...?

Miss W

I think I would be more confident about the re-make if you were writing the scripts, Moor. You've put a lot of thought into both the original series and McGoohan as creator.

I think the Thomas Disch novel "The Prisoner" published in 1969 has the best clue. If we look at "Fall Out" as a drug induced dream it would completely make sense. Though "once Upon A Time" and Fall Out are shown as the the final episodes they were in fact shot several months apart. In fact Leo McKern (my favorite Number Two) was dead at the end of "Once Upon A Time" and was not supposed to return.
McKern's Number Two we need to remember had a genuine fondness for Number Six. The Disch Novel as the cover displays is "Number Six had escaped the Village (Didn't he?)". "Then why was he imprisoned there again? (Or was he?".
Intriguing....Yes.
If we look at both these episodes as a dream all the inconsistancies make sense.
#1 As mentioned McKern's Number Two had a genuine affection for Number Six, more so than any other Number Two. Both Number Six and the Masters of the Village knew this and thus it was something that could be exploited. The ability to exploit dreams had already been established in the early episode 'A. B. and C'.
#2 McGoohan had stated repeatedly, even during his Danger Man/Secret Agent days that John Drake and Number Six would never carry or use a gun. Yet in 'Fall Out' he not only does so but kills many people almost gleefully.
#3 The Moderator/President at the trial played by Kenneth Griffith makes a speech that makes absolutely no sense, suggesting a stream of consciousness of ideas perhaps in Number Six's sub conscious. Clearly logic has little sway in dreams.
#4 It had been established several times in previous episodes that the Village is not close to London, England. It took several days by homemade boat in 'The Chimes of Big Ben'. Also in the same episode Number Six was dropped by a military jet back to the village. Let's face it, if the Village is a short Tram Ride from London this makes no sense.
#5 Number Six's entire experience in the Village could be considered a dream but certainly in the final episode he has as the President says has "Vindicated the right to be an individual". Number Six's experience as both a spy and a man living in a big city in modern times, has no doubt often thought he was a prisoner in his job, doing things he found morally objectionable. "They have given you a number and taken way your name", as the theme from Secret Agent declares.
#6 The entire 'Stages of Man" sequence shows us how Number Six was groomed for his present job, always being told to conform and always fighting to do the right thing based on his own morality. The refusal to snitch on a classmate in school, the refusal to bomb an un-named town or city during the war. Six was always a fighter for a higher moral standard than those proffered by the jobs he chose. Thus he was always trapped, always a Prisoner, and at least in his dreams he could fight back. This explains not only the use of guns bu number six but the "All You need is Love" by the Beatles . The dichotmy is obvious. Number Six fighting even with himself to chose the moral path as opposed to the path chosen for him. How every one of us can relate.

In conclusion the Village represents London to Number Six, both familiar and home, but not a place of warmth or refuge for him, simply a place where he lived, dictated by his own job. The only chance he had at a normal life, marrying Janet still attached him to the 'service' as she was the Colonel's daughter. Thus he is doomed to repeat over and over again his choices; his life. The ending is as the beginning, a man headed for a showdown he can never fully win. Even in his sub conscious he knows he is a prisoner. He can't live in this society without being one. "We are all Pawns, my dear." (The Arrival).
Be Seeing You

A very brilliant deduction Tiberiuscan.