Photo: Number 2 (Patrick McGoohan) and Number 12 (John Castle) sign up for Speed Learning in The General…
To count down to our special screening of Fall Out, the final episode of ace television show The Prisoner, PHIL KIRBY introduces a new episode every day in the order outlined by director Alex Cox in his book I Am (Not) A Number…
Tonight’s episode is The General …
Number 6 fears a revolutionary process, known as Speed Learning, could be a cover for a sinister new form of mind control. Its inventor The Professor has been caught attempting to escape, and it has fallen to the military sounding General to implement it throughout The Village. Time is running out if Number 6 is to get to the truth of the matter …
If someone had told me back when I was sixteen that there was a new, experimental method of imprinting the contents of “Europe Since Napoleon” directly into my brain, without the onerous process of reading the damned thing, I would have jumped at the chance. Sign me up, plug me in and zap that information direct into my cortex. I would have had more time to spend in my bedroom reading Alan Moore comics.
“Europe Since Napoleon” was a set text for my GCE History “0” level. It was 1008 pages long. On average five historical facts per page.
“Europe Since Napoleon” was the place to go for answers to questions such as what was the date of the Treaty of Adrianople, who were the allies of Bismark against Danish Prince Christian of Glucksburg, and why Tsar Nicholas the First decided to occupy the Danubian Principalities.
These sort of facts didn’t normally stick in my mind. Revision was a nightmare. I could start the chapter on Greek Independence and by the second paragraph my brain was full of treacle and my eyes refused to focus. I had to read each page at least six times, highlighting the highlights that I’d highlighted the last few times till the text had so many underlinings it was like trying to read through a closed Venetian blind.
I managed to pass the exam but the experience left me scarred. I have only to hear the word “Missolonghi” and it triggers a panic attack.
This explains why I have a problem with this episode of The Prisoner, The General. The Villain of the episode is a giant computer, The General of the title. The General helps people cram for history exams, specifically one on Europe Since Napoleon. It is a mainframe that mainlines historical facts, “abolishing any tedious and wasteful schooling.” The General is a revision aid.
The General can guarantee a Certificate of Education, with a 100% pass rate.
The General sounds like a godsend to me. I spent a whole year trying to get Europe Since Napoleon into my head. The General can do it in 3 minutes.
I actually felt a bit pissed off at the end when Number Six blew The General’s fuses. Shouldn’t he be trying to escape, not wasting his time sabotaging potentially socially progressive technology?
It’s hard to see how this episode fits in with the rest of the series. And Number Six’s triumph in the end is too lazy. He quite literally telegraphs his not so subtle ploy that will destroy the machine.
Still, there are a few moments of satire, mainly at the expense of the Professor’s wifes art colony:
Wife: That gentleman over there, what do you think he’s doing?
No.6: Tearing up a book.
Wife: He’s creating a fresh concept. Construction arises out of the ashes of destruction. And that woman?
No.6: Standing on her head.
Wife: She’s developing new perspective.
No.6: Really? [What about] him?
Wife: He’s asleep. One learns only when the mind wants to, not at set times.
And it’s nice to see that some of the actors moved on to bigger and better things (thug with beard is Freddy from Rod, Jane and Freddy of Rainbow fame).
Oh, Bungle!
The single most ridiculous moment in this episode is the shot of the machine that takes the coins that allow the Board Members through security… is it a prop from The Addams Family?
Read about previous episode A Change of Mind here
theCV presents The Prisoner Fall Out plus a Q and A with Six of One’s Ant Brierly and Roy Stambrow moderated by Phil and Neil (God help us!) at The Courtroom, Leeds Town Hall at 19.00 on Friday 25th May 2018. Tickets are £5 (plus booking fee) and are available here.