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Dark storm clouds gather as a green, yellow nosed sports car hurtles down a long and deserted road. The drivers face is set in a grimace, his destination, an office somewhere in London.
 Storming into that office, he vents his anger upon a man sat behind a desk. He slams down an envelope upon the desk, followed by a fist, in an act of resignation. Having returned to his home of No1 Buckingham Place, Westminster, he collects two suitcases, his passport and other such documents, just as jet of gas vapour pours into the room. Rendering the man unconscious, he falls backwards onto a couch. Sometime later, he awakens on the couch, in what still appears to be his own home, but the view from the window is very different. Gone are the London sky scrappers, replaced by that of a picturesque view of an Italianate village.
The Village, is a place where people turn up, a place where no names are used, its citizens known only by their Numbers, a small reflection of our own society, an International community, with its own credit card system, television station and news paper. A place where people are put who cannot be left around, a place which has many means of breaking a man and from which there is no escape. The village also has a very impressive graveyard! On the surface, the village exudes a carefree atmosphere, with regular Brass Band concerts, human chess matches, there’s an outdoor swimming pool, a beach and bathing to enjoy. A Town Hall citizens, advice bureau and taxis {local service only} together with a public address system. Every nee
d of the citizens is catered for here, for as long as they live! Citizens who wear colourful clothes, capes, piped blazers and straw boaters, pushing around penny farthing bicycles, all of which adds to the holiday camp atmosphere of The Village.
However this only hides a darker side, of mind games, drugs and medical experiments. Citizens, especially those members of the town council, are akin to brainwashed imbeciles, who can neither laugh nor cry.
Now as the prisoner, he is issued with a Number, Number 6. Number 2 {chairman of the village} is charged with extracting the prisoner’s resignation secret, and will go to almost any lengths to gain it. However Number 6 is a stubborn fellow, he will not be �pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or Numbered, his life is his own. His defiance echoes and re-echoes throughout the 17 episode series.
Being single minded, Number 6 has but one desire, to escape the village and be free man.
But to be able to escape, first there has to be an ARRIVAL.
David A. Stimpson 2003 |
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