Saturday, April 18, 2009

Be Seeing You!

So, today my husband and I are driving through Wales and I had him pull over so I could take a photo of this absolutely stunning scenery (thankfully, there was a little spot you could pull over into... otherwise we would have been creamed. There are no shoulders over here). As I stood outside taking photos (and had a weird showdown with a sheep, who stared at me and bleated, unsure of why I was taking photos of his family and their hill), my husband was inside the car, figuring out that the castle we were supposed to see today was too far off the map and we were never going to get there. So he was reading the guidebook and discovered a little town nearby he thought I might be interested in, and as soon as he said the name of it, I screamed.

It's the second-best place to Oahu for me. This one's for Corey R., CK, and anyone else who has seen the show (and you know who you are). Here was the sign as we entered the place:



Oh yeah, we are officially in The Village!! If you’re a fan of The Prisoner like I am, you can understand the excitement of it. This is the most bizarre place I’ve ever seen. Built as a weird seaside resort by this eccentric architect (who started it in the 20s and finished it in 1976), it contains architecture and paintings and sculptures from all over the world, all kinds of styles, and it’s hard to pin down exactly what it is. Which is probably why the company thought this was the perfect place to put Number 6.

Here’s the entryway as you come into the town:


You go down a pathway and come around a corner, and you can see the beach that Number 6 spends a lot of time on in the opening episodes trying to run away on (and being chased by Rover, the big white ball that smothers people to death):



Then you go under this arch. If you look closely, on the right is Number 6’s house (now it’s a gift shop devoted to all things The Prisoner… and it was closed when we got there!! Argh. Oh well… no tailored Number 6 jacket or messenger bag with “Be Seeing You!” written on the side of it, or Prisoner pens/buttons/erasers… yeah, I looked in the window. (They even had the PHONE that Number 2 uses!):



Then as you pass by Number 6’s house, this is what you see:



It’s the courtyard! That’s the fountain where we first see Rover come out and smoosh someone in the first episode. At the end of the courtyard you can see the balcony where Number 2 usually talks to the crowd, and where Number 6 campaigns for president. This is me running my own campaign:



Facing away from the pool, here is the ground and the little riser where they play the game of chess using people as the pieces:



Coming down the side of a hill, you get closer to the beach, where there’s an expensive hotel and restaurant. You can see the cafĂ© chairs where Number 6 plays chess (with a board) and talks with an elderly person in the Village:



Standing on the beach, here’s a stitched-together photo of The Village:



And finally, here is me standing on the beach. In the sand were various names of people who’d been there that day (and one clever person had carved a Dalek, which was hilarious… clearly a Prisoner fan!). So this is me joining the legions of people who came here to get a taste of the TV show, and… oh my god, what is that behind me? ACK! Nikki, run! By hook or by crook, get out of th-- :::smoosh:::

39 comments:

Ali Bags said...

I once left a camera in Portmeirion. You didn't find it, did you?

Blam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blam said...

and had a weird showdown with a sheep, who stared at me and bleated

I think it was judging you.

scotminusT said...

Now I'm Jealous! :-) I never made it up there when I was in Wales. They also filmed the classic Doctor Who story The Masque of Mandragora there.

A.G.Wooding said...

Oh dear God, that place looks epic, hope you had a gud time.

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous!!!

Have always wanted to check that place out!!

Was disappointed when they opted to film elsewhere for the AMC remake. It just won't be the same without the visual whackiness of Portmeirion!

Now where did I park my Penny Farthing?

The Chapati Kid said...

What I want to know is, did you stand on the beach and shout, "I AM NOT A NUM-BAH! I AM A FREE MAN!"

Because that would make my week.

yourblindspot said...

Cool! How surreal, though... Did you feel a bit like you had inadvertently driven your rental car into another dimension? Did it seem like you were being watched, as if you had to watch what you said, and to whom? A still tongue makes a happy life...

Did you manage to catch that new 'Pushing Daisies' on Friday night? I've heard it was pretty great (Olive-centric = awesome-centric). Found a quick rundown on Brian Fuller's comments after the Paley Fest screening event, and he says that there is a 12-episode comic book coming out in the fall that will serve as "a reader's digest version" of events that finish out the main storyline, and that they also plan to use the same events for a possible movie, should it ever some together...

ashlie Hawkins said...

All right, that does it. Nikki, you have officially convinced me to check out The Prisoner. I was halfway convinced after reading about it in your book and now after seeing the pictures of this uber cool little town, I'm sold. The next splurge on myself will be the complete series of The Prisoner, it's already on my Amazon wish list. Thank you for continuing to give me reasons to spend money!

Anonymous said...

I meant to post earlier - I am extremely jealous of you.

Heck I was going to mention Doctor Who, but Scott beat me.

I hope Rover didn't getcha.

Blam said...

I know it sounds like sacrilege, but AMC will be airing a remake or reimagining or revisitation of The Prisoner in the near future.

Given that the channel airs two of the best shows on television, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, I'll be watching even though I kinda think it's a bad idea. The problem is that if I want to re-watch the original with the DVD extras I've never seen I'd better do it soon, so as to get enough space between them, and there's already too much television in my diet.

batcabbage said...

@ Blam:

and had a weird showdown with a sheep, who stared at me and bleated.

I think it was judging you.
LMAO! Thank you, Sir Blam. I now have coffee all over my laptop. Funniest comment I've read in quite a while.

I have never seen the Prisoner, but I shall be tracking it down now.

Batcabbage said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rebecca T. said...

In honor of the remake amctv.com is offering the entire original series online for free, so I watched the first episode this morning. I'm very excited and it made your pictures so much more fascinating Nikki! Yeah!

Sheep Like It Hoth said...

Maybe the sheep thought you were a member of the Ba-parazzi!

ARTAR said...

lovely picks of the "village" im def jealous.

ashlie said...

Sonshine music, you've made my day! Can't wait to watch them online!

Nikki Stafford said...

I'm happy to see so many Prisoner fans!!

CK: Not only did I do that, but I talked like Patrick McGoohan throughout our walk in the Village (quietly, so only my husband would hear). I'm a geek, but don't want to be an annoying one.

Ah forget it. I'm an annoying one. "You cannot keep me he-ah! Who is Numbah One??" Heeehee... I wish you could have been there with me?? We could have squeed together.

Ali Bags: I saw some strange-looking people from the Company with a camera scraping it for DNA. Lock your doors at night.

ashlie: I hope you like the show!

joshua: A still tongue makes a happy lifeThey had t-shirts with this on it in the gift shop, LOL! Another reason why I was sad it was closed.

Didn't see Pushing Daisies, sadly. The TV in our room only had two channels. One was a bunch of boring news reports, and the other was a man telling you to turn it back to the other channel.

Ok, in seriousness, we were watching Breaking Bad on DVD. ;) Which brings me to...

Blam: I'm intrigued by the AMC remake because of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, less so because of James "I Was Born to Play God" Cavaziel. Eek. But who knows, crazy dude could surprise us all. ;)

But the choice not to film in Portmeirion? Not cool.

Blam said...

The TV in our room only had two channels. One was a bunch of boring news reports, and the other was a man telling you to turn it back to the other channel.

Ha! I laugh. And then I have visions of V for Vendetta for some reason.

Blam said...

Sheep Like It Hoth: Maybe the sheep thought you were a member of the Ba-parazzi!

Ovine, be that way.

No?

Where there's a wool there's a way.

Still no?

I'm going on the lamb. I mutton not be able to stop this.

Rebecca T. said...

Really Blam,

ewe must stop making all of these baad puns :)

on second thought, don't. They made my day :)

Nikki Stafford said...

Oh my goodness... where is humanebean and his Pun Police to put a stop to this???

You guys are too much.

Giggling in London...

Batcabbage said...

The shear volume of puns is amazing. I'm sure there's baa more to come. (OK, they were two pretty bad puns, but Blam seems to be the master of this :)

Batcabbage said...

I just went to amctv.com and the videos can't be watched from my location! Crying now. Oh well. Anyone know if they're on dvd?

Rebecca T. said...

Everyone is starting to get just a little too ram-bunctious here with the puns :)

Batcabbage said...

Sonshine, that was the best, baa none. (Oooh, that was bad.)

Rebecca T. said...

Batcabbage, I just realized what your new icon is... hahahahaha

Batcabbage said...

Yep, a self-portrait. :)

Blam said...


I love your self-portrait, BC!

Lettuce take leaf of the puns and... Wait... I'm sorry... I can't help myself... Triple pun coming on...

Hey, Batcabbage: I bet your sidekick's named Crucifer Robin!

Nikki Stafford said...

LOL!!! I'm reading the comments through my email while I'm away, and I was picturing a head of cabbage with bat wings. And then I went to look at it, and it's WAY better than what was in my head, hahahaha!!!

I'm getting on a plane today and heading home (I'm missing my kids so much it's insane). Now I'm wondering how many bad puns will be in my inbox when I get back!!

And also realizing I should have named this post, "Be Seeing Ewe!" ;)

Oh, and batcabbage, there's a 40th anniversary DVD set out; that's the one I bought, and it's pretty awesome. :)

Rebecca T. said...

Oh dear, I can see where this is head-ed.

Blam said...


And now a message from Batcabbage's friend the Turnipnator.

"I'll be bok choi."

David Kociemba said...

Can't wait for the summer remake. I SOOOO want to write about The Prisoner in both its incarnations...

David

Rebecca T. said...

I've Bean trying really hard to come up with some Corn-y puns so that I could Pepper a post, Butternut coming to mind, so I guess I won't :)

Nikki Stafford said...

Hm... I have a sudden craving for a vegetarian stew...

Desmond said...

sorry to break the news...
http://www.tmz.com/2009/04/24/lost-sexual-harassment/

Corey said...

Crushing, crushing jealousy. Damn you.

humanebean said...

I leave you people alone for FIVE minutes and you haul off and drop nuclear puns all over the 'internets'???

Blam: I'm feeling mighty sheepish about missing out on all the fun. It was shear agony for me, I assure you. Wool you please give me 'heads up' next time? (AND I nearly spit up my coffee on your "Rad the Inhaler" shot-across-the-bow. "If you cut me, do I not bleat?") Sorry! Couldn't help myself - I'm an animal.

Just got back from vacation in New Mexico and was internet-deprived for a bit, there. Was all psyched to watch LOST on the plane ... until I found out that DirectTV on JetBlue doesn't have ABC! You can imagine my shock ("I will TURN THIS PLANE AROUND, mister!). Had to wait two days to download the episode and missed out on last week's commentary. Thank heavens you were all having pun without me!

Batcabbage: Best... Icon ... EVER. I'm green with envy. Head of the class, sir!

*now strapping self back into the straightjacket*

"Nurse Ratched? I believe it's time for my medication".

Batcabbage said...

Thanks, guys, for the kind words about my icon. It's an older picture, I've lost a few leaves now. People say, 'Batcabbage, why the mask?' and I say, 'Oh, you know, it's immediately recognisable, and yet completely anonymous. You never know when you wanna avoid other... uh... cabbages...' Oh look, seems to be my medication time, too. Nurse Ratchet!