The Prisoner

(The Prisoner)

 Season 1

17 Episodes

Episodes from the first season

1 - ARRIVAL

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Original title : Arrival
First Aired : 29.09.1967 (UK) 18.02.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Don Chaffey
Writing credits : Georges Markstein & David Tomblin
Cast : Guy Doleman (Number Two), George Baker (The New Number Two), Virginia Maskell (The Woman), Paul Eddington (Cobb), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Barbara Yu Ling (Taxi Driver), Stephanie Randall (Maid), Jack Allen (Doctor), Fabia Drake (Welfare Worker), Denis Shaw (Shopkeeper), Oliver MacGreevy (Gardener / Electrician), Frederick Piper (Ex-Admiral), Patsy Smart (Waitress), Christopher Benjamin (Labour Exchange Manager), David Garfield (Hospital Attendant), Peter Brace (First Guardian), Keith Peacock (Second Guardian)


The Story : A man resigns from his secret job in London in anger and is gassed in his home whilst packing. When he awakens in a replica of his London room, he finds he is in a picturesque little establishment of mixed architecture known as the Village. Taxis and 'phones are only local and all the Villagers wear numbered penny-farthing badges. The man is summoned before Number 2, the Village leader who takes orders via a telephone from the unseen Number 1, and is told that he is Number 6 and will remain in the Village until he discusses his resignation. Number 6 refuses to reveal this information and opts to escape from the Village.

2 - THE CHIMES OF BIG BEN

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Original title : The Chimes of Big Ben
First Aired : 06.10.1967 (UK) 31.03.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Don Chaffey
Writing credits : Vincent Tilsley
Cast : Leo McKern (Number Two), Nadia Gray (Nadia), Finlay Currie (General), Richard Wattis (Fotheringay), Kevin Stoney (Colonel J), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Christopher Benjamin (Number Two's Assistant), David Arlen (Karel), Hilda Barry (Number 38), Jack Le-White (First Judge), John Maxim (Second Judge), Lucy Griffiths (Third Judge)


The Story : Another new Number 2 tries to get Number 6 to join in with the spirit of the Village by entering an Art and Crafts Fair. A new arrival in the Village is Number 8, a Russian agent called Nadia who also resigned her job and says she knows the location of the Village. Refusing help, Nadia makes a bid for freedom alone by swimming out to sea.

3 - A, B & C

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No vote

Original title : A, B & C
First Aired : 13.10.1967 (UK) 03.03.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Pat Jackson
Writing credits : Antony Skene
Cast : Colin Gordon (Number Two), Katherine Kath (Madame Engadine), Sheila Allen (Number 14), Peter Bowles ("A"), Georgina Cookson (Blonde Lady), Annette Carrell ("B"), Lucille Soong (Flower Girl), Bettine Le Beau (Maid at Party), Terry Yorke (Thug), Peter Brayham (Thug), Bill Cummings (Henchman)


The Story : Number 2 is given three days to crack Number 6 and so orders Number 14 to use her new untested drug and project Number 6's dreams onto a screen so that they can manipulate his thoughts. Number 6 finds himself at Engadine's party in Paris to be approached by three agents. Which will he sell out to; A, B or C?

4 - FREE FOR ALL

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Original title : Free For All
First Aired : 20.10.1967 (UK) 17.03.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Patrick McGoohan
Writing credits : Paddy Fitz
Cast : Eric Portman (Number Two), Rachel Herbert (Number 58), George Benson (Labour Exchange Manager), Harold Berens (Reporter), John Cazabon (Man in Cave), Dene Cooper (Photographer), Kenneth Benda (Supervisor), Holly Doone (Waitress), Peter Brace (First Mechanic), Alf Joint (Second Mechanic)


The Story : Election time arrives in the Village and Number 2 invites Number 6 to run against him, with the chance of meeting Number 1 if he becomes the new Number 2. Number 6 agrees in the hope that he can release the Villagers once he is in control but his speeches of freedom are ignored and he finds himself brainwashed into supporting the Village.
Note : Paddy Fitz is a pseudonym of Patrick McGoohan

5 - THE SCHIZOID MAN

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Original title : The Schizoid Man
First Aired : 27.10.1967 (UK) 10.03.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Pat Jackson
Writing credits : Terence Feely
Cast : Anton Rodgers (Number Two), Jane Merrow (Alison), Earl Cameron (Supervisor), Gay Cameron (Number 36), David Nettheim (Doctor), Pat Keen (Nurse), Gerry Crampton (First Guardian), Dinney Powell (Second Guardian)


The Story : Number 6 and Alison, Number 24, practice their mind-reading act, having found they share a telepathic link. The next day, Number 6 wakes up in a different cottage to find he has grown a moustache, is now left-handed and is apparently Number 12, an agent brought in by Number 2 to act as a double to crack the real Number 6.

6 - THE GENERAL

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Original title : The General
First Aired : 03.11.1967 (UK) 07.03.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Peter Graham Scott
Writing credits : Joshua Adams
Cast : Colin Gordon (Number Two), John Castle (Number 12), Peter Howell (Professor), Betty McDowall (Professor's Wife), Al Mancini (Announcer), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Conrad Phillips (Doctor), Michael Miller (Man in Buggy), Keith Pyott (Waiter), Ian Fleming (Man in Cafe), Norman Mitchell (Mechanic), Peter Bourne (Projection Operator), George Leech (First Corridor Guard), Jackie Cooper (Second Corridor Guard)


The Story : A new process developed by the Professor, Speedlearn, is tested in the Village and uses a sublimator on television to inscribe a difficult degree course subject on the brain in fifteen seconds. However, the Professor tries to escape the Village, and Number 6 finds an ally in the form of Number 12, Number 2's head of administration.

7 - MANY HAPPY RETURNS

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Original title : Many Happy Returns
First Aired : 10.11.1967 (UK) 25.02.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Joseph Serf
Writing credits : Anthony Skene
Cast : Donald Sinden (The Colonel), Patrick Cargill (Thorpe), Georgina Cookson (Mrs. Butterworth), Brian Worth (Group Captain), Richard Caldicott (Commander), Dennis Chinnery (Gunther), Jon Laurimore (Ernst), Nike Arrighi (Gypsy Girl), Grace Arnold (Maid), Larry Taylor (Gypsy Man)


The Story : Number 6 awakens to find the Village completely deserted and lifeless. With nothing to stop him, he builds a raft and sets out to sea for freedom. After drifting for many days he collapses, and his raft is ransacked by two German gun-runners who dump him in the sea to drown.
Note : Joseph Serf is a pseudonym of Patrick McGoohan

8 - DANSE OF THE DEATH

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Original title : Danse of the Death
First Aired : 17.11.1967 (UK) 05.05.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Don Chaffey
Writing credits : Anthony Skene
Cast : Mary Morris (Number Two), Duncan MacRae (Doctor), Norma West (Girl Bo-Peep), Bee Duffell (Psychiatrist), Alan White (Dutton), Aubrey Morris (Town Crier), Camilla Hasse (Day Supervisor), Michael Nightingale (Night Supervisor), Patsy Smart (Night Maid), Denise Buckley (Maid), George Merritt (Postman), John Frawley (Flower Man), Lucy Griffiths (Lady in Corridor), William Lyon Brown (Second Doctor)


The Story : A former colleague of Number 6, Dutton, has been brought into the Village and a Doctor attempts to use him to get Number 6 to reveal his secret. Number 6 finds himself invited to the Village Carnival at the Town Hall, and defies the curfew one night to get to the beach. There he finds the dead body of a man washed up on the shore.

9 - CHECKMATE

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Original title : Checkmate
First Aired : 24.11.1967 (UK) 24.03.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Don Chaffey
Writing credits : Gerald Kelsey
Cast : Peter Wyngarde (Number Two), Ronald Radd (Rook), George Coulouris (Man with the Stick), Rosalie Crutchley (Queen), Patricia Jessel (First Psychiatrist), Bee Duffell (Second Psychiatrist), Basil Dignam (Supervisor), Danvers Walker (Painter), Denis Shaw (Shopkeeper), Victor Platt (Assistant Supervisor), Shivaun O'Casey (Nurse), Geoffrey Reed (Skipper), Terence Donovan (Sailor), Joe Dunne (First Tower Guard), Romo Gorrara (Second Tower Guard)


The Story : The Villagers play out a human chess match and Number 6, as the Queen's Pawn, finds that Number 8, the Queen, is overly eager to help him with any escape plan. But it is the Rook taken to the Hospital for conditioning that Number 6 realises could be his ally, and together the two men start selecting the prisoners to help in their escape.

10 - HAMMER INTO ANVIL

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Original title : Hammer Into Anvil
First Aired : 01.12.1967 (UK) 21.03.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Pat Jackson
Writing credits : Roger Wooddis
Cast : Patrick Cargill (Number Two), Victor Maddern (Bandmaster), Basil Hoskins (Number 14), Norman Scace (Psychiatric Director), Derek Aylward (New Supervisor), Hilary Dwyer (Number 73), Arthur Gross (Control Room Supervisor), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Victor Woolf (Shop Assistant), Michael Segal (Laboratory Technician), Margo Andrew (Shop Kiosk Girl), Susan Sheers (Female Code Expert), Jackie Cooper (First Guardian), Fred Haggerty (Second Guardian), Eddie Powell (Third Guardian), George Leach (Fourth Guardian)


The Story : Number 6 is furious when Number 2's brutal interrogation of Number 73 causes her to commit suicide. He starts acting strangely, leaving messages about Number 2's instability for his contact, XO4, and receiving messages via a record of 'L'Arlesienne'. Never knowing whom he can trust, Number 2 sets out to crush the conspiracy.

11 - IT'S YOUR FUNERAL

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Original title : It's Your Funeral
First Aired : 08.12.1967 (UK) 14.04.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Robert Asher
Writing credits : Michael Cramoy
Cast : Derren Nesbitt (New Number Two), Annette Andre (Watchmaker's Daughter), Mark Eden (Number 100), Andre Van Gyseghem (Retiring Number Two), Martin Miller (Watchmaker), Wanda Ventham (Computer Attendent), Mark Burns (Number Two's Assistant), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Charles Lloyd Pack (Artist), Grace Arnold (Number 36), Arthur White (Stallholder), Michael Bilton (MC Councillor), Gerry Crampton (Koshu Opponent)


The Story : Number 6 is approached by Monique, the daughter of the Village watchmaker who says that her father and Number 100 are conspiring to assassinate Number 2. Realising this would cause reprisals, Number 6 goes to warn Number 2, only to find him unconcerned. By the time that Number 6 has realised what is happening, nobody will believe him.

12 - A CHANGE OF MIND

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Original title : A Change of Mind
First Aired : 15.12.1967 (UK) 28.04.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Joseph Serf
Writing credits : Roger Parkes
Cast : Angela Browne (Number 86), John Sharpe (Number Two), George Pravda (Doctor), Kathleen Breck (Number 42), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Thomas Heathcote (Lobo Man), Bartlett Mullins (Committee Chairman), Michael Miller (Number 93), Joseph Cuby (First Member of Social Group), Michael Chow (Second Member of Social Group), June Ellis (Number 48), John Hamblin (First Woodland Man), Michael Billington (Second Woodland Man)


The Story : A drive in social consciousness is staged by a new Committee, and Number 6, due to his non-cooperation, is declared unmutual and first ignored, then attacked. Number 2 suggests a process called instant social conversion, in fact a lobotomy, and Number 6 soon finds himself forced by the Villagers into the operation.
Note : Joseph Serf is a pseudonym of Patrick McGoohan

13 - DO NOT FORSAKE ME, OH MY DARLING

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Original title : Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling
First Aired : 22.12.1967 (UK) 01.04.1991 (FRANCE)
Director : Pat Jackson
Writing credits : Vincent Tilsley
Cast : Zena Walker (Janet), Clifford Evans (Number Two), Nigel Stock (The Colonel), Hugo Schuster (Professor Seltzman), John Wentworth (Sir Charles), James Bree (Villiers), Kynaston Reeves (Minister), Lloyd Lamble (Stapleton), Patrick Jordan (Danvers), Lockwood West (Camera Shop Manager), Frederic Abbott (Potter), Gertan Klauber (Cafe Waiter), Henry Longhurst (Old Guest), Danvers Walker (First New Man), John Nolan (Young Guest)


The Story : A Colonel arrives in the Village to take part in an experiment. Number 6 is kidnapped from his cottage and awakens in London, exactly a year after his resignation, to find that his mind is now in the body of the Colonel. His only hope is to find Seltzman, who can reverse the process, and is sought by British and Village agents.

14 - LIVING IN HARMONY

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Original title : Living in Harmony
First Aired : 29.12.1967 (UK) 08.04.1991 (FRANCE)
Director : David Tomblin
Writing credits : David Tomblin From a Story by David Tomblin & Ian L. Rakoff
Cast : Alexis Kanner (The Kid), David Bauer (The Judge), Valerie French (Kathy), Gordon Tanner (Town Elder), Gordon Sterne (Bystander), Michael Balfour (Will), Larry Taylor (Mexican Sam), Monti DeLyle (Town Dignitary), Douglas Jones (Horse Dealer), Bill Nick (First Gunman), Les Crawford (Second Gunman), Frank Maher (Third Gunman), Max Faulkner (First Horseman), Bill Cummings (Second Horseman), Eddie Eddon (Third Horseman)


The Story : A Sheriff resigns from his job in the Wild West of the 1880s, is beaten up by some cowboys and taken to the township of Harmony where the corrupt Judge insists that he become the new Sheriff. The barmaid, Kathy, falls in love with him, and in order to save her from Jail and the mute gunslinger the Kid, the Sheriff takes the job.

15 - THE GIRL WHO WAS DEATH

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Original title : The Girl Who Was Death
First Aired : 19.01.1968 (UK) 15.04.1991 (FRANCE)
Director : David Tomblin
Writing credits : Terence Feely From a Story by David Tomblin
Cast : Kenneth Griffith (Schnipps), Justine Lord (Sonja), Christopher Benjamin (Potter), Michael Brennan (Killer Karminski), Harold Berens (Boxing MC), Sheena Marsh (Barmaid), Max Faulkner (Scots Napoleon), John Rees (Welsh Napoleon), Joe Gladwin (Yorkshire Napoleon), John Drake (Bowler), Gaynor Steward (Little Girl), Graham Steward (First Little Boy), Stephen Howe (Second Little Boy)


The Story : An English agent is killed at a cricket match by a beautiful girl in white, and the agent sent to take over his case must find the rocket that the mad scientist Dr Schnipps has aimed at London. The agent soon comes up against the girl, Schnipps' daughter, who claims that she is Death, and that she loves him madly.

16 - ONCE UPON A TIME

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Original title : Once Upon A Time
First Aired : 25.01.1968 (UK) 07.04.1984 (FRANCE)
Director : Patrick McGoohan
Writing credits : Patrick McGoohan
Cast : Leo McKern (Number Two), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), John Cazabon (Umbrella Man), John Maxim (Number 86)


The Story : A previous Number 2 is brought back to the Village and given a week to crack Number 6, reluctantly forcing him to use Degree Absolute. Under brainwashing conditions, Number 6 is sealed into the black Embryo Room for a week with Number 2 and the Butler to relive his life. Till death do they part.

17 - FALL OUT

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Original title : Fall Out
First Aired : 01.02.1968 (UK) 12.05.1968 (FRANCE)
Director : Patrick McGoohan
Writing credits : Patrick McGoohan
Cast : Alexis Kanner (Number 48), Leo McKern (Former Number Two), Kenneth Griffith (The President), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Michael Miller (Delegate)


The Story : Having won the battle of wits against Number 2, the Supervisor and the Butler take Number 6 to meet Number 1. Passing through a corridor lined with juke boxes playing 'All You Need Is Love', the trio enter a cavern where Number 6 takes his place on a throne. The President of the Assembly says they are going to look at three forms of revolt. The first is the hippy Number 48. The second is the late Number 2. Who is Number 1?