When I joined Six of One, the society had been running for just a year and Patrick McGoohan (who still receives and reads every mailing) had accepted honorary presidency. I missed the initial Portmeirion visit in April, 1977, when the first society Prisoner enthusiasts met with Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, the resort's architect and creator. Since then I have attended all conventions ‘in the Village’ and other major events organised by the society (see also the separate History page).

Karen Pearce was the first member I met, at the 1978 Portmeirion convention. She (my wife now of many years) and the society have since formed a major part of my life. Together, with our fellow co-ordinators from time to time, we have watched the society go through its highs and lows, seen it transform more than once and have observed it becoming a very professional and worthy organisation.

The society has always been run by individuals freely contributing their spare time. Whatever resources exist in Six of One have come from the financial contributions or labours of members over the years. More than 50,000 subscriptions have been enrolled since the beginning. This history account cannot cover all of Six of One’s events and memories, but it is hoped that landmark occasions and other special historical details are all included.

Surprisingly, the society was going more than a decade before the first commercial books on the series arrived: The Prisoner Companion (1988), Dave Rogers' Prisoner/Danger Man book (1989) and in that year Le Prisonnier by Alain Carrazé and Hélène Oswald, which was subsequently published in English (see also the separate Publications page).

Mention must be made of the society's 10th birthday party, organised by Arabella McIntyre-Brown, at which 15 Prisoner celebrities attended. The guest list was nearly tripled at the 25th series' anniversary celebration in 1993, when 40 guests attended, with more (including some new) series’ celebrities present at the society’s 30th anniversary event in 1997. Patrick McGoohan has continued to make contact with Six of One's HQ in Ipswich, although he has been resident in California since the society began (and has never been back to Portmeirion).

I have been the society's legal adviser since I joined and have seen us through various scrapes, VAT and tax scrutiny, copyright issues, legal wrangles and even the odd attempted take-over. When, some years ago, it was decided to detail in print the jobs done by co-ordinators, it was hard to find a title for my assorted duties. Therefore, remembering No. 12's vague occupation in The General, the single word label of ‘Administration’ was pinned upon me.

What has fascinated us all for two decades will, I am sure, continue to do so. What was in essence a TV show protest in the sixties against interference with freedom has continued to provide a 'message' to people from all countries, during changing times across five separate decades. Whether one calls it a cult, classic TV fodder, or science-fiction, The Prisoner defies attempts at specific classification and the same surely applies to Six of One.