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The Prisoner: Difference between revisions
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A celebrated 1967 British [[Science Fiction]] drama with [[Spy Drama]] elements, filmed in [[Wales|Portmeirion, Wales]] and produced by and starring Patrick McGoohan. The series deals with the conflict between individuality and authority, told through an unnamed man's attempts to escape from a surreal [[Dystopia|Dystopian]] penal colony. Almost uniquely (for a series of that era not based upon a novel), it had a distinct [[Story Arc]]. The episodes had no clear progression, but the series did have a distinct beginning, middle and end, capped off by the [[Grand Finale]] "Fall Out".
''[[The Prisoner]]'' is known for its obscure, confusing, yet intricate subtexts and plot twists, which culminated in the most notorious (and most beloved) [[Gainax Ending]] in British television history. Patrick McGoohan had almost complete creative control, a budget 40% larger than that of most other series, and ''no idea'' where the show was going from episode to episode. After what was broadcast as episode 11, the script editor, George Markstein, quit the series and was not replaced. Scripts and story ideas from that point on came from random people and places: a Western-themed episode was suggested by a video editor, and the infamous episode "The Girl Who Was Death" was an unused script from ''[[
The characters:
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To keep things focused on the story's development, McGoohan often censored any hint of romance between his character and female prisoners/collaborators in submitted scripts, keeping the characters' attraction to Number 6 strictly one-sided. Instead of romance, the story deals with the battles between Number 6 and his surroundings: his struggles are often physical, but in the end, always come down to his mental resilience. More than once, Number 6 breaks his opponents down by utterly crushing their sanity.
The series is believed by many to be a sequel of sorts to McGoohan's previous series, ''[[
Some have even theorized that both characters are also the same person as the secret agent McGoohan played in the film ''Ice Station Zebra''. Certain small differences in behavior between the three characters (for example, Drake does not drink, the Prisoner drinks occasionally, and the ''Ice Station Zebra'' character is a borderline alcoholic) have been taken as hints toward the reason Number Six resigned his job (his refusal to divulge this reason is the [[MacGuffin]] for the series; his antagonists figure that if they can break him enough to get that information out of him, the rest will follow).
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Another one of the primary topics of fan debate is ''what order the episodes are meant to be in.'' There are five principal orders out there, and to be honest the original broadcast order is the one that makes the least sense.
[[The Prisoner
A [[R Emake]], in the form of a six-hour miniseries with Jim "The Passionate Christ" Caviezel as Number 6 and Sir Ian "The White Wizard" McKellen as Number 2, ran in November 2009. This was not a direct remake, as characterization, atmosphere, and ending were almost entirely different. YMMV as to whether the miniseries worked taken on its own terms, and on whether it deserved to keep the name.
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* [[Applied Phlebotinum]]: That wonderful [[Silver Age|sixties]] version of the trope, involving giant talking computers with big knobs, all-purpose mind-altering chemicals, and multicolored electronic beams of light.
* [[Arc Words]]: While the series didn't last long enough to form full story arcs, the General is name-dropped well in advance of appearing.
* [[As Long
* [[Backwards-Firing Gun]]: In "The Girl Who Was Death", Number 6 modifies some rifles so they'll fire backwards before some guards arrive and attempt to shoot him with them.
* [[Badass Boast]]: In "The Chimes of Big Ben," Number Six claims he can do even better than escape the Village: he'll come back, wipe it off the face of the earth, obliterate it, and Number Two with it.
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** It has been said that if the show had been given a second season, it would have been given a new format based on this where Number Six would be sent out on missions, but always pulled back in.
* [[The Butler Did It]]: As good a guess as any. (No, really. The show's production assistant literally said this. It's as good a guess as any.)
* [[But You Were There and You
** Another episode plays out as a Western with the same [[The Reveal|Reveal]], but in this case it was [[All Just a Dream]].
* [[Calvin Ball]]: Kosho, a game involving trampolines, padding, martial arts, and a pool of water that Number Six apparently plays twice a week. The rules can be guessed at somewhat, but it's mainly there to contribute to the general [[Mind Screw]] of the series.
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* [[Celibate Hero]]: Number Six is {{spoiler|engaged}}.
* [[Cold War]]: Subverted. See [[Government Conspiracy]] below.
* [[
* [[Comic Book Adaptation]]: A sequel miniseries (later collected into a TPB) called ''Shattered Visage''. Among other things, it provided an explanation for the show's infamous [[Gainax Ending]]. It also comes close to performing a [[Gender Flip]] by featuring n a new No. 6 who, this time, is a woman ( {{spoiler|in this story, the original No. 6, apparently driven mad, takes on the role of No. 2 - at least, until one of the original No. 2's returns to the Village}}). As for whether it's canon, well...the most McGoohan ever said about it was that he "didn't hate it".
* [[Common Knowledge]]: When the character of the Prisoner is referenced in other works, it is common to see him placed in his black vest with white piping and the number six lapel pin. This may make serve to make the reference clear, but the original Prisoner took the No. 6 pin off practically as soon as he was given it; he ''never'' wore his number willingly, except under extreme duress (like being brainwashed into campaigning enthusiastically for himself in "Free For All").
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* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: With The Village being an overpowering, Orwellian superpower, Number 6 does most of his fighting with words. Needless to say, he's very, very good at it.
* [[Death Trap]]: Number Six is put through a gauntlet of them in "The Girl Who Was Death."
* [[Depending
* [[Determinator]]: Number 6. He ''does not give up''.
** In "A. B. and C.," it's revealed that his dreams are an endless loop of his resignation...and nothing else. He doesn't even quit when he's asleep.
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* [[Girl of the Week]]: Usually one per episode, although they're all very different from each other. (Two of them are Number 2, some are evil scientists or moles, some die, some are hallucinations.) Number 6 has no romantic interest in them whatsoever, though. {{spoiler|As it turns out, he's already engaged.}} That doesn't stop several of them from expressing "interest" in No. 6, however (that said, in a case of creator-driven [[Executive Meddling]], McGoohan continually removed any hint of romance between females and No. 6 from the scripts, allowing only a couple of story-related exceptions to slip through).
* [[Government Conspiracy]]: Exactly who the conspiracy ''is'' is a complete mystery, and No. 6 is frustrated in early efforts to determine which side of the [[Cold War]] is running the Village. One No. 2 suggests that it really doesn't matter, as the two sides of the [[Cold War]] are becoming increasingly similar. However, No. 6's superiors are shown to be in league with the Village and the comic sequel states it was a British secret project.
** ''[[Clue (
** ''One'' of his superiors works for the Village, and that could easily be explained by him simply being a double agent or [[The Mole]]. And, of course, the comic book's canonicity is in the eye of the beholder.
* [[Grand Finale]]: Where the Prisoner escapes, [[The End -
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: {{spoiler|1=Leo McKern's No. 2 and the Butler}} in the [[Grand Finale]].
** At least, it appears that way.
** In the episode "The General" {{spoiler|Number 12 - who controls Security that episode - immediately aids Number Six's efforts to stop the Instant-Learning program. No explanation for 12's turn is ever given.}}
* [[Hero Ball]] / [[What an Idiot!]]: Although No. 6 is the show's [[Only Sane Man]] ''most'' of the time, it's hard not to facepalm once he {{spoiler|ends up at Beachy Head with its famous lighthouse and ''doesn't recognise it'', falls asleep on a truck without even bothering to hide himself, and subsequently goes straight back to his own home, even though he already ''knows'' from previous episodes that his former friends are after him.}}
* [[Hoist
** In "A Change of Mind," Number Six turns the villagers against Number Two with the same tactics Number Two used on him throughout the rest of the episode.
* [[Human Chess]]: "Checkmate"
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* [[Lighthouse Point]]: "The Girl Who Was Death."
* [[Little People Are Surreal]]: The Butler.
* [[Locked in
* [[Logic Bomb]]: how the Prisoner defeats the General. {{spoiler|It turns out that the General is a room-sized computer which can answer any question. The Prisoner asks it "Why?". The General overheats and explodes trying to come up with an answer. This is probably the [[Trope Codifier]] for the "ask the AI an open-ended philosophical question" version of the trope.}}
* [[Loners Are Freaks]]: Subverted since in the Village, the fact that Number 6 is a stubborn loner is his greatest strength. Doubly subverted in the episode "Checkmate".
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* [[No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine]]: He's often invited to dinner or breakfast or lunch with Number Two, but he seldom accepts outright. Naturally, since they know nearly every detail about Number Six's life, it's always [[Your Favorite]].
** In "The Schizoid Man", they subconsciously change his favourite food to aid in attempting to make him think he's someone else.
* [[No Name Given]]: The Prisoner's real name (although many fans assume he's John Drake, the character McGoohan played in his previous series, ''[[
** In the episode "Many Happy Returns", {{spoiler|Number 6 called himself "Peter Smith", but this could be an assumed/false name. It's also an obvious variation on his German code name, "Schmidt".}}
** In "The Girl Who Was Death", the boxing ring referee announces McGoohan's character by name as what sounds like a slurred, quickly spoken "John Drake". Later he calls him (somewhat more clearly) "Mr. Drake". This was probably a deliberate joke by Patrick McGoohan, to go along with his hiring an actor named "John Drake" for the episode.
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* [[Sauna of Death]]: With Number 6 trapped inside. In "The Girl Who Was Death".
* [[Scenery Porn]]: The Village. [[wikipedia:Portmeirion|You can always swing by for a stay]]...
* [[Shout-Out]]: In "The Girl Who Was Death," Number Six receives his orders in a manner mimicking that of Jim Phelps in ''[[Mission Impossible (TV series)|Mission Impossible]]''.
** The ''[[Shattered Visage]]'' comic series is just loaded with these, with the references running from ''[[
* ''[[The Simpsons (
** Rover made an appearence in another episode as a single [[Shout-Out]] joke. Marge escaped, but unfortunatly for Hans Moleman ... "Rover got 'em".
* [[Sinister Surveillance]]: Number Six is ''always'' under surveillance...especially when he thinks he's not.
* [[Sleep Learning]]: A major focus of "The General," though of course, the Village always attempts to subvert "learning" with "re-education"
* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: Some truly masterful [[Mind Screw]] examples in the [[Grand Finale]] ranging from Carmen Miranda to "Dem Bones" to [[The Beatles (
** The fucking weasel. It doesn't pop. WHY DOESN'T IT POP?!
* [[Special Edition Title]]: "Living In Harmony" has a Western-genre variation on the usual opening-sequence, with Number Six riding into a town and turning in his sheriff's badge. "Fall Out" replaces the usual opening with credits played over a helicopter sequence of the Village, accompanied by the rarely-used second half of the theme tune.
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: Even if the Prisoner isn't John Drake, the show is at least a spiritual successor to ''[[
* [[Spotting the Thread]]: In "The Chimes of Big Ben," Number Six is tipped that he hasn't really escaped when he notices that {{spoiler|the eponymous chimes sync with the time on a watch he was given in what was supposedly Poland, even though the two are in different time zones}}.
** Then, in "The Schizoid Man," Number Two turns the table on him: {{spoiler|if he were really Number Twelve, he'd have known that Number Twelve's wife had died a year before}}.
* [[Spy Drama]]: an actually ''dramatic'' drama, not just "will he kill the bad guy and get the girl"; indeed this trope is subverted at every turn.
* [[Stock Shout Out]]: The initial interview with No. 2 is frequently referenced. "Be seeing you" and the accompanying hand gesture are often used as hints in other media that the person giving them isn't to be trusted (most notably Bester and other PsiCorp characters in ''[[Babylon
* [[Story Arc]]: Number 6's struggle to escape the Village and his growing strength inside it.
* [[Take That]]: Many of the elements of the show (as well as McGoohan's previous show, ''Danger Man'') were deliberately designed as counterpoints to the growing popularity of the Bond franchise: Bond's an expert gunsman (Six has moments of being a [[Technical Pacifist]]), Bond is a walking example of [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]] (Six is a [[Chaste Hero]]), and Bond and Six are deeply, deeply divided over [[Patriotic Fervor]]. Both characters are also superspies with pithy humor, and both feature over the top gadgets that suffered heavily from Zeerust. To hammer it home, McGoohan was one of the original picks to play Bond, but turned it down because he disagreed with the philosophy behind the character. Though it would have made him far richer, he reportedly never regretted the decision.
** One episode, "Free For All", is a clear [[Take That]] to voter apathy and political machinery sabotaging democracy. Number 2 promises great gains if Six is elected, but the exact same people respond to his speeches as Six's with equal enthusiasm (prodded on by the Butler). Six's "supporters" even have party posters of him made up before he's even aware of the election, and to add to the insult, they use the same picture from his resignation photo in the opening montage. {{spoiler|At the end of the episode, Six has fought off party brainwashing, but is no more free than before. Only his jailer's face has changed. Subtly, this is also the only episode he willingly wears a number pin, to show his support for his own campaign.}}
* [[Tap
** "The Girl Who Was Death": Number 6 knocks out two [[Mook|Mooks]] with a bop on the top of the head, one with his fist and one with a grenade used as a club.
** "Once Upon A Time": The Butler knocks Number 6 unconscious with a club to the back of the head to stop him from strangling Number 2. The precise definition is lampshaded in this case as 6 doesn't immediately go down but rather spasms a bit as one might do if they've received a sudden shock like a club to the head.
* [[The Tape Knew You Would Say That]]: The phonograph record that gives Number Six his assignment in "The Girl Who Was Death" seems to hear his smart aleck aside.
* [[Throw It In]]: Leo McKern was easily the most popular No. 2 among cast and crew, so they wrote new episodes just to bring him back. When the show was canceled, they rushed the final episode and added an on-camera haircut to "explain" his trimmed beard and shorter hair.
* [[Throw the Dog
* [[Throw the Pin]]: There's a variation in "The Girl Who Was Death" where Number Six tampers with the bad guys' old-timey WWI-era grenades (the ones with a baton-like handle used to hurl a can-shaped charge) so the explosives ended up in the handles.
* [[Trippy Finale Syndrome]]: Good Lord.
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* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]] - There are religious overtones throughout the show. The name of the production company was [[wikipedia:Everyman chr(28)playchr(29)|Everyman]], based on an allegorical play from the 15th century.
** According to ''The Prisoner Video Companion'', the Village salute represents the sign of the fish, a Christian symbol.
* [[What Happened to
* [[Write Who You Know]]: Number Six is to an extent a stand-in for McGoohan, unsurprising given that the series is all about his own views on individuality and authority. A prime example of how [[Tropes Are Not Bad]].
* [[Xanatos Roulette]]: Many of the ploys designed by the Number Twos involve ''very'' convoluted chains of events to work.
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** Also Patrick Cargill, who played a British government official in "Many Happy Returns", and Number 2 in "Hammer into Anvil".
*** Given the show's themes, it's difficult to tell if we're supposed to notice and account for it in the story.
** Christopher Benjamin appears as different characters in "Arrival" and "The Girl Who Was Death", and in the latter actually reprises a character named Potter that he played in an episode of ''[[
** Colin Gordon appears as No. 2 in the episodes "A, B and C" and "The General" and aside from McKern is the only actor to play No. 2 more than once. However, given the nature of the series, there is actually a case to be made that Gordon is playing two ''different'' No. 2's, if one compares elements such as characterization. The one-off appearance of Village workers in "Arrival" who look exactly the same (possibly twins, possibly clones) is cited as possible evidence in support.
*** The Colin Gordon question may depend on which order you watch the episodes. If "A, B and C" is seen before "The General", as it was during the show's original run, they may be different. If that order is reversed, they appear to be the same character who goes from highly confident to desperate to avoid punishment for failure.
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