FREE FOR ALL
The Magazine That Really Is Free For All
Convention Special -- Part 2
FREE FOR ALL is the only free local group magazine and is run on a non
profit making basis.
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INTERNET NEWS
The internet has again been used to distribute news of Free For All, Six
of One & the annual convention at Portmeirion. Arthur Jacks writes " The
week prior to the convention I e-mailed via Rose Swicegood the
alt.tv.Prisoner newsgroup a reminder that the convention was taking place
in Portmeirion, I received a reply asking if I would post to the
newsgroup a brief report of the weekend's activities, the content of the
posting is as follows :- Described below is a brief outline of the events
that took place at the annual Prisoner convention held in Portmeirion
18/20th. August. Friday saw a steady arrival of Six of One members to the
village, some are fortunate to be staying in the village. Friday evening
is a 'well come ' evening where in the Hercules Hall ( the town hall in
the series ) old acquaintances are re-established and new friends made.
Co-ordinator David Jones gives a description of the events planned for
the weekend.
Saturday morning 9.30 Dave Lally (Sunday - Peter Dunn ) hosts the
discussion group in the Hercules Gazebo, where early risers can talk and
debate the more serious aspects of the series. 10.30 (15.00 Sunday) The
'Free For All' election parade where everyone has the opportunity to
participate, a colourful crowd comprising of many people in piped blazers
and capes together with several undertakers follow No.2 & 6 through the
election sequence with much cheering for the candidates. 11.20 The crowd
move to the Hercules Hall for the first public screening of the
Shrewsbury group film 'Village Of The Damned', the cheers at it's
conclusion suggests it has been enjoyed by the large crowd. 12.25 (Both
Days) David Stimpson recreated the boxing scene from 'The Girl Who Was
Death' followed by the heats of the Prisoner quiz ( The final takes place
on Sunday). 13.45 (10.30 Sunday) the chess board scene from 'Checkmate'
is recreated with members of the society eagerly playing the parts of the
various pieces. 16.00 Dave Barrie, the founder of Six Of One takes the
conventioneers on a guided tour of 'The Village'
The convention crowd move to the Tiddly ( an abbreviation of a Welsh pub
name which no one can pronounce) for the evening's events where following
a meal David Jones interviewed Peter Howell who played The Professor in
'The General'. 22.20 is the time to visit the Coliseum cinema to watch
two episodes of The Prisoner on the big screen.
Sunday has the major re-creations as detailed above plus new films by
Matthew Lock and Pantha Waterworth.
Various other re-enactments take place between major events. John S Smith
the film editor on three episodes of the series is interviewed before the
convention winds down with the party in the Hercules Hall.
A personal letter was e-mailed to Rosemary Camilleri
giving a more detailed account of the Shrewsbury groups participation in
the weekends activities, Rosemary replied ' Thank you so very much for
your delightful account of Portmeirion 95, you truly made me feel as
though I was there.... which I was in spirit.' Rosemary accepted the
offer of a copy of 'Village of the Damned' as facilities are available to
convert it to NTSC (American TV standard) and she was asked to distribute
the film amongst her Prisoner friends in America & Australia."
A edited version of this issue of Free For All will be posted to the
alt.tv.Prisoner newsgroup at the same time as the hard copy is published.
The Shrewsbury group can be contacted by e-mail at the following address
: Artie@msn.com
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We Want Information..............Rosemary Camilleri
In 1964 I saw my first Secret Agent episode; instantly I was hooked. The
character of John Drake had an appeal I'd never encountered before.
Although my family did not always have a functioning TV, I got
baby-sitting jobs on Saturday nights and thereby watched as many Secret
Agents as I could. To this day I remember the impression they made on
me. The most vivid in my memory are Whatever Happened to George Foster
("No, I haven't won. A lot of little people ... they've won") , and No
Marks for Servility, and A Date with Doris, and of course Not So Jolly
Roger ("This is J. D., your D. J. at the J.R."). I'd never even heard
about any half-hour shows, and until 1994, I never even saw my two
present hour-long favourites, Judgement Day and The Paper Chase.
What kind of impression did these episodes make in 1964? Well, of
course Patrick McGoohan was swooningly handsome, but then so were Richard
Chamberlain and Michael Landon and the soon-to-be movie icon Sean
Connery; and they didn't have the same effect at all. McGoohan was in a
class by himself. Secret Agent made an impression similar to that of the
Prisoner, four years later. It's hard to put into words. Your David
Stimpson (May '95 FFA) has summed it up very well: in the end, there is
something private about the Prisoner experience. Something I cannot
articulate, and something that ...for all the publications, conventions,
and good fellowship .... cannot, finally, be shared.
At any rate, as a confirmed McGoohan fan, in 1968 I tuned in eagerly to
see him in this new thing called The Prisoner. Strange to say, I had no
trouble understanding it. (This may not be so strange: I believe that at
the time, Isaac Asimov wrote a little piece about The Prisoner for 'TV
Guide', and Asimov admitted that although the show puzzled him, his
teenage daughter had no trouble explaining it.) For example, I vividly
remember seeing Fall Out, and having no major problems with it. I knew
'Dry Bones' and knew its lyrics came from Ezekiel 37. I could see that
Number One was first an ape and then the evil persona of Number Six
himself. I knew that 'one' was won and 'I' and 'eye' and the one in 'one
does...' I knew nothing about surrealist theatre, but I knew enough about
morality plays (and about Hamlet) to know that dramatic action could
shift between the external world and the internal one. I had no trouble
looking back on the adventure episodes as partly adventures and partly
allegories.
I had known from episode one that the name 'Everyman Films' paid homage
to medieval morality plays. I recall that whenever I saw the full-screen
credit 'Producer Patrick McGoohan,' I thought, "What an ego! Still, it
takes courage not to change so Irish a name to something more
mainstream." (Except that my own name was non-mainstream, I don't know
why I thought that; I was a teenage girl living in Philadelphia; I'd
never met an Irish person in my life.) In Fall Out, I remember being
indelibly impressed (and puzzled) by the sort of pantomime dance that the
Prisoner executes as he encounters a London policeman. I'm still not
absolutely sure what that was about. At any rate, I carried the images
of The Prisoner through my adult life.
So I think that basically, I understood the message of The Prisoner. But
among my friends (many of whom also watched the Prisoner) I stayed fairly
quiet. This wasn't the kind of understanding I wanted to discuss. Even
more than Secret Agent, the Prisoner touched something inside me that
casual misunderstanding could crush.
Years went by. I got a doctorate in comparative literature and I
settled into my work as a trainer of adult writers. One day, my two
young flatmates (a physicist and a chemist) came home and mentioned the
buzz at their laboratories: our local public TV station would be
broadcasting a classic called 'The Prisoner' and they were planning to
videotape it. I was astonished. I thought I was the only one who loved
it. I never expected to see it again. Still I said nothing.
A few months later, both flatmates went to Europe, announcing their
engagement to his parents in Italy. I was left alone in the flat. I
pulled out their videotape of Arrival and screened it. Then I watched
Chimes of Big Ben. Then... Well, in short, I watched the whole 17
episodes .... three times. I was mesmerised.
Finally at one point, I was re-viewing Arrival and I noticed that Rover
was introduced right after some long shots of the Hercules statue.
Suddenly the two globe shapes clicked. And I remembered the globe chair
and the eye in the Control Room. And the 'eye', 'I', 'aye' of Fall Out.
I sat up and said a word I don't usually say.
I realised that if there wasn't a fan club, I was going to have to start
one. Somehow I got hold of the MPI video that included, at its end, the
address of Bruce Clark and the Prisoner Appreciation Society. That was
in 1992.
I became so taken with Free for All that, one Sunday in 1993, I sat down
at the computer to list its intricacies. With the help of Bruce Clark
(the best friend a fan ever had), the result became a 2500-word article
called "Pros and Cons in Free For All." It appeared in the Six of One
Magazine a year and a half later. Shortly thereafter I wrote analyses of
Once Upon a Time and Dance of the Dead. Meanwhile, I'd become enchanted
with the 1977 film that Alexis Kanner made for Patrick McGoohan ......
Kings and Desperate Men. I wrote up an analysis, got Kanner's phone
number and interviewed him, and both article and interview were published
in Six of One's magazine. Kanner, by the way, was utterly charming. And
another big surprise: I'd never thought much about actors and
intelligence, but it became obvious from our first conversation that
Kanner was extraordinarily bright and articulate. Since then it has
dawned on me that a really good actor has got to be very smart.
I am now working on a piece about Checkmate. To do the research, I made
a chess set and taught myself to play. I've benefited enormously from
the videotapes that Steven Ricks has made ... The Prisoner Investigated
and Prisoner in Depth and Prisoner in Production. I've benefited from
the great collection of Prisoner materials that Brit expatriate Morton
Chalom so kindly lent me. Last year I went to Washington, D.C., to view
the Patrick McGoohan collection at the U.S. Library of Congress, and had
the privilege of having lunch with Barbara Pruett, who interviewed Mr.
McGoohan in 1988. I've benefited hugely from the internet, because it
led me to connect with friends such as Julie Landry. Via the internet, I
met Dr. Carol Scott in Australia, a Prisoner fan with a doctorate in
physics, who has helped me greatly with information, copies of videos,
and encouragement.
Do I have a favourite episode? I suppose I do, but my favourites change
periodically. I love them all, and each has its own excellences. I will
always have a special regard for Free For All, because it is the first
known script by Mr. McGoohan, and because it is a superb piece of
dramatic writing. But then, the same could be said of Once Upon a Time.
I've already recorded how I felt about Fall Out. And Arrival is the best
series pilot I've ever seen. Living in Harmony introduces Alexis Kanner,
who held the stage against Patrick McGoohan (no mean feat!) without
saying a line of dialogue! The General is an astonishingly prophetic
piece of social criticism. Dance of the Dead is as fine a piece of
surrealism as I've ever seen. And I could go on ....
I expect to be writing notes about The Prisoner, and sharing them with
other aficionados, for as long as the aficionados will let me. I don't
see my role as interpreting the episodes. Rather, I would like to point
up some of the symbols, allusions, and elegant details that my training
tells me are not accidental. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to
pass them on.
What you make of them is, of course, up to you.
(c) 1995 Rosemary Camilleri
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REALITY
a short story by David Stimpson
The man was running along a beach, he was frightened, terrified. He was
running as fast as he could. He was being pursued by a huge white
sphere, it was bounding and rolling after him. It was accompanied by a
horrid roaring sound. The sphere caught up to the running man, it
enveloped him, he screamed once before he fell to the ground unconscious.
The sphere left him lying on the sand and rolled away into the distance.
The man awoke, his body soaked in sweat. The nightmare had been so
vivid, so real. The woman lying next to him stirred "What is it darling
?" she asked sleepily. "Nothing, just a dream" he replied. His wife
went back to sleep and he lay there wondering what the dream meant. He
had never dreamt anything like it or had a dream that appeared to be so
real. What was that roaring sphere ? Slowly sleep regained its grip and
he slowly drifted back to sleep.
"Breakfast is ready darling" came a call from the kitchen. He entered,
doing his tie up and took a seat at the table. A plate of eggs, bacon
and toast lay there. A cup of steaming hot coffee completed the
breakfast. Once consumed he went to the hallway, put on his coat and
picked up his briefcase. "Don't be late darling, father is coming to
dinner" said his wife Jane. "I won't, I must say I am looking forward to
seeing Charles again, it's been so long" he replied. "Who?" asked Jane.
"Sir Charles Portland, your father" he said, but it did not feel right
some how. "What is wrong with you this morning, who the hell is Charles
Portland ?" his wife asked looking at him very strangely. "Pardon ?" he
said. "My father's name is Carl Hartman, as you well know" Jane replied.
"Sorry darling, I must have been thinking of my boss at work, I must be
feeling tired after that strange dream last night." he replied. He
kissed his wife and stepped out of the front door into brilliant
sunshine. What has been wrong with him lately ? thought Jane.
He fumbled in his pocket for his keys to his bright red Vauxhall Astra,
unlocking it, he placed his briefcase on the back seat and climbed in
behind the wheel. Sir Charles Portland ? Where had he got that name from
? He knew this was not his boss's name but could not remember where he
had heard it. I need a holiday he thought as he started the car and
moved off on his usual route to work.
Driving along the A20 towards London, the traffic was unusually slow.
Gunning the engine he began to overtake cars. His green and yellow open
topped sports car accelerating faster and faster, his hair blowing in the
wind. It certainly was a beautiful morning, for some reason he felt free
as he drove the car even faster. He glanced at the speedometer, it read
120 MPH.
"Are you all right sir ?" asked the policeman through the window of the
Astra. "Yes, er sorry officer" he replied. "Have you been drinking sir
?" asked the policeman. "No, no, I'm on my way to work" he replied.
"Have you any idea what speed you were doing sir?" asked the Policeman.
"120 MPH" he replied. "No, not quite that fast but you were doing 90
MPH in a 70 MPH zone, can I see you driving licence ?" asked the
policeman. Formalities over, the policeman was in a good mood and after
handing back the driver his documents, he started some idle chatter,
"Nice car sir, I am thinking of buying an Astra myself". "Sorry officer
but this is a Caterham Seven" replied the driver. "A Caterham, are you
sure you are all right sir ?" The policeman could smell no alcohol but
was now wondering whether a breath test was in order. "I'm fine just a
late night" replied the driver. After a breath test and a caution from
the policeman he was sent on his way.
Work that morning was not going well, he had made several mistakes
because his mind was not on his work. Lunch time arrived and he decided
on a stroll to his local pub, The Hope and Anchor for a pint. He hated
London, the noise, the traffic and the pollution. Someone once said "The
London air feels as though it has been used over and over again!" He
turned a corner and found himself in a small square. He did not
recognise the cobbled floor. A bell chime startled him as he took a look
at the source, a bell tower but this was not Big Ben. A green domed
shaped building to his right reminded him of St Paul's but somehow
smaller. A couple walked past him and in unison said "Beautiful day" and
giving him a salute using a thumb and first finger. Where the hell was
he ? He crossed the small square and started walking down a narrow road.
Behind him, a two tone horn was heard, he stepped to the side of the
road to let a small white jeep type vehicle pass. The jeep has a candy
stripped canopy and was driven by a young girl. Instead of passing,
she stopped the vehicle alongside him and asked "Taxi sir ?" "Pardon ?"
he asked "Taxi sir ?" she repeated. "No, er no thank you." replied the
man. "Oh well, never mind, be seeing you." she said driving on down the
narrow street. He walked for a while and observed the strange
architecture. It appeared to be Italian in design and he noticed it was
a lot more peaceful and quiet than what he was used to. The people were
all dressed in bright colourful clothes.
He found a cafe where people were sitting at tables listening to a band
playing. Each table had a coloured parasol to shade the customer from
the hot sun. He did not recognise the music, but it did sound like a
march of some sort. Taking a seat he noticed everyone appeared to be
wearing a badge, some white, some black. The badge depicted a
Pennyfarthing bicycle and number was printed in bright red in the larger
of the two wheels. He sat with his thoughts, Where am I ? Could this
be real ? It seemed so real ! In the distance he could see a beach, it
appeared to go on for ever. The beach suddenly reminded him of his
dream, it appeared to be the same beach but he was not dreaming now, was
he ?
Beep, beep, sounded a two tone horn of the little white taxi which was
approaching him. "Come on mate, get out of the bloody way, want to get
run over stupid !" Shouted a very angry taxi driver. He jumped to the
side of the road. The black cab zoomed past on its journey. He saw tall
dark buildings, he heard heavy traffic. Slowly he made his way back to
the office, arriving there, in order to leave, he made excuses of feeling
unwell , which was not far from the truth. If anything, he felt shook up
and confused. He arrived home without further incident. He knew Jane
would not be home, he would have the house to himself.
He hung up his coat in the hall and placed the brief case on the small
telephone table. It was then he heard a humming sound, it was coming
from the lounge. Crossing the hall, he opened the door and in the lounge
stood a woman dressed in a maids uniform. "Who the hell are you !" he
shouted at her. "I'm your personal maid" she replied "the labour
exchange sent me". "The labour exchange, you mean the Job Centre" he
said "and since when has the job centre been in the habit of sending
maids for non existent jobs in private peoples homes ?" "Get out !" he
shouted. The maid left in a hurry and he was surprised to see the front
door open with a hum before her on its own accord. He followed the maid
and again the door opened with a hum. He stepped out into bright
sunshine, bright colourful houses and people wearing brightly coloured
clothing, just as before. He turned back and looked at his house. It
was not his home, the inside was the same but the out side was different.
He was distracted by the sound of a helicopter flying overheard.
Suddenly a voice from a tannoy system announced the ice cream flavour of
the day was vanilla. He decided to explore more of this paradise. He
did not know how he come to be here but he liked it. It was so quiet and
peaceful, no traffic, no pollution and the air so clean and refreshing.
He mind drifted back to the white sphere in his dream, a cold shiver ran
down his spine ! He walked down a steep cobbled incline and half way
down to his right, he spotted an odd pink coloured structure through
which an arch could be passed through. Passing through it, he viewed a
lawn and on this lawn was laid a huge chessboard. Upon it, stood
villages dressed in their bright coloured clothes and each holding a
pole. On each pole was a symbol which he recognised as chess pieces.
The people were playing a game of human chess. He wondered how you could
tell the pieces apart as they were all dressed the same. Who was white
and who was black ? It reminded him of Alice in Wonderland with its
dream like quality. He walked around the chess game to reach the far
side. Here, he saw steps which led up to a small fountain. People sat
on chairs and benches. It was then he heard a tremendous roar, a roar
which sent shivers down his spine and froze the blood in his veins. He
noticed a man running, he was dressed in brown slacks and he wore a pink
blazer which, had black piping sewn around the collars and lapels.
Suddenly there it was, the huge white sphere. As it rolled onto the
grass everyone froze but the pink jacket kept on running. He tripped and
fell just by the fountain and the sphere found its prey, enveloping him.
The screams coming from the man were suffocated as the sphere began to
suffocate the man himself. The sphere finished the victim and bounded
away and everyone was free to move again, except the man in the blazer.
Two men appeared from nowhere and carried away the victim on a stretcher.
Life carried on as though nothing had happened.
The place couldnYent be real ! How did I get here ? Jane flashed into
his mind. Where was she? Perhaps she was at home preparing dinner for
her father. He returned to his new home but she was not there. He
poured himself a large whiskey and sat in a reclining chair. He sat
thinking of all the events that had happened to him on this day. His
thoughts were broken by a telephone ringing. He lifted the receiver and
placed it to his left ear. "How are you settling in ?" asked an
unfamiliar voice "Pardon ?" he said nervously. "It must be very strange
for you, the first day always is, don't worry, you'll get use to it." the
voice said in a friendly manner. "Who are you and where the bloody hell
am I?" the man asked. "I'll ask the questions old boy, just calm down my
dear fellow, I will pay you a call and all will be explained to you " he
replied. "What do you want ?" he shouted but the telephone was already
dead.
The door opened and two men in white coats stood in the doorway "Are you
going to behave yourself "? asked the first white coat to the man lying
on the floor. The man lying on the floor felt restrained, as though he
could not put his hands in front of himself. "He's seems quiet enough"
commented the second white coat. They two coats entered the room, the
room had no furniture, no chairs or tables or carpets, just rather
strange walls. The two white coats bent over the man on the floor and
removed something. Leaving him there they both headed towards the
doorway "Now behave yourself or it goes back on" said the first white
coat "Don't worry about him" said the second white coat to the first, he
has a lovely little cell to misbehave in" he laughed.
"Where am I ?" screamed the man lying on the floor "Where am I ?" but no
one except him could hear, no one could hear through the thick padded
walls of the cell.
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OVERSEAS NEWS
FFA reporter Arthur Jacks has been in contact with Prisoner enthusiasts
in America and France.
Rosemary Camilleri is resident in Chicago and through the expertise of
Sid Jones, correspondence has been exchanged by e-mail * between Rosemary
and Arthur over the past months culminating in Rosemary contributing the
' We Want Information' page for this issue.
Arthur writes :- Rosemary is a very serious Prisoner fan and is presently
writing some in depth articles about each Prisoner episode, her
occupation is teaching adults to write effectively. It was then with some
trepidation that I posted the last two issues of FFA by snailmail to
Rosemary, I explained that the whole magazine was written and produced on
a totally voluntary basis by a group of Prisoner enthusiasts because of
their love of the programme. The e-mail reply received from Rosemary
following delivery of FFA was very favourable "Just received your
wonderful mailing ! Thanks for the two ( count them - two ) issues of
FFA. Thanks even more warmly for your kind letter and the FFA buttons,
which I will sport with pride. Thanks yet more for the wonderful photo of
your 'hard core' members. I look forward to further participation ( even
if only by proxy ) in the Shrewsbury Prisoner Appreciation Society" n.b.
extracted from Rosemary's letter, the full text is held on file. Rosemary
is also using her writing talents to provide many permutations on the
name of 'The Dun Cow Pie Shop' (These will be listed in a future issue)
Rosemary has also been asked and has accepted our offer to contribute
further articles to FFA and these will appear on an irregular basis in
future issues. Rosemary is pictured bottom right of the page.
*e-mail is a computer to computer communication method, the letter is
typed but instead of using paper/envelope and good old Royal Mail a
button is pressed and the computer and modem sends the letter via the
telephone system for the price of a local call. The system is very rapid,
a letter sent can receive a reply and have a response returned within 24
hours.
La Rodeur is the French equivalent of Six of One/In The Village, they
produce their own magazine and hold a convention in France for people who
are unable to attend the annual convention at Portmeirion. Contact was
made originally with their co-ordinator Jean-Michel Philibert who then
passed me on to their editor Patrick Ducher, I was seeking information
about several Prisoner related items that had appeared on MCM ( a French
version of MTV ). These included the presenter of one programme wearing a
black piped Prisoner style jacket and a video by a group called
'Scooter' entitled 'Move Your A**'. The story was roughly in the
Prisoner/James Bond style but this time the villain was wearing the black
piped jacket with a large circular badge with a Z in the centre which
could be confused with a two ! The video tape was played at their
convention and a request was made in their magazine for information, the
article was illustrated by the two photographs that were taken from the
T.V. screen. A letter was received from Patrick Ducher giving some
background information to the French society and he comments "I
subscribe to 'In The Village' and 'Camera Obscura' and I'd love to
publish a running review of FFA offerings in our next internal
newsletter. I think it's amazing to produce a free publication with
quality page makeup and photos ( I am referring to issue 12 ) keep up the
good work." Issue 13 has also been sent to Patrick.
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Please move to Part 3 of Free For All
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N.B. The opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of the person
posting this magazine but all comments & suggestions will be passed on to
the editors.
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