Mr. Donovan says that all countries are countries of the mind

[sovay]

This may be the most random cross-connection I've run into in some time.

This afternoon I watched an episode of Danger Man (1960—'62, '64—'68), more famous in this country as Secret Agent and still not as famous as its sequel series, The Prisoner, to which "Colony Three" is clearly a kind of precursor: a smiling, officially non-existent village somewhere behind the Iron Curtain, English in every false particular; it is a training school for Soviet agents who will then be sent to England, to pass as perfect natives until activated for whatever intrigues or sabotage Cold War fifth columnists get up to, but most of its inhabitants are ordinary, unwitting British communists—librarians, newsagents, electricians—going about their usual business under the impression they're on some kind of work-study. In fact, they're a key component of the school: they are under constant surveillance, being studied. They'll never be allowed to leave. None of this is known to John Drake when he arrives, pretending to be the clerk from Citizens Advice, but he finds out soon enough from "John Richardson," the affable about-to-matriculate agent assigned to show them around half-built, surrealistically isolated "Hamden." I wanted to know who the actor was; a small, dark-haired man with one of those aging boyish faces with the trick of looking handsome, almost all in the eyes and the neat gestures, the smooth, never quite too-bold voice. Sometimes he seems to be flirting with the disguised Drake, or perhaps it's only that he's twigged that "Robert Fuller" is no more who he claims to be than Richardson himself. He gets thrown off a train in the end. IMDb told me he was Peter Arne. I wasn't sure if I recognized the name.

I didn't, but I recognized his story. He's the man who ripped off Mary Renault.

(And was then murdered, but I think the former is weirder. nineweaving, however, believes that Dionysos was defending his own.)

Comments

An oracle from Dionysos

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I will take,
I will take all you have
you are my cups,
I will fill you
the little madness of creation,
that moment of silence before the applause.

He was my servant
but she,
she opened your hearts to me
and so, at last
that was my wild honey.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Police issued an image after eyewitnesses reported seeing a young man loitering nearby eating a jar of honey.

Looks like Dionysos got Aristaios to do his dirty work for him.

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

Mary Renault was gay? No!

I'm sorry. I wish I knew who had switched me so permanently from Good to Evil. But I completely agree with nineweaving .

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Dude. Both ripping off Mary Renault and being murdered are equal degrees of uncanny weirdness.

And Dionysos defending his own is a very serviceable theory.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

My goodness.

[gwynnega]

Oh wow.

[gwynnega]

Oh, and I also meant to ask if you've seen the Danger Man episode "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove," which as I recall is also a strong Prisoner precursor--pretty much the whole episode is a dream sequence.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

I didn't, but I recognized his story. He's the man who ripped off Mary Renault.

Interesting. Thank you for sharing the story. It does sound as if Dionysos had a hand in the man's death.