The Prisoner

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For other uses, see The Prisoner (disambiguation).
The Prisoner
File:PrisonerNovel.jpg
A 1969 novel based upon The Prisoner. Pictured: Patrick McGoohan as Number Six
Format Science fiction
Run time 50 minutes
Creator Patrick McGoohan
George Markstein
Starring Patrick McGoohan
Country UK
Network ITV
Original run October 1, 1967 – February 4, 1968
No. of episodes 17

The Prisoner was a controversial 1967 UK fantasy-drama television series starring Patrick McGoohan. It was devised by him and George Markstein, and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment for broadcast on ITV and overseas. McGoohan also wrote and directed several episodes, often under a pseudonym.

Background

The leading character, Number Six, was a former secret agent of the British government during the Cold War. Through the series, he was never identified by name. After he resigned his position, he was captured and held prisoner in a small, isolated, eccentric seaside resort town known only as the Village. The authorities there attempt to determine — "by hook or by crook" — why Number 6 resigned. Throughout the series Number 6 tries to escape while defying all attempts to break his will. He also set out to discover the identity of the mysterious "Number 1", who presumably ran the Village. Towards the end of its run, the show deviated quite considerably from this template.

Although sold as a spy thriller in the mould of McGoohan's previous series, Danger Man, the show's combination of 1960s countercultural themes and its surreal setting had a far-reaching effect upon science-fiction-fantasy-genre television, and also popular culture in general. In 2002, the series won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. In 2005, readers of SFX magazine awarded the series fifth place in a poll of fantasy television programmes. Later the same year, it was revealed that Granada Productions was planning a remake for the Sky One channel, which will take "liberties" with the original.[1]

Format and setting

The series features striking and often surreal storylines, and themes include hypnosis, hallucinogenic drug experiences, identity theft, mind control and dream manipulation.

Though 17 episodes were made, McGoohan originally intended to shoot just seven. The network wanted a full season of 26 episodes, and 17 was decided upon as a compromise. There is debate as to whether the series ended by mutual agreement or cancellation. According to The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series by Robert Fairclough, the series was indeed cancelled, forcing McGoohan to write the concluding episode "Fall Out" in only a few days.

As in Twin Peaks, the viewer sees much of the story from the point of view of a protagonist who often does not comprehend what is going on. In their attempts to understand, people started watching it compulsively. The final episode caused so much confusion that the television network was besieged by phone calls and McGoohan was even hounded at home by baffled viewers demanding explanations.

The opening and closing sequence

Intro

The trademark intro title sequence (not seen in all episodes) begins with a visual of a cloudless blue sky and the incongruous sound of thunder. As the theme begins, the view pans down to reveal Number 6 driving in his Lotus Seven to arrive at the office of a superior, before whom he mounts a fierce (but inaudible) argument, apparently ending in his resignation. The hero then drives home. Returning to his flat, he quickly packs his possessions, including photographs of a tropical white sand beach (a clue to his intended destination?). A hearse pulls up and a tall pallbearer approaches the front door. A white gas then floods the room through the keyhole, which renders Number 6 unconscious. The hero awakens in the Village, whose decor and people are of peculiar nautical style and bright colours.

The following dialogue exchange runs over the opening titles of most episodes. The questioner is Number 6 and the respondent is Number 2, the Village chairman (a role occupied by a different man or woman in almost every episode — some actors played the role multiple times — as the reference to the "new Number 2" indicates):

"Where am I?"
"In the Village."
"What do you want?"
"Information."
"Whose side are you on?"
"That would be telling."
"We want information. Information. Information!"
"You won't get it."
"By hook or by crook, we will."
"Who are you?"
"The new Number 2." (This may vary)
"Who is Number 1?"
"You are Number 6."
"I am not a number — I am a free man!"
(Laughter from Number 2.)

In some cases, the voice of Number 2 in the above exchange is provided by the actor playing the character in that particular episode. However, in several episodes a different voice is used although the image of the actor playing the role is still shown. In a couple of instances, an image of the Rover is shown instead of No. 2 in order to maintain the element of surprise as to the true identity of the character (most notably in the episode "Many Happy Returns"). A couple of intros also differ in that No. 2 says simply, "I am Number Two" — this was used on "A, B & C", which featured Colin Gordon as No. 2 (which was originally intended to be screened after "The General") for the second time — therefore, he was not the new No. 2.

Outro

At the close of each instalment, an image of Number 6's face rapidly approaches, growing quickly in size, but is stopped at the last second by clanging bars that slam shut, serving as the episode's outro. (According to The Prisoner: The Complete Scripts Volume 1, this sequence is all that remains of a rejected, early realization of the series opening credits.)

Closing credits

The closing credits appear over a slowly assembling drawing of the penny-farthing bicycle logo of the Village. After the bicycle is fully assembled, footage of Rover rising through water and bursting above the surface is shown, and Rover then bounces into the distance. In the originally planned version of the closing credits, seen in the alternate versions of "Arrival" and "Chimes of Big Ben". Rover is not shown. Instead, the image of the bicycle fades into a view of the Earth and the Moon from outer space (the wheels of the bicycle forming the two bodies). The camera then zooms in towards the Earth which explodes into the word "POP". (This is an acronym for "Protect Other People" which is referenced in the episode "Once Upon a Time", and also in the show's occasional use of the song "Pop Goes the Weasel" in the soundtrack.)

The Village

Template:Spoiler

File:Pf logo.jpg
The Village's penny-farthing logo

The location of the Village is unknown. In "Many Happy Returns", its location is estimated to be somewhere near "coast of Morocco, southwest of Portugal and Spain" — No. 6 works this out with old colleagues using navigation notes and maps after briefly escaping, and when searching this area is tricked and dropped back there — suggesting this estimate is right, though there could have been subterfuge used by his old colleagues. In another, Lithuania, on the Baltic coast "30 miles from the Polish border" although this may be a deception. In the unbroadcast version of the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben", Number 6 constructs a device that allows him to work out the Village's location; this scene was presumably cut to remove this deus ex machina and is not considered "canon" with the rest of the series. The final episode, "Fall Out", while it never reveals the Village's exact location, strongly suggests that it is within driving distance of London. It also gives no suggestion of ferry travel and the "Chunnel" to France was still decades away from being built.

The Village has a daily newspaper called the Tally Ho and a logo in the form of a canopied penny-farthing bicycle. The place is under the control of Number 2 (see below). "Work units" or "credits" serve as currency in its shops, and are kept track of with a hole-punched credit card. Throughout the Village, music plays in the background, nearly all of it alternating between rousing marching band music and lullabies, periodically interrupted by public announcements. The media and signage consistently incorporate sailing and resort themes.

Scenes of the Village were filmed at Portmeirion, a resort village near Penrhyndeudraeth in Wales, and at MGM Borehamwood Studios in England.

Security and surveillance in the Village

An underground control centre monitors closed-circuit television cameras located throughout the Village. Regular observers continually spy on Villagers and foil Number 6's escape attempts with the aid of Rover, a large white balloon-like device that chases and pacifies or kills would-be escapees. Rover was originally intended to be a robotic machine, rather like a Dalek [2] (See Doctor Who), but when the prototype failed to work during the first episode's shoot, the crew noticed a weather balloon in the sky and used this out of inspiration.

Citizens use the phrase "Be seeing you" as a farewell, accompanied by a waving gesture consisting of thumb and forefinger forming a circle over the right eye, then tipped forward in a salute.

Number 6

Number 6 typically wears a very deep brown (often mistaken for black, and usually appearing in the episodes as such) jacket with white trim, a blue or black T-shirt, tan slacks, and forsakes his "6" ID badge. There were at least two jackets, with slight differences in the piping. Little is known about Number 6's background other than that he fought in a war and was born on March 19, 1928 (which is also McGoohan's birthday). The flashback setup in "Once Upon a Time" suggests that Number 6 was a bomber crewman, most likely with RAF Bomber Command. His seated position relative to the pilot (portrayed in illusion by Number 2) indicates that he was a bombardier-navigator in DeHavilland Mosquito penetration fighter-bombers. As the Mosquito was operational with the Royal Air Force as late as 1952, and used in training for over a decade afterward, it is highly possible that the Prisoner might have trained in "Mossies".

He refuses to reveal the reason behind his resignation, despite constant efforts by Number 2 to get this information from him.

Number 6 initially spends his energy seeking ways to escape, and later in the series turns his attention to finding out more about the Village and its unseen ruler, Number 1. His attempts are rebuffed but otherwise tolerated by Village authorities, due to orders not to "damage the tissue". However, their efforts to extract information necessitate increasingly drastic measures through the course of the series.

The later episodes feature less action-packed escape bids and more psychological themes such as the nature of power and authority, and their relationship with liberty. His cunning and defiance only increase while in captivity: in "Hammer into Anvil" he reduces Number 2 to a mad, paranoid wreck through deception. As the Number 2s become more coercive and desperate, Number 6's behaviour becomes progressively sharp and uncompromising.

Number 2

The Village is openly administered by Number 2, whose identity changes with each episode, though there are repeat appearances (Leo McKern appeared in three). It seems that Number 2's main duty is to break the will of Number 6. The Number 2s answer to Number 1 fearfully. The various Number 2s seem to make use of several symbols of their authority. One of the most striking is the Seal, a large golden medallion, somewhat in the style of a mayoral chain, with the penny-farthing logo and the text "Chief Administrator". This is only seen in one episode, "It's Your Funeral". The two more visible signs are a multicoloured scarf and a colourful umbrella stick (used as a cane). Most, though not all, of the Number 2s seem to use these symbolic objects.

The episode "Free for All" suggests that Number 2s could be "democratically elected by the people." However, this was part of the attempt used by the Number 2 of that episode to break Number 6.

Throughout the series, Number 2 tries to discover why Number 6 resigned. Number 6 refuses to answer, stating only that it was "a matter of conscience", and not open to inquiry. A variety of interrogation, intimidation, drugs, and mind control techniques are used by sequential Number 2s. Number 6's value prevents the Number 2s from using brutal methods — routinely employed on other prisoners — against him. Most episodes end with Number 2 being sent home (or to a worse fate) in disgrace, having failed to break Number 6. However, two of these individuals are seen returning to the Village, most notably the final Number 2 (as played by Leo McKern) who appears to hold a position of some distinction. In the final episode, "Fall Out", McKern's character uses the Lord's Entrance in the Palace of Westminster, indicating that he has either inherited a title through birth or received a title from the Crown. An alternative interpretation is that the Palace of Westminster is a symbol of democracy, in contrast to the theme of totalitarianism and the suppression of the individual.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Prisoner episodes

This is the original order in which the episodes were broadcast in Britain, not the production order or chronological story order. Note however even the broadcast order is not that originally intended by McGoohan. For instance, it is very likely from the story details and opening sequences that "The General" precedes "A. B. and C." in sequence.

Episode Title Original airdate (UK)
1-1 "Arrival" October 1, 1967
1-2 "The Chimes of Big Ben" October 8, 1967
1-3 "A. B. and C." October 15, 1967
1-4 "Free for All" October 22, 1967
1-5 "The Schizoid Man" October 29, 1967
1-6 "The General" November 5, 1967
1-7 "Many Happy Returns" November 12, 1967
1-8 "Dance of the Dead" November 26, 1967
1-9 "Checkmate" December 3, 1967
1-10 "Hammer Into Anvil" December 10, 1967
1-11 "It's Your Funeral" December 17, 1967
1-12 "A Change of Mind" December 31, 1967
1-13 "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" January 7, 1968
1-14 "Living in Harmony" January 14, 1968
1-15 "The Girl Who Was Death" January 21, 1968
1-16 "Once Upon a Time" January 28, 1968
1-17 "Fall Out" February 4, 1968

Unproduced episodes

Several unproduced storylines and scripts for the series are known to exist, several of which were published in a two-volume collection of Prisoner scripts edited by Robert Fairclough and published by Reynolds and Hearn in 2005 and 2006.

  • "The Outsider" by Moris Farhi (complete script included in Volume 1)
  • "Ticket to Eternity" by Eric Mival (synopsis included in Volume 1)
  • "Friend or Foe" by Mival (synopsis included in Volume 1)
  • "Don't Get Yourself Killed" by Gerald Kelsey (complete script included in Volume 2)

Interpretations and rumours

File:TVTimesPrisoner1967.jpg
The Prisoner promoted on the front cover of a 1967 edition of TV Times.

The theme of The Prisoner is, essentially, a libertarian one where the freedom of the individual is consistently undermined by the societal collective backed by overwhelming totalitarian force. In response, Number 6 makes this unambiguous statement: "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." While the Village tries to assimilate Number 6, he himself strives for independence — usually asserting this through his attempts to escape. Sometimes Number 6 succeeds, sometimes he fails, and occasionally he is defeated by his defiance, in that by resisting 'on their terms' he has succumbed to the greater trap — that is, playing the game the Village has put before him.

During the opening dialogue in most episodes, Number 2 says "You are Number 6". Some view this as a direct response to the previous question "Who is Number 1?" by inserting a comma into the statement ("You are, Number 6."), implying that Number 6 is in control. Similarly, Number 2's reply of "Information" to Number 6's question "What do you want?" could be interpreted as 'information' or 'in formation', the latter being a command to follow orders and conform.

The identity of Number 6 is debated: many believe he is John Drake, the spy character McGoohan played for many years on Danger Man a.k.a. Secret Agent. At least one later episode of The Prisoner ("The Girl Who Was Death") was adapted from an unused Danger Man script, and a character named Potter who appeared in the earlier series appeared on The Prisoner. Otherwise, McGoohan has stated for decades that No. 6 was not John Drake, while Markstein said he was. Still others find scant evidence for this view.

McGoohan always emphasised the show's power was strongest when it was viewed allegorically. Towards the end of the series, particularly in the symbolism-laden final instalment, "Fall Out", the show seems a refutation to some degree of the counterculture. Whether it includes that which had embraced McGoohan or just the misguided idealism of the hippies is up for debate. (The viewer is advised to consider the soundtrack cues used in the last episode before opposing or espousing either view.)

References in popular culture

File:TimeOutPrisoner.jpg
The Prisoner on the cover of Time Out magazine.

Themes from The Prisoner are persistently referenced and parodied in popular culture, appearing in the songs of several bands, tabletop RPG and video games, movies, and television shows. Many references draw upon the shows unconventional technocratic fantasy prison, the Village. Also heavily referenced — often with humour — is the memorable robotic sphere arbiter of the Village, Rover.

Among the most popular references are The Simpsons, The Matrix, The Truman Show, and several Star Trek spinoffs.

  • Æon Flux
The opening credits of the original Æon Flux TV series includes an exchange patterned after the Number 6-Number 2 exchange heard at the start of most Prisoner episodes, including the statement "Whose side are you on?" Trevor Goodchild, the ongoing villain of the series, displays many Number 2-like characteristics; he also has a secret chamber underneath his house, much like Number 2 is revealed to have in "Once Upon a Time".
  • Babylon 5
The Psi Corps in Babylon 5 used the phrase "be seeing you" and the accompanying Village salute in a deliberate homage to The Prisoner. The show's creator, J. Michael Straczynski, has admitted this is a Prisoner reference. While in The Prisoner the salute includes peering through the circled thumb and forefinger, the Psi Corps puts this circle on the forehead, implying a telepath "peering" with the brain. In addition, the walls of the Psi Corps Headquarters (as seen in episodes like The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father,) are filled with large posters with oppressive slogans in a way that is very reminiscent of the decor of administrative buildings in the Village. In the episode "Signs and Portents", one of the raiders initiates radio contact to his ship with the phrase "Six to One", and in the episode "A Voice in the Wilderness" the phrase "EYE AM KNOT A NUMBER AYE AMA FREE MAN" appears on a computer screen in the background. The episode "Comes the Inquisitor" in the second season features an extremely Prisoner-like interrogation sequence, in which an archaically attired British man attempts to break Ambassador Delenn's personality. "Intersections in Real Time", a fourth season episode, is another interrogation episode influenced by The Prisoner. In the episode "Racing Mars" the subcommander and head of the resistance call themselves "Number Two" and "Number One".
  • Battlestar Galactica
In the new miniseries and 2003 series of Battlestar Galactica, one of the Cylon characters is named Number Six .
  • The Bionic Woman
The final episode of the 1970s series The Bionic Woman, "On the Run", sees the title character resign from her job and have to elude government agents who want to imprison her in a compound for retired agents.
  • Blue Man Group — Complex Rock Tour Live
Audio clips from "Arrival" are used to direct audience movements during the concert finale.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In the episode "Halloween", the character Ethan Rayne leaves behind a note on the counter of the costume shop which says, "Be seeing you." When the demon Eyghon leaves Giles' apartment after first possessing Ms. Calendar in the episode "The Dark Age", it also says, "Be seeing you." Later, in the episode "The Initiative", large Rover-like white spheres can be seen in the background of a government research complex.
Several images from the final episode, "Fall Out", of which a house on a trailer bed is the most obvious example, appear in Terry Gilliam's 1984 film, Brazil.
In one of the animated comic book "covers" that served as bookends to Flash-animated chapters of this online comic, Rover can be seen chasing the character Oran.
Carmel Morris, published author of popular titles like The Best Paper Aircraft released Another Number, a musical homage to The Prisoner with guest voice of David Nettheim, who appeared in the episode "The Schizoid Man". Her track, "Illegal Operation", slagging Bill Gates was signed to Blue Fire Music UK for general release.
One episode of this 1986 BBC documentary series (which featured the singer Enya) was partly filmed in Portmeirion and included an homage to the opening credits of the series.
  • Colossal Cave Adventure
One of the most obscure pop culture references to Rover (see above) comes in David Platt's 1979 version of Crowther & Woods' computer game, Colossal Cave Adventure — when a player attempts to enter a large vault without the correct password, Platt sics Rover on him/her. Platt's laconic prose correctly captures all the eldritch noises, shrieks heard in the distance and terrifying suspense as Rover is "born" from a glop of subterranean goo (like a blob in a Lava Lamp) and begins a chase which proceeds with the unerring ferocity of Nemesis to inevitable death. Mike Goetz' 1983 extension of this version also summoned Rover when a player pilfered a poster off the walls of the computer room (in Witt's End).
The episode "Identity Crisis" was directed by and guest-starred McGoohan. His character (Nelson Brenner) is a spy who shares personality traits with Number 6, including the catch phrase "Be seeing you", and some of the banter between Columbo and Brenner is highly reminiscient of that between Number 6 and Number 2.
The episode "Ashes to Ashes" was also directed by and guest-starred McGoohan. It ends with Columbo telling McGoohan's character (Eric Prince), "It's your funeral," which is the title of a Prisoner episode.
The band's 1989 release 93 Dead Sunwheels has a number of audio samples from The Prisoner. Most notable is an exchange from the episode "A, B, and C" at the beginning of "She Said Destroy":

No. 6: "People who HIDE are AFRAID! (pause) I didn't know you existed."
D: "It is often the case with really important people. Anonymity is the best disguise."

The Italian/Slovenian progressive rock band/collective headed by the anonymous Mr. Doctor released their second album titled The Girl who was...Death, a concept album fully based on The Prisoner, from the album title, to the lyrics (which heavily quotes the show), to the track listing (Though the album is comprised of a single track, the track listing is simply the name of every single episode of the television show), to performing the theme song as a secret song at the end of the album.
  • Double Team
In the 1997 Hollywood action film Double Team (also known as The Colony), protagonist Jack Quinn (Jean Claude Van Damme) finds himself held against his will on an island community reminiscent of the Village. The Colony, as it was called, was home to a large number of criminal experts thought dead to the outside world, and featured a high-tech anti-escape system that involved a laser perimeter.
  • The Invisible Man
In the 2000 American television series The Invisible Man, the agency that he works for discovers that there are some former government agents that are still receiving paychecks. All but one of them have been dead for years. When the invisible man and his partner go to talk with the remaining agent, they get caught up in the faked death of this agent. They are rendered unconscious and wake up in a place very much like the Village. It is populated by former secret agents, and there is no escape. Except that the security measures didn't account for an invisible man.
  • Iron Maiden
The opening dialogue is sampled in the intro to the Iron Maiden song "The Prisoner", inspired by the series. The band has also recorded another song called "Back in the Village", also inspired by the series.
  • Killing Zoe
In the 1994 film Killing Zoe, two characters discuss the plot of the episode "A, B, & C" during a heroin induced joyride through the streets of Paris.
In the ABC TV series, a group of survivors is trapped on a mysterious island. In the second season, they open a hatch that leads to a large bunker. A cache of food inside is labelled in an identical Albertus font to that used in The Prisoner.
  • The Matrix
The Matrix is very thematically similar to The Prisoner, with the protagonists struggling to maintain identity (represented by the fact that they give themselves new names, which the agents refuse to refer to them by) in a false simulation of the real world. The deja-vu black cat that Neo sees when "they change something inside The Matrix" is a reference to episode 7 of The Prisoner ("Dance of the Dead") where a black cat symbolizes a change in the Village. When Neo runs through an apartment in the final sequence, frame by frame scrolling reveals that an episode of The Prisoner is playing on the television.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000
Throughout its 11-year run, movie-mocking TV series MST3K made a number of references to The Prisoner and its characters, including occasional quips about Rover ("Laserblast", episode 706) and the show's obscurity ("Outlaw", episode 519).
  • NetHack
After completing a game save in the computer game NetHack, the game displays the text "Be seeing you…".
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four
Although George Orwell's 1948 novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, predated The Prisoner by nearly 20 years and in fact is considered one of the show's inspirations, the Room 101 segment as presented in the 1984 film adaptation is handled in a similar fashion to the "Degree Absolute" encounter between Number 2 and Number 6 in "Once Upon a Time".
  • Nowhere Man
The critically acclaimed but short-lived 1995-1996 TV series Nowhere Man, produced and created by Lawrence Hertzog, was directly influenced by The Prisoner. The UPN series starred Bruce Greenwood as a man who finds his life "erased" and a secret government organization pursuing him. The episode that most closely paid homage to The Prisoner was "Paradise on Your Doorstep".
Towards the end of its run, this cartoon series featured a three-part story arc entitled "Brainwashed". In the first two episodes, "Brain, Brain, Go Away" and "I Am Not a Hat", Pinky and Brain are kidnapped by an unknown enemy and sent to an island village much like the one featured in The Prisoner. Instead of numbers, inmates are given the names of different types of hat. After being subject to various brainwashing attempts, the duo eventually escapes when Brain destroys the village's supercomputer.
The digitally animated Canadian TV show referenced the series in general and the final episode "Fall Out" in a season 3 episode titled "Number 7." It referenced many elements, virtually the entire opening sequence (including synth version of the theme song and thunder strike), references to finding out who Number 1 is, the Xs over the picture, filing sequence, the phrase "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered, my life is my own!" They say "be seeing you" and do the salute, a character drinks tea (which doesn't happen in any other episode) out of a prisoner-style teacup, and also there is a scene with a literal Number 9 wearing the suit Number 6 had in the episodes "Dance of the Dead" and "A. B. and C." The episode ends with a jury of hooded, black-and-white-masked people who chant, along with a judge, Hack and Slash (former henchmen to the show's primary antagonist) singing Dem Bones as they are brought up for questioning, and a Rover suffocation sequence. In the end the main character learns he is Number 1.
File:Prisonersimpsons.jpg
Homer Simpson meeting No.6 on "The Island"
  • The Simpsons
The popular show The Simpsons had multiple references to The Prisoner. In the episode "The Joy of Sect", Marge tried to escape a cult and was pursued by Rover. Marge turned and Rover enveloped Hans Moleman. Another episode, "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes", had the final act completely based on The Prisoner. Homer became trapped on an island which was similar to the Village and Patrick McGoohan even reprised his role as Number 6 (Homer was Number 5). While on the island, some of the reasons for prisoners being there were revealed. Number 27 could turn water into gasoline, Number 12 knew the deadly secret behind Tic Tacs, and Number 6 invented the bottomless peanut bag. While trying to escape, Homer was pursued by Rover and easily popped it with a plastic fork. When the inventor of the Rover is asked why she designed it as a bubble, she responds angrily "Shut up, that's why!" The episode ends with Homer returning to Springfield, only to be abducted again, this time with his family, but they find that life in The Island isn't that bad after all.
  • Sorry!
The final episode of Sorry! had Ronnie commenting that he had dreamed that he was in the Village. The clip always shown at the end of each episode of the Village was also shown twice, but with Ronnie Corbett's face instead of Patrick McGoohan.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Later seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced a shadowy organization within Starfleet called Section 31. The interaction between its leader, Mr. Sloane, and Dr. Julian Bashir is reminiscent of The Prisoner, particularly in Sloane's final appearance, which took place during a reality-bending trip inside Sloane's mind, in similar fashion to the Prisoner episode "A, B, and C". Section 31 also appeared in several episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
Patrick McGoohan was scheduled to appear in a second-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "The Schizoid Man" which was named after a Prisoner episode. Although McGoohan ultimately pulled out of the episode, the title remained the same. A later episode, "Chain of Command", featured an interrogation sequence reminiscent of the "degree absolute" brainwashing method seen in "Once Upon a Time" — most notably, both Jean-Luc Picard and Number 6 experience emotional breakdowns when forced to acknowledge numbers they refuse to see (for Picard, it's refusing to believe he sees a certain number of lights; for Number 6, it's his refusal to acknowledge the number 6).
One of the characters in this popular webcomic, Yin the Panda, was kidnapped by "The Conspiracy", a group whose attire and mannerisms are taken from The Prisoner. She manages to "escape" (more than likely they let her), but no one believes her story.
  • They Might Be Giants
In They Might Be Giants' song "Damn Good Times" on their album The Spine, there is a line that is "When my friend got amnesia/She can't remember the show she saw/Like the one with the guy with amnesia/Who got off from the island on a helicopter." This may or may not be a reference to Number 6 in The Prisoner.
  • The Times
This early 80's new wave band recorded a bouncy song in 1982 called "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape," for their debut album "Pop Goes Art." The song utilizes the show's "Where am I?" "In the Village" sequence during the song's bridge. The Times were a spin off of a slightly more well known Paisley Underground band called The Television Personalities.
  • The Truman Show
When the main character of The Truman Show, Truman Burbank, a man whose entire life is filmed, goes to visit his friend Marlon at work, the outside view of the shop pays homage to The Prisoner, with the familiar red and white awnings of the Village. Marlon's cart has the word "goodies" written on the side, in the Village font, Albertus.
  • The Tube
The Laughing Prisoner was a programme filmed as the last episode of the UK Channel 4 music series, The Tube. In the programme, presenter Jools Holland was abducted to the Village with British comedy actor Stephen Fry as No.2. Stanley Unwin was also in the Village. The video for the XTC song The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul, which was filmed entirely on location at Portmeirion and featured costumes and props similar to those used in the Prisoner series. XTC was also filmed in Portmeirion singing The Meeting Place. Other guests were Siouxsie & the Banshees, filmed playing The Passenger on the Hotel lawn, and Magnum, playing at night on the Bristol Colonnade.
The British sitcom 2point4 children featured an episode named "The Seventh Dial" where Ben, the main character is knocked unconscious and wakes up in the Village. It is in fact a practical joke set up by a rival of his, Jake Klinger [played by Roger-Lloyd Pack] who is a Prisoner fan. Ben wakes up and discovers a jacket similar to Number 6's in the house, and he's in Portmeirion, inhabited by in-costume Prisoner fans, and Roller [animated by Klinger, naturally].
The music video for British glam-revivalists the Darkness' hit "Growing on Me" features children dressed as band members Justin, Dan, Ed, and Frankie flying a helicopter and being attacked by Rovers.
  • The Clash
The Clash B-side "The Prisoner" may be a reference to the show although the lyrics are oblique and do not seem to refer to it in any direct way.
In the computer game Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, the player enters a prison tower where a man named Bishop is held captive. The player's parting words to the prison guards are "Be seeing thee." Later in the game, the player encounters wisps who wish to learn what became of Bishop following his imprisonment. When asked what it wants, a wisp will answer, "We want information." The player can choose to respond with "You won't get it!"
  • Other references
    • Brief references to The Prisoner appear in many TV shows and movies and comic books, such as Three's Company, the comic book series Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Invisibles, the humour comic strip Combat Colin, and the 1986 documentary series The Celts.
    • The Supergrass video "Alright" was filmed on location at Portmeirion.
    • Popular Italian rapper Caparezza winked at the series in his video "Fuori dal Tunnel", featuring the aforementioned giant white balloon.
    • In the computer game Star Control 2 the Arilou say "Be seeing you" in the very end of the game.
    • A late 1980s music video by the French pop duo Niagara, "Je dois m'en aller", paid tribute to the series by using the same "bars across face" image that closed most episodes of the series (except with singer Muriel Moreno's face instead of McGoohan's).
    • In the ENPS broadcast newsroom software developed by the Associated Press and the BBC, small dots that open folders are called Rovers, after the Rover in this series.
    • American songwriter Michael Penn entitled his second album Free for All after a Prisoner episode. His third album, Resigned, featured a cover heavily influenced by the opening credits including a file cabinet labelled "Resigned" and a back cover photo of Penn crossed-out as Number 6's is in the opening sequence.

Trivia

  • The episode "Living in Harmony" was not aired in the United States for the series' initial network run, for the ostensible reason that it used (unfeatured) psychedelic drug use as a feature of its plot. Since many other episodes feature blatant drug use, some Prisoner historians have questioned whether this was the sole justification for its omission. Some have argued that it was pulled due to its Old West setting, which some CBS executives may have felt could have detracted viewers away from one of their more successful series, Gunsmoke. CBS in fact used this explanation as to why the episode was included when the series was re-aired in 1990 as part of their post-local news schedule. However, it is more likely that the instalment was withheld on account of its strong pacifist message, and its implications vis à vis the Vietnam War.

Note that this episode was also shown with the drug usage edited down in the UK until a 1984 repeat run.

  • The non-speaking superior seen receiving Number 6's resignation in the opening credits is played by series co-creator and script editor, George Markstein. He later reprised the role for "Many Happy Returns".
  • Number 6's address in London, shown in the opening sequence, is at Number One Buckingham Place, a real location, which as of the early 1990s was a law office. The buildings seen swirling around at the end of the opening credits are those that were actually visible through one of the property's windows, although most were demolished during redevelopment in 2003.
  • Leo McKern's hair and beard are trimmed much shorter in the final episode than in the preceding one because he suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized not long before the shooting of the second episode. The show accommodated this by showing McKern dying in the first episode, then being rescuscitated, covered in shaving cream and getting barbered before making his entrance. His proclamation, "I feel a new man!", is a dig at a slogan that was then popular in the UK's psychiatric community.
  • Some Village exteriors were actually shot on a sound stage, and sometimes backgrounds are clearly discernible as large blown-up photos of Portmeirion. Other exteriors said to be part of the Village (including a mock-up of a western ghost town, and the Recreation Hall), were not filmed at Portmeirion, but rather at MGM's studio backlot near London. Only the first few episodes were actually shot on location, with an extensive amount of generic footage also shot, and the production team would make returns and shoot as much footage as the budget permitted.
  • The interrogation dialogue does not play over the opening credits of the episodes "Arrival", "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", "Living in Harmony" and "Fall Out" (the last episode). In addition, the voice of Number 2 in this sequence is not always performed by the actor who plays the role in the episode (primarily to hide his/her identity until the finale). The uncredited voice actor used on such occasions, Robert Reitty, never actually played Number 2 on screen.
  • The Tally Ho newspaper headlines, all the public signs in the Village, and the show's credits use a version of the Albertus display typeface in which the lowercase letter e was altered to make it look somewhat like the Greek letter epsilon (ε), and the dots above the lower case i and j are removed.
  • Number 6 is occasionally seen participating in the game or martial art of kosho, which was conceived by Patrick McGoohan for the series. It is played on two trampolines set on either side of a four-by-eight-foot pool of water and surrounded by a wall with an angled ledge and hand-rail. Two opponents wear a boxing glove on their left hand and a lighter padded glove on their right, and attempt to knock each other into the pool. Prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics, a group of Prisoner fans unsuccessfully lobbied the organizing committee to declare kosho a sport and allow competition.
  • The musical score in the final episode is different in style to the previous 16 episodes. It has a more popular feel, and even features a slightly speeded-up version of the Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love". This turned out to be a fortuitous selection as it is still popular today.
  • The striking theme tune was composed by Ron Grainer and was originally entitled "The Age of Elegance". According to legend, Grainer composed the theme based upon a phrase whistled by McGoohan, but there is evidence that Grainer's composition had its origins several years before The Prisoner entered production. Grainer's theme was chosen to replace an earlier theme by Wilfred Josephs which can still be heard on the alternate versions of "Arrival" and "Chimes of Big Ben", and as incidental music during a couple of early episodes including the broadcast edition of "Arrival" (in the aired version, the theme can be heard as No. 6 approaches the helicopter at the climax).
  • The female Number 2 who appears in "Dance of the Dead" is speaking dialogue originally written for a male actor, Trevor Howard, who pulled out of the production at the last minute for the filming of Battle of Britain.
  • Numerous plans to make a big screen version of the series have been considered since the 1970s, usually with Patrick McGoohan in the position of executive producer. To date, no film production has come to fruition.
  • Alternate versions of "Arrival" and "The Chimes of Big Ben" exist and have been released on DVD. These are "rough cuts", and feature little additional material. Both were intended to be cut for timing reasons anyway, with the excised material being largely superfluous. These versions feature the Wilfred Josephs theme tune, and are of variable quality, having not been preserved over the years like the broadcast versions. "Chimes" only exists as a 16mm print.
  • "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling" was produced while McGoohan was in America filming Ice Station Zebra. The episode featured the contrivance of Number 6's mind being implanted in another man's body (Nigel Stock), who is then sent out of the Village to help capture a scientist.
  • The series gives several clues as to the location of the Village. In "The Chimes of Big Ben" it is said to be in Lithuania (although as this information is given during a ruse it isn't reliable). In "Many Happy Returns" there is compelling evidence to suggest that it is on the coast of Morocco and Number 6 even flies to the apparent location as a passenger in a jet fighter. In the series finale, "Fall Out," however, we seem to learn that the Village is actually located somewhere in Britain, within driving distance of London — though there's no clear indication of how long the truck's been driving for, or even whether anything in this episode can be taken literally. Some fans have taken this to mean that there were, in fact, several different villages, all identical, in different locations around the world.
  • "I'll be seeing you" was a popular expression in Britain in the 1940s, when it was jocularly pronounced "Abyssinia". McGoohan uses the phrase "Be seeing you" in real life. According to the documentary The Prisoner Video Companion (produced to promote the series when it was released to home video in the early 1980s), the salute was meant to represent the "sign of the fish", a symbol of Christianity.
  • The first episode reveals that the keepers of the Village are already aware of the apparent reasons behind Number 6's resignation; they simply want to perform (in Number 2's words) "a double-check". Combined with repeated references to Number 6's "importance", this suggests that he has been kidnapped for other reasons. Later episodes contradict this, as various Number 2s accuse or speculate about Number 6's loyalty to another government. Number 6 never learns the exact allegiance of his jailers, which is one of the reasons he refuses to co-operate.
  • The show's co-creator, George Markstein, supposedly felt that Number 6 resigned because he discovered the existence of the Village, though the series doesn't appear to support this. Markstein has also since repeatedly asserted that Number 6 was actually John Drake from Danger Man — something with which McGoohan vehemently disagrees.
  • There is a Prisoner memorabilia shop in Portmeirion, Wales, the site of the filming of the series. Portmeirion has also played host to several fan conventions as the series has attracted a minor cult following.
  • The strange vehicles seen driving around the Village were Mini Mokes — originally designed for (and subsequently rejected by) the British Army. Mini Mokes were commonly seen in some of the James Bond films, most notably The Spy Who Loved Me, inside Stromberg's tanker, the Liparus.

Spin-offs and continuations

Novels

In 1969, Ace Books in the United States published three novels based upon the series. These books, which take place after the events of "Fall Out" are somewhat controversial for stating explictly that Number 6 is John Drake from Danger Man and are not considered canonical with the rest of the series.

  • The Prisoner by Thomas M. Disch (also published as I Am Not a Number!)
  • The Prisoner: Number Two by David McDaniel (also published as Who is Number Two?)
  • The Prisoner: A Day in the Life by Hank Stine

Some sources erroneously list Disch as the creator of the TV series as he is the writer of the first novel based upon the show. All three novels have been reprinted numerous times over the years; most recently the Disch and Stine books were republished in 2002. Additionally, all three books were republished in omnibus form. The reference work The Whole Story: 3000 Years of Sequels & Sequences 2nd edition by John E. Simkin erronously lists an additional volume by McDaniel entitled Prisoner 3 being released in 1981, but no such book was ever published.

In the 1980s, Roger Langley of the Prisoner Appreciation Society wrote three novellas based upon the series:

  • Charmed Life
  • Think Tank
  • When in Rome

These books were made available through the fan club, and at the Prisoner Shop in Portmeirion and are long out of print.

In 2004, Powys Media announced plans for a new series of novels based upon the series, with the first volume scheduled for release in the United States in March 2005. To date five novels have been announced, all to be published in trade paperback format. According to Powys Media, at least six books are planned (a seventh novel, from Robert Sheckley, was never written due to the tragic passing of the author).

Comic books

In the early 1970s, Marvel Comics considered launching a comic book based on The Prisoner, with art by Jack Kirby. A test issue was put together but never published. Original artwork from this comic still exists and occasionally turns up for auction. Some of it has been published in the comic book fanzine Jack Kirby Collector. The surviving artwork suggests that the first issue, at least, would have been an adaptation of "Arrival."

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Motter's new Number Two

In the late 1980s, DC Comics published a four-issue comic book mini-series based on The Prisoner, drawn by Mister X creator Dean Motter and co-written with Mark Askwith. The comic story takes place in the present, twenty years after the events of the series. It involves a female former agent named Drake (no apparent relation to John Drake) washing ashore at the ruins of the Village, where an elderly (and seemingly insane) Number 6 now lives by himself. Drake is dubbed the new Number 6 and finds herself in the midst of a power struggle between the original Number 6 and Number 2 ("played by" Leo McKern, the last television Number 2, with the actor's approval), who had been sent to prison for violating the Official Secrets Act after writing a tell-all book about the Village. Now himself insane but again a "free man", Number 2 returns to the Village to seek revenge on Number 6. Meanwhile, two of Drake's secret agent friends investigate her disappearance and discover clues that lead them to the Village. But what does Number 1 have to say about all this?

In a nod to both the idea of "I am not a number!" and the episode, "A, B and C", the four issues were not numbered, but were rather Issue A, B, C, and D. The mini-series was reprinted in 1990 as the graphic novel, Shattered Visage. The graphic novel included a two page text piece which rationalized away the events of the last episode as LSD-enhanced psychodrama designed to break the original Number 6.

The story and art were vetted by Patrick McGoohan and ITC Entertainment. The likenesses of McGoohan and Leo McKern were featured for their characters’ return and it is rumored that while the notoriously critical McGoohan "didn’t hate" the series, McKern was flattered to be a "comic book villain" for the first time.

Computer games

In 1981, EduWare produced The Prisoner, a video game for the Apple II computer based upon the television series. The game was reportedly not officially licensed, so a number of changes had to be made in order to distance the game from a few of the more recognizable Prisoner elements. The game's designer, David Mullich, incorporated elements of Franz Kafka's The Castle into the game, in which the players assumed the role of a character referred to as # (the "number sign" in the United States and Canada). # wakes up on The Island, and explores the 20 homes, shops and service buildings there, trying to find clues as to how to escape.

The player is given a three-digit number, which signifies #'s reasons for resigning. The game then attempts at numerous times to trick the player into revealing the number. One of the most nefarious was a simulated game crash which included the error message "Syntax error in line ###" where the line number was the player's resignation code. The significance of this is that this was a commonly seen error message in the Apple II's BASIC programming language; out of pure habit, the next step most users would take at this point would be to investigate the erroneous line to try and correct the error, using the command "List ###" where ### once again is the line number. Typing the game's three-digit code at any time resulted in the game being lost, and that included typing the line into the BASIC command as, unknown to the player, the game was still running.

Considered unique among games of this sort, The Prisoner was reportedly used as a training tool for Central Intelligence Agency agents. (Around this time, EduWare also released a "game" that simulated terrorist attacks — up to and including nuclear — and the player's task is to respond to these incidents.)

In 1982, EduWare released a sequel, Prisoner 2, with colour and improved graphics. Released near the end of the Apple II's dominance of home computers, it was not as widely successful as the first game.

Role-playing games

Steve Jackson Games' popular role-playing game system GURPS released a (now out of print) world book for The Prisoner. It included maps, episode synopses, details of the Village and its inhabitants, and much other material.

The first game in Broderbund's "Myst" series featured a location called "Stoneship," that resembles the false ship at Portmeirion.

The return of The Prisoner

A movie version of The Prisoner has been in development limbo for many years at Universal Pictures. At one point Simon West was attached as director with Patrick McGoohan on board as an executive producer and script consultant. Many A-list actors have been rumoured to play Number 6, with Russell Crowe believed to be the favourite.

As of early 2006, there is no word on the current status of the film project or whether it will even go into production, but in late 2005, it was announced that Granada will be reviving the series for Sky One, beginning in Spring 2007. In May 2006 it was reported that Christopher Eccleston was in the running to play Number Six. The series is expected to air on Sky One opposite the third series of Doctor Who, which Eccleston himself relaunched in 2005.[3]

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Prisoner.

General overviews

Theories and interpretations

Episode guides and fan sites

Reviews

Frequently asked questions

Interviews

Fandom

Web experiences

Spin-offs

  • Mobygames.com: website discussing the Prisoner computer games
  • Powys Media: publisher producing new, licensed Prisoner novels

Directories

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