The Prisoner opens when a
secret agent, played by
Patrick McGoohan (of
Danger Man and
Secret Agent fame, and also
Ice Station Zebra), suddenly resigns from his highly-classified government job. He returns home and begins packing, intending to go on
holiday, but as he does so
anaesthetic gas hisses through the keyhole.
He awakes in what appears to be the same room, but looks outside to see a bizarre arrangement of Italianate spires and domes around a well-tended courtyard. This is The Village, a place where no one has a name, and where The Prisoner's insidious captors attempt to extract from him the reasons behind his resignation.
There are several disputes over the ordering for the 17 episodes of the show -- see episode orderings for `The Prisoner'. The standard ordering in which they were first broadcast is:
- Arrival
- The Chimes of Big Ben
- A, B & C
- Free for All
- The Schizoid Man
- The General
- Many Happy Returns
- Dance of the Dead
- Checkmate
- Hammer Into Anvil
- It's Your Funeral
- A Change of Mind
- Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
- Living in Harmony
- The Girl Who Was Death
- Once Upon a Time
- Fall Out
Six of One, the Prisoner Appreciation Society, can be found at: http://www.netreach.net/~sixofone/index.htm .