Several episodes were proposed for the series but abandoned before being made. In this section we'll have a look over them. Title: The Outsider Writer: Moris Farhi Where to find it: The complete script is available in The Original Scripts: Volume One A PDF of the script is also available on The Prisoner Blu-Ray. Viewpoint: By far the best of the unmade scripts featured on this page, Turkish writer Farhi had his script commissioned, like Kelsey's, in 1966 for the first recording block. However, Farhi's got even further, reaching pre-production phase before being abandoned. While the plot elements � No.6 befriends a crashlanded pilot who turns out to be the new No.2 all along � are familiar to some of the other early episodes, this is not to the detriment of the script. Farhi's writing is crisp and witty, and this is the only one of the four featured stories where it's easy to visualise it as an actual episode. It may not have become the most popular episode of The Prisoner, but it would certainly have made a fine edition to the series. Title: Don't Get Yourself Killed Writer: Gerald Kelsey Where to find it: The complete script is available in The Original Scripts: Volume Two A PDF of the script is also available on The Prisoner Blu-Ray. Viewpoint: Let's not beat around the bush here: Gerald Kelsey's second script for the series (after Checkmate) simply isn't all that good. Reportedly rejected by McGoohan with the observation that "heroes don't bird watch", it could have just been the star's way of saying that the plot was too unfocused and unstructured. Featuring some General-like education/brainwashing subplot that goes absolutely nowhere, the main plot point involves a miner discovering gold in the Village. Perhaps not as silly as it sounds � it turns out to be iron pyrites � it nevertheless leads up to a rather uninspired "No.6 tries to helicopter out of the Village" plot, and contains some notably corny dialogue. For trivia, then No.6's IQ is listed as 160, but that aside there's really nothing in this one that makes its rejection a loss. Title: Ticket To Eternity Writer: Eric Mival Where to find it: A synopsis is available in The Original Scripts: Volume One A PDF of the synopsis is also available on The Prisoner Blu-Ray. Viewpoint: When George Markstein left after the first production block of thirteen episodes, somewhat unbelievably, members of the production crew were asked to submit ideas. I say "unbelievably" as they included a film librarian (Tony Sloman) and an assistant film editor (Ian Rakoff). Scripts were actually commissioned from established writers (Donald Tosh and David Whitaker), but in the final event it was only Rakoff's western that made it into production. Ticket To Eternity and Friend Or Foe then, were the ideas of music editor Eric Mival. The concept that an editor of music would be asked to submit story ideas to the series does seem to show the level of desperation creeping into the production at that stage. 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. Title: Friend Or Foe Writer: Eric Mival Where to find it: A synopsis is available in The Original Scripts: Volume One A PDF of the synopsis is also available on The Prisoner Blu-Ray. Viewpoint: An outrageously politically incorrect storyline by Mival, devised partly to get his West Indian friend Frank Singuineau a good part. Featuring the adventures of "a Negro called Mike X", a passionate militant, it's in 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... |