The Prisoner
 The
Prisoner, an existential British spy/science fiction series,
was first aired in England in 1967. Actor Patrick McGoohan
conceived the idea for the series, wrote some of the scripts, and
starred in the central role.
McGoohan had become bored with his previous series, Danger
Man (known as Secret Agent in the USA) and wanted
something very different. The Prisoner was certainly that!
The series has attained cult status because it is so complex,
so filled with symbolism, with dialogue and action working at
several levels of meaning, that the entire story remains open to
multiple interpretations.
 The Prisoner was shot in the Welsh village of
Portmeirion, whose remarkable architecture contributes to the
rich, mysterious atmosphere of the series.
In many ways an
allegory, the adventures within The Prisoner can be read as
commentaries on contemporary British social and political
institutions.
The hero of the series is an unnamed spy first shown resigning
his position with the British secret service.
He leave the
bureaucratic office building housing his agency, goes to his
apartment, starts packing and is gassed - presumably by those for
whom he used to work.
He wakes up in "The Village," a resort-like community
on what seems to be a remote island.
The Village, however, is
actually a high-tech prison, and the spy is a prisoner, along with
other men and women who were also spies. All have been sent to The
Village to be removed from circulation so their secret knowledge
won't be discovered.
Every member of The Village is known only by a number.
McGoohan's character becomes Number Six, and finds himself engaged
in constant intellectual, emotional, and sometimes physical
struggles with Number Two. But each episode presents a different
Number Two.
With a few exceptions, each episode begins with a repetition of
some of the opening sequence from the first episode; McGoohan
resigns; his file is dropped by a mechanical device into a filing
cabinet labelled "Resigned"; he is gassed; he wakes in
The Village and confronts (the new) Number Two. A set piece of
dialogue follows:
Prisoner: Where am I?
Number Two: In The Village.
Prisoner: What do you want?
Number Two: Information.
Prisoner: Which side are you on?
Number Two: That would be
telling. We want information, information, information...
Prisoner: You won't get it.
Number Two: By hook or by
crook we will.
Prisoner: Who are you?
Number Two: The new Number
Two.
Prisoner: Who is Number One?
Number Two: You are Number
Six.
Prisoner: I am not a number. I am a free man.
Number Two: Ha, ha, ha, ha!
 Some argue that there is a slight gap between the words
"are" and the "Number Six" in this exchange
("You are, Number Six."), which would mean that Number
Six is also Number One, a character who remains unseen until the
final episode.
Number Two pushes the inquiry. He wants to know why Six
resigned.
Six says he will not tell him, then vows to escape from
The Village and destroy it.
Each episode in the series consists of an attempt by a new
Number Two and his or her associates to find out why Six resigned
and of measures taken by Six to counter these attempts.
Every
possible method, from drugs to sex, from the invasion of his
dreams to the use of supercomputers, is used to get Number Six to
reveal why he resigned.
In some episode Six shifts his focus from escape attempts to
schemes for bringing down the administration of The Village,
though it is always understood that escape is his ultimate goal.
The
concluding episode, written by McGoohan, was extremely chaotic,
confusing, and very controversial. Number Six has defeated and
killed Number Two in the previous episode and when Number six
finally gets to see Number One, he turns out to be a grinning
ape.
 But when Number Six strips off the ape mask, we see what
appears to be a crazed version of Number Six, suggesting that
Number One was, somehow, a perverted element of Number Six's
personality.
Six, aided by several characters also deemed
"revolutionaries" by the administration (including the
Number Two of the previous episode, somehow brought back to life),
does destroy The Village. He escapes with his associates in a
truck driven by a midget.
They blast through a tunnel just before The Village is
destroyed and find themselves, surprisingly, on a highway near
London.
When the last episode originally aired, viewers were more
confused than ever and phoned ATV to register their fury at the
inconclusive finale. McGoohan was besieged in his Mill Hill home
and physically attacked in the streets.
He claimed: "I wanted to have a controversy, arguments,
fights, discussions, people in anger waving fists in my
face". Nevertheless he was soon to depart British shores for
the USA.
 The Prisoner is considered by some critics to be
television's first masterpiece, the most brilliant television
series ever produced. Each program and every aspect of the series
has been subjected to scrutiny by its fans.
Dealing with topics
ranging from the nature of individual identity to the power of
individuals to confront totalitarian institutions, The Prisoner
remains one of the most enigmatic and fascinating series ever
produced for television.
Be seeing you . . .
EPISODES
Arrival | Chimes Of Big Ben | A, B & C | Free For | All The
Schizoid Man | The General | Many Happy Returns | Dance Of The
Dead | Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling | It's Your Funeral |
Checkmate | Living In Harmony | Change Of Mind | Hammer Into Anvil
| The Girl Who Was Death | Once Upon A Time | Fallout
|
