FILING CABINET

SCREENPLAYS NEVER WERE: EPISODES THAT NEVER CAME INTO BEING

BY ARNO BAUMGÄRTEL

Among the scripts written for THE PRISONER there are three that were created by McGoohan himself or under his substantial influence: "Free For All", "Once Upon A Time" und "Fall Out". The others were written by commissioned writers like Vincent Tilsley, Terence Feely

or Anthony Skene, to name just the most frequent. At least two scripts are known to have been completed waiting for their transformation into PRISONER episodes. But this never happened. These were "The Outsider" und "Don't Get Yourself Killed". Two others were cancelled in an early stage of develeopment.

Turkey-born author Moris Farhi had been a collaborator with feature movies in the early 60s. He later went on to work and write on his own for such ITC shows like MAN IN A SUITCASE and THE RETURN OF THE SAINT (in Germany: "Simon Templar") featuring Roger Moore. It is said he was very enthusiastic when

DIESER TEXT AUF DEUTSCH
THE PRISONER SCRIPT WRITERS

he heard about THE PRISONER ("the only show in town") that he asked his friend Roger Parkes, author of the "A Change Of Mind" episode, to get him in touch with McGoohans and Tomblins production company, which at first was successful.

THE OUTSIDER

In his story "The Outsider" a plane crash lands near the Village. Number Six finds the surviving plane pilot. He then keeps him in a hiding place to question him and retrieve information about the geographical location of the Village - which turns out to be in the Baltics. Soon the pilot wins Number Six' and also the viewer's trust. After some time of severe interrogation conducted by the Village Number Six and the pilot set up an escape plan. But then, with things going as planned, the true identity of the pilot is revealed: He is the new Number Two sent off by the Village and targeted at Number Six.

It was McGoohan who ultimately rejected this script. The reasons can only be guessed.
The script, according to Robert Fairclough in his book "The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series", is one of the earliest made which can be seen on mentioning the original purely mechanic version of Rover. On the one hand it's the plot's too many similarities with the two episodes "The Chimes Of Big Ben" and "Free For All". On the other hand - with different sources stating almost the same - it is said that McGoohan wasn't pleased by the image of this rather uncool Number Six, the fact that the notion of the story was "dirty" and featured considerable brutality (Number Six sweating heavily under torture). The horrific and the idyllic, favoured by George Markstein, merged in this treatment.

"It's regrettable that 'The Outsider' was never made", says Fairclough. "The dialogue, always one of the delights of a Farhi script, is witty and sharp ... and the relationships between the characters are believable and tense."

DON'T GET YOURSELF KILLED

Compared to the former information on another completed but unused script, "Don't Get Yourself Killed", also called "Fool's Gold", is scarce. Gerald Kelsey was the author. Allegedly the story was commissioned by script editor George Markstein himself (who soon left the production) and was written by Kelsey after finishing his episode "Checkmate".

The story - very much in the prisoner-of-war tradition - concerns a group of inmates who almost succeed in fleeing the Village. Number Six encounters the head of the "Environmental Adjustment Department" who at first employs the usual brainwashing methods on him in order to get valuable information. He later agrees to an escape plan - for a price - developped by Number Six and a miner to escape by means of a stolen helicopter from the Village's "Helicopter Service Depot" (!). The price is gold which is found in the tunnel dug by the miner. But, of course, the plan goes haywire in the very last minute because the miner is overwhelmed by his greed for gold, so he refuses to take off without it.

This script, too, which echoes Houston's THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948) was rejected by McGoohan. Kelsey assumed it was due to high production costs, the great number of necessary extras and the role of Number Six being relatively small here. Besides, he admits, the characters were too exaggerated and also there must have been too many unwanted parallels to Kelsey's "Checkmate" story. Other sources, rather sarcastically, say that a story where it would have been impossible for Rover to enforce his powers, in a narrow tunnel, must have been "complete tripe" anyway. And the idea of the Village operating a helicopter service lacking the necessary security measures bears too little credibility.

After George Markstein had left the production with the first bunch of 13 episodes not yet completed, desperation must have invaded the team as to how to go ahead with the series. It seems curious that not only known scriptwriters were employed to submit further stories but also those working in the staff itself. Among them was assistant editor Ian L. Rakoff whose script was eventually finished as the "Living In Harmony" episode. Another contributer was Eric Mival, then music editor with the team. "Ticket To Eternity" und "Friend Or Foe" were his scripts. Information on those two stories is scarce. At least some is given shortly on the website with the nice name anorakzone.com.

TICKET TO ETERNITY & FRIEND OR FOE

Anorakzone.com writes on "Ticket To Eternity": "As for the storyline, it's an interesting idea, certainly, involving religion and No.6 being tricked into thinking he's travelled in time with No.2, but ultimately too far fetched and I can see why it didn't go any further as a serious consideration."

And "Friend Or Foe" is said to be an "outrageously politically incorrect storyline... featuring the adventures of "a Negro called Mike X", a passionate militant", a story of "astoundingly poor taste considering that Malcolm X had been assassinated just two years earlier. The storyline actually involves "Mike X" faking his death, along with No.6. In the event it turns out that Mike X really did die, and the man trying to get secrets out of No.6 when they've both escaped is a Villager. No.6 realises he's being tricked by noticing some white skin under "Mike's" rubber mask. As bizarre as such escapades seem today, one notable element is that the escapees were able to get on the main road to London from the Village, which could indicate that the concept behind Fall Out may have been planned earlier than expected...

Remark: In the ultimate episode "Fallout" their escape from the Village leads Number Six and his three fellows through an abandoned railway tunnel on the other side of which they find themselves driving on the A20 motorway straight to London, just around the corner...