The Prisoner: The Schizoid Man (1967)

Posted on May 16, 2017 at 10:39 pm by Jeff Kuykendall

THE SCHIZOID MAN First UK Broadcast: October 27, 1967 [episode #5 in transmission order] | Written by Terence Feely | Directed by Pat Jackson

SYNOPSIS

No.6 is helping No. 24 (Jane Merrow, Hands of the Ripper) practice her mind-reading skills for an act in an upcoming Village festival when he accidentally knocks over a bottle, stubbing his finger and leaving a bruise on his fingernail. That night, the new No.2 (Anton Rodgers) has No.6 hypnotized with the rigged, flashing lamp that hovers over his bed. No.6 is given over to the care of a doctor who begins a cruel conditioning treatment. When he awakens, the calendar reads the same day (Wed. Feb. 10), but he has grown a mustache. No.2 phones him up and calls him No.12, inviting him over. As No.6 walks to the Green Dome, a passing Villager also refers to him as No.12, to his confusion. When he meets up with No.2, he’s led to believe that he’s just arrived in the Village to confront No.6 as his doppelgänger and disrupt his sense of identity. He’s given the password of “Gemini” so No.2 can tell them apart. Then 6’s double walks through the door – another No.6 (McGoohan again, usually by a split screen), this one wearing a white jacket instead of black. No.6 tries to prove he’s the genuine article through a series of competitions. At the Recreation Hall, he measures his pistol shooting skills against the false No.6, then fences him. But he finds that he now favors his left hand instead of his right, and the false 6 bests him every time. Back in the Green Dome, No.2 offers a computerized fingerprint test to prove the real No.6, but 6 instead asks to summon No.24 to demonstrate that he still has a genuine mental bond with her. During the mind reading game, however, she fails to read any of No.6’s cards, instead matching with the double. Worst of all, the double has a tell-tale mole on his wrist, and No.6 doesn’t.

No.12 and No.6 match their skills at pistols – but which is which?

No.6 returns to his residence desperate and unbalanced. It’s only when he notices that the bruise on his fingernail has migrated upward from fingernail growth that he realizes it isn’t truly February the 10th. Memories return to him in a flash – of the conditioning which taught him to be left-handed and gave him instincts and tastes belonging to someone else. He relearns his right-handedness by exposing his left hand to a dangerous electric charge. Then he goes to find No.12, currently living at his own house, and pretends to be unraveled, suggesting that he’s about to give up why he resigned. He takes No.12 off guard and defeats him, learning his name, Curtis, and the real password: “The Schizoid Man.” Outside the residence, Rover approaches both of them, but can’t tell which is which. They both give the password “The Schizoid Man” – and Rover chooses to consume Curtis. No.6 returns to the Green Dome, pretending to be his double. No.2 is beside himself that the Village’s most important subject has been killed. He asks that he go speak to No.24, whose real name is Alison, to gather further insight on No.6 before he leaves. She seems to recognize that he isn’t really Curtis, and when he’s heading toward a helicopter to depart the Village, she tells him candidly that if she had another chance, she wouldn’t do what she did: “It was a betrayal.” But No.2 has noticed “Curtis” saying odd things which the real Curtis would never say, and as 6 boards the helicopter, 2 asks him to give Curtis’s wife, Susan, his regards. 6 says he will. Then he’s blindfolded and taken up into the air, only to be brought straight down again. His blindfold is removed, and No.2 says, “Susan died a year ago, No.6.”

Anton Rodgers as No.2.

OBSERVATIONS

The “Schizoid Man” script is by novelist and prolific television writer Terence Feely, who also wrote for The Saint, UFO, and The Avengers, and was the creator of the series The Gentle Touch. It is one of the most brilliant, airtight, and thoroughly conceived episodes of The Prisoner. There is a moment early on when No.6 is confronted by his double for the first time, and after a few minutes one almost has to take a time-out to process it all: No.6 trying to prove his own identity, the double acting just as put out to have to prove that he is No.6, and No.2 now treating the double as the impostor – now that the double is in the room, because before that, he had to act like No.6 was No.12, you see? Writing about this episode is like trying to do a play-by-play of a shell game. There is only one cheat, or should I say concession to the poor viewer who has to keep it all straight: the double/No.12/Curtis is wearing a white jacket for the first half of the episode, a perfect negative image of No.6. So you know at all times the real No.6 – but this might have been unnecessary, given how stupendous McGoohan’s performance is. He plays the two men as two different sides of the Prisoner that we have seen before: the arrogant, self-confident, and sardonic man (Curtis), and the man on the brink, harried by malevolent forces (No.6). They are both the same person, but the latter gains our sympathy, which pulls us along through this labyrinthine episode. By the end, they dress in similar clothes but we can tell them apart with ease. In another time, McGoohan would have won an award for this performance.

Jane Merrow as Alison, No.24.

In the script, the other man is called DOUBLE, which makes the fact that he’s No.12 a cheeky little joke: he is literally the double of 6. Toward the end, we get a few tantalizing hints of his life: a photo of a woman named Susan, the fact that he’s been through “many scrapes” with Rodgers’ No.2 before. We also learn that the scheme of this episode did not originate from No.2 but from someone (or -thing) else, if not No.1 then possibly “the General.” Either possibility should intrigue Prisoner fans. The General appears to be a reference to the episode of the same name; we’ll soon find out a lot more about this character. But if it came from No.1…well, we’ll save that kind of discussion for when we get to “Fall Out.” Of note – and clear as day on a second viewing – is that No.6 is doomed before No.2 asks to send Susan his regards. While riding the mini-moke to the helipad, he notices No.6 slipping up and saying that he’ll “report to the General,” a phrasing that (as we’ll learn) doesn’t make sense. “Report to the General?” No.2 says. “That’s a new one.” Right after that, he lays the trap with this line: “I remember Susan saying only a month ago that you’re generally quite unflappable.”

Alison is played by Jane Merrow, who was one of the few to have positive things to say about McGoohan’s on-set presence in the documentary Don’t Knock Yourself Out. The fact that her character introduces the concept of telepathy into the world of The Prisoner is just as surprising as the fact that No.6 is a believer. At the start of “The Schizoid Man,” she says, “Nobody else believed in me.” He answers, “They have no imagination.” I would have assumed that No.6 would be a staunch skeptic, but there he is, holding up the cards while she correctly guesses “a circle,” “a square,” and so on. (For the comedy version of this scene, go watch Ghostbusters.) The revelation at the end that Alison is actually another Village agent working against No.6 puts a damper on this – it’s all just a set-up so she can later match against 6’s double. But the door is left ajar on this subject when No.6 visits her in her home one last time, and she seems to “sense” that he is not Curtis. I’ve mentioned before that The Prisoner uses psychology as a theme, but “The Schizoid Man” ventures into parapsychology.

Peter Swanwick’s Supervisor is absent this episode. He’s replaced by Earl Cameron (Thunderball, Inception) in the Control Room, a Haitian who has one wince-inducing line, “In Haiti we would say he has stolen his soul!”

No.6 awakens with some unusual overnight hair growth.

METHODOLOGY

In arranging these episodes as I have, there aren’t many sincere efforts to find out why No.6 resigned in the early going. Despite the question coming up in “Arrival,” it isn’t asked in earnest; in “Checkmate” the Village simply wants to teach him that he can’t escape, and in “Free for All” and “Dance of the Dead” the goal is to break down his will and sense of self. “The Schizoid Man” is also an assault on his “self”; but the endgame is learning why he resigned. No.6 knows it, and uses that to bait Curtis. Like “The Chimes of Big Ben,” this is an extremely elaborate plot, but one that leans on science fiction elements. We never learn how Curtis came to look like No.6. We only know that he’s not a clone. We have to accept the premise as it’s given, and fill in the blanks as we may.

THE VILLAGE

In this episode we are introduced to the Recreation Hall, which is essentially the Village YMCA. A sign posted on the door can only be read if you freeze-frame; it advertises, “Concert of folk music to be held in the Concert Hall on Wed. Aug. 15th at 7:30. Tickets available at information desk.” That’s six months away! Must be some concert.

ROVER

Rover can’t tell the two McGoohans apart, but he’s a pretty feral guard dog, and kills Curtis rather than incapacitating him. You won’t see Rover quite as hostile again.

FISTICUFFS

After a few episodes without fisticuffs, I am pleased to announce that fisticuffs are back – and how! As No.6 walks down the Village path after curfew, some random thugs are dropped off in a mini-moke. No.6 is asked for the password, but he gives the wrong one: “Gemini.” They fight to the same musical theme that accompanies all these fights. Later, No.6 gets in a tussle with Curtis, finally conquering him and regaining his identity.

No.6 is conditioned to become No.12.

SEQUENCE 

This episode and “Many Happy Returns” are rare in that the events are tied specifically to dates. We know that No.6 begins his torturous therapy to become No.12 on the tenth of February, and an indeterminate amount of time passes before he emerges in his new identity. “Many Happy Returns” begins sometime in late February, so to place them back to back makes sense. It should also come before “The General,” since the character of the General is referenced in this episode, and certainly wouldn’t be appearing in any episodes after “The General” (ahem). Although I could move other episodes into this slot, I tend to fall back on production order when there are no other clues available. This episode was the seventh to be filmed, after “Once Upon a Time,” which ultimately became the first part of the two-part series finale. So, leaving OUAT out of it, “The Schizoid Man” is the next one to step up to the plate.

6 OF 1…

No.6 is placed in the amusing position of having to explain that he is No.6, even though he’s, you know, not a number. For a while he negotiates this problem by saying “your Number Six,” as when he removes his badge and says, “I shan’t need this to remind me that I’m your Number Six.” But as the episode progresses, he is genuinely rattled by his repeated failure to prove his identity. (Another clue that Curtis is not really No.6 – he proudly wears his badge.)

WIN OR LOSE?

This is a loss, but only by a hair. No.6 is beginning to learn how to outwit his warders, though his bluffing in the last act is far too clumsy to get him out the gate. We’re very close to seeing No.6 rack up some wins against the Village…but not just yet.

QUOTES

No.6: I am the original. He is the economy pack.

The Double, after winning some competitions against No.6: Your safest bet would be battle axes in a very dark cellar.

UP NEXT: MANY HAPPY RETURNS

 

 

 

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The Prisoner: The Chimes of Big Ben (1967)

Posted on May 14, 2017 at 10:16 pm by Jeff Kuykendall

THE CHIMES OF BIG BEN First UK Broadcast: October 6, 1967 [episode #2 in transmission order] | Written by Vincent Tilsey | Directed by Don Chaffey

SYNOPSIS

Nadia (Nadia Gray, La Dolce Vita) is the latest prisoner, transported on a stretcher from the Village helicopter. The new No.2 (Leo McKern, Rumpole of the Bailey) encourages No.6 to welcome her to her new home, as well as to make some effort to finally settle in on his own. No.6 suspects her at first, but after he witnesses the woman, an Olympic bronze medalist swimmer, incapacitated by Rover while attempting to swim free, she earns his empathy. In the Hospital, Nadia is submitted to cruel conditioning involving an electrically-charged floor. No.6 strikes a bargain with No.2: he will contribute to the Arts & Crafts Exposition as long as Nadia is entrusted to him and relieved of her torture. In the forest, he works on a wooden art piece carved with crude tools he makes himself. Nadia grows closer to 6 and begins to trust him. She explains that she’s Estonian, and she was assigned to study the Village before she was captured. According to Nadia, they are in Lithuania off the Baltic Sea. No.6 promises to get them out of the Village and into London, where she can finally hear her beloved “Chimes of Big Bill.” (“Big Ben,” No.6 corrects her.) No.6 wins first prize in the Arts & Crafts Expo and uses his winnings to purchase one of the other artists’ entries: a canvas of No. 2 which 6 promises to hang in his home. Instead, he uses it as a sail, converting his abstract art piece into a boat, and he and Nadia shove off under cover of darkness. They escape Rover, and with the help of one of Nadia’s Polish contacts – who gives No.6 a watch to synchronize their timetables – they ship themselves in a crate through Copenhagen to London. When the crate is opened, they are in the office of Fotheringay (Richard Wattis) and “Colonel J” (Kevin Stoney), No.6’s former associates in the agency for which he worked. After Nadia is led away, the Colonel expresses great skepticism about Nadia and the existence of the Village. He questions him as to why he resigned. No.6 is about to give his reasons when he realizes that Big Ben has chimed the time showing on his watch – 8:00 – despite the fact that there should be a one-hour difference since his watch is on Polish time. No.6 discovers that the sounds of street traffic are not coming from outside, but a speaker in the cupboard. He walks out the front door, where the Village is waiting for him. In the Green Dome, No.2 congratulates Nadia on her work, and she promises to issue a positive report as she departs.

Leo McKern as No.2, accompanied by the Butler (Angelo Muscat).

OBSERVATIONS

“The Chimes of Big Ben” is a justly lauded episode of The Prisoner, featuring delightful sparring between the well-matched McGoohan and McKern and a satisfying and clever script by TV veteran Vincent Tilsey. There’s even a nice diversion into satire, with the target being the art world. All the Villagers create representations of McKern’s recognizable face and profile: as a giant Roman coin, as sketches and paintings, or as the King in a chess set. Only No.6 chooses to create something abstract, which baffles but impresses the art committee selected to assign prizes. (“There’s only one thing I don’t understand,” says one of the critics. “Where’s No.2?”) The episode keeps things rather light – despite another disturbing Hospital scene – thanks to McKern, whose teddy bear looks and boisterous laughter are the perfect complement to McGoohan’s intense, sardonic, and arch portrayal of the Prisoner. (In a typical moment McGoohan will mutter something obstinate, and McKern will roar with laughter. This never gets old. I could watch it for days.) McGoohan must have taken note that something special was happening, since he invited McKern back for “Once Upon a Time” (which began production soon after this one); and then, some time later, for “Fall Out.” McKern appeared as No.2 more than any other actor in the series. (The runner-up is Colin Gordon, who played the role twice.)

No.6 (Patrick McGoohan) returns, apparently, to his London office.

McGoohan didn’t want romance in either The Prisoner or Danger Man, but despite his efforts – and the marked resistance of No.6 – this is the most romantic episode of the series. The relationship between 6 and Nadia begins with mutual distrust, then slowly moves toward mutual respect: two intelligence experts collaborating to escape the Village. In Checkmate, No.6 had to do the heavy lifting himself, despite the assistance of some other prisoners. With Nadia he has an equal, not to mention someone who knows where the Village is. Although I’m sure most people think of the great “chimes of Big Ben” reveal when they think of this episode, for me the standout scene is No.6 and Nadia sharing a claustrophobic crate, their bodies separated by a thin wall, Nadia flirting with No.6 and No.6 just barely indulging her. It’s about as warm as The Prisoner ever gets. But all this warmth – McKern the teddy bear laughing; Nadia calling No.6 “Big Ben” and asking if he’s engaged to anyone – is all setting us up for one shocker of a climax, when No.6 realizes that he is just as alone as ever. Not only has No.2 pretended to be the dunce while expertly outwitting him (if only Big Ben hadn’t chimed, of course), but Nadia is not really Nadia. Isn’t it amazing that this series ever made it to air? Episode after episode, the viewer is punched in the gut. No.6 loses and loses and loses. But despite all this, The Chimes of Big Ben is entertaining from start to finish; the viewer might be gut-punched by the final moments, but they’ll come back for more from this eccentric series.

No.6 plots in public with Nadia (Nadia Gray).

NUMEROLOGY

In “Arrival,” No.6 played chess at the Old People’s Home with the Admiral, No. 66. Now he plays chess with the corpulent “Old General” (as the script refers to him), No.54. It’s unclear what happened to No.66, nor why he wasn’t brought back for this episode. One thing’s certain: the Old General is a jerk. First he lectures No.6 for not giving in to the Village, then, at the Arts & Crafts expo, he tells him he doesn’t like his art. But No.6 is polite to the last, and compliments his chess set, with its King carved in the likeness of No.2.

Nadia is No.8. You might remember that the Queen from “Checkmate” was also No.8. An explanation seems to arrive when No.2 says that the former No.8 is no longer here, refusing to give details despite No.6’s persistence. But the former No.8 was apparently a “he,” so it’s not the same one we met. If we’re going to take this detail seriously, then something mysterious happened to the Queen after “Checkmate,” she was replaced by a man, and he either escaped or was killed – and then Nadia arrived. Yes, one has to work overtime to explain why the prop department kept reissuing the same number badges while the continuity person took a holiday.

No.6 explains his art project, “Escape,” at the Arts and Crafts Exposition.

SEQUENCE

“The Chimes of Big Ben” aired second in the U.K., but it resists that chronology. When Nadia arrives, No.2 says, “It’s like old times, No.6. Do you remember your first day?” Given that so many episodes exist in which he says he’s newly arrived, this one should be pushed back a bit from the premiere. It was, as it’s presented in my sequence, the fifth episode to go into production. This is a good spot for it, particularly after the downbeat-all-over “Dance of the Dead.” The light comic tone is refreshing, and, for the first time, No.6 actually breaks free of the Village border and apparently makes it back to London. Of course, he hasn’t really, but it’s genuinely exciting after four episodes of no progress.

THE VILLAGE

After this episode is over we realize we can’t trust the information we’ve been given, but for what it’s worth, according to Nadia they are in Lithuania, on the Baltic, 30 miles from the Polish border. No.6 is surprised that his superior, Colonel J, hasn’t heard of the Village. We soon see that not only have Colonel J and Fotheringay heard of the Village, but they are employed by it. Its insidious reach extends everywhere. There’s an intriguing exchange between No.2 and No.6 regarding the nature of the Village, which places everything in Cold War terms:

No.6: Has it ever occurred to you that you’re just as much a prisoner as I am?
No.2: [laughs] My dear chap, of course, I know too much. We’re both lifers. I am definitely an optimist. That’s why it doesn’t matter who No.1 is. It doesn’t matter which side runs the village.
No.6: It’s run by one side or the other.
No.2: Oh certainly. But both sides are becoming identical, what in fact has been created [is] an international community, a perfect blueprint for world order. When the sides facing each other suddenly realize they’re looking in a mirror they’ll see that this is the pattern for the future.
No.6: The whole Earth as the Village?
No.2: That is my hope. What’s yours?
No.6: I’d like to be the first man on the Moon.

The original script has a bit more of No.2’s thoughts here. He says, “Nationalism’s a disease but it breeds its own antibodies…This place has been built from the very worst nationalistic motives. But what has been created? An international community…” etc.

METHODOLOGY

Once again we have No.2 expressing the desire to keep No.6 intact and use more subtle means to learn his secrets. He may want to break him, but “I don’t want a man of fragments,” he says. Instead he enacts what is surely one of the most complicated plots in the series, and it very nearly works – which is why No.1 reassigns him to the case in “Once Upon a Time.”

Peter Swanwick as the Supervisor.

THE SUPERVISOR

One of the few recurring roles in The Prisoner goes to Peter Swanwick as the bald, impassive, turtleneck-wearing Supervisor. The Supervisor stands in the center of the Control Room with its see-saw camera-watching contraption rotating beside him, a map of the Village splayed out in 360 degrees, and a large screen showing him what No.6 is up to now. He’s the one who intones, “Orange alert. Orange alert,” often with a phone in hand. He gives a slight smile in “The Chimes of Big Ben” when he sees that No.6 has escaped on a boat with Nadia: one of the few clues that this is all part of No.2’s plan. He serves many No.2’s, but one gets the feeling that his true master is No.1 – the only constant authority in the Village. He is the living embodiment of ubiquitous Village security, and he’s the one who unleashes Rover. Swanwick was born in 1922 and died in 1968, the year The Prisoner ended. Among his film credits are The African Queen (1951) and one of the best Hammer films, The Devil Rides Out (1968), where he played one of the cultists.

ROVER

To carry the swimming Nadia back to shore, Rover seems to split into three Rovers – one big, two small. Later on, we see Nadia’s Polish contact shooting a rifle at Rover. This, at last, seems to deter the thing.

The original ending credits tag for “The Prisoner” is glimpsed in the early edit of “The Chimes of Big Ben.”

ALTERNATE “CHIMES”

Many years ago an alternate, early edit of “The Chimes of Big Ben” was discovered, which contains a handful of surprising differences from the final cut. (Another rough cut of an episode, for “Arrival,” was discovered later.) The opening credits contain the rejected theme music of Wilfred Josephs. As No.6 drives his car to his office to resign, there is no music at all, just the sound of thunder. Then it kicks in, a bizarre, almost avant-garde piece of discordant, dizzying music. During the opening credits dialogue exchange between No.6 and No.2, we see a few rare shots of No.6 assaulted by Rover that are not in the final edit of this montage. Early in the episode, No.6 is seen observing the stars using a Greek device called the Triquetrum, which he hopes will tell him where the Village is located. The view of the night sky was actually “borrowed” from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), as Kubrick was filming at the same studio; Kubrick wasn’t aware that the shot had been loaned out to The Prisoner. But the most eye-opening change is the end credits. After the penny-farthing has been assembled (the standard component of this sequence), the wheels become the Earth and the Universe. The Universe fills the background, the Earth spins toward the viewer, and just as it obscures the frame, a red circle with the word “POP” leaps at us. The meaning of “POP” will come much later in the series, but this seems to have been intended as a bit of coded symbolism from the mischievous McGoohan – something deemed too bizarre for the final cut, which substituted the overused shot of Rover “popping” out of the sea.

WIN OR LOSE?

No.6 loses just as he’s thought he’s won. His silence in the final scene speaks volumes.

QUOTES

No.2: He can make even the act of putting on his dressing gown appear as a gesture of defiance.
Assistant: There are methods we haven’t used yet, of course.
No.2: I want him with a whole heart, body and soul.

No.2: And here he is, our very own Epstein.
No.6: Can I help?
Awards Committee Member: We’re not quite sure what it means.
No.6: It means what it is.
No.2: Brilliant. It means what it is. Brilliant. Oh no, you mustn’t let me influence you. You are the awards committee.
Awards Committee Member 2: What puzzled me, No.6, is the fact that you’ve given the group a title. “Escape.”
No.6: This piece, what does it represent to you?
Awards Committee Member 3: A church door?
No.6: Right the first time.

No.6: I risked my life and hers to come back here, home, because I thought it was different. It is, isn’t it? It’s different?!

Colonel J: Let’s start at square one. Why did you resign?
No.6: It was a matter of conscience.

UP NEXT: THE SCHIZOID MAN

No.6 with the Triquetrum in a deleted scene.

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The Prisoner: Dance of the Dead (1967)

Posted on May 13, 2017 at 3:57 pm by Jeff Kuykendall

DANCE OF THE DEAD First UK Broadcast: November 17, 1967 [episode #8 in transmission order] | Written by Anthony Skene | Directed by Don Chaffey

SYNOPSIS

The nights of No.6 are spent undergoing extreme experiments on his mind by a doctor in the Hospital, No.40 (Duncan Macrae), with the goal of extracting the reason for his resignation. But the new No.2 (Mary Morris) wants to take a more subtle approach. She makes preparations for a costume-themed Carnival at the Town Hall and encourages No.6 to pick a date. He ignores her suggestions and settles on a young woman, No. 240 (Norma West), who has actually been assigned as his “observer” and feels her cover is blown. No.6 also forms a bond with a stray black cat. One day he discovers a dead body washed up on the beach with a small radio in his pocket. No.6 steals the radio and listens to transmissions in different languages, but his observer and No.2 catch him with it. Later he sends the body off in a life preserver, bundling with it information about the Village – including his own hand-drawn map and his ID card – hoping that it will lead to rescue. Just as he shoves the body off, he discovers his old friend Roland Walter Dutton (Alan White), who has been held prisoner in the Village for much longer than No.6, and has been given 72 hours’ freedom for a chance to reconsider a chance for peaceful conformity in the Village before he “ceases to exist.” No.6 attends the Carnival dressed in the costume given him by No.2 – his own suit. She is dressed as Peter Pan, his maid (Denise Buckley) as Queen Elizabeth, the doctor as Napoleon, his observer as Little Bo Peep, and the town crier (Aubrey Morris of A Clockwork Orange) as a Roman emperor. While sneaking around the Town Hall, No.6 discovers that Dutton has been sentenced to death. No.2 discovers him and escorts him back to the Carnival where she puts him on trial to answer to his nonconformity. The sentence is “death”: the outside world will be given evidence that he died in an accident at sea. Bo Peep testifies against him, and Queen Elizabeth, Napoleon, and the Roman Emperor serve as his judges. No.6 calls as his witness Dutton, but the man brought before him has been reduced to a vegetable and dressed as the Fool, waving a white balloon on a stick. The Prisoner’s identity is processed for termination on a telex machine that continues to function even after he has ripped out its circuitry.

No.6 (Patrick McGoohan) is confronted by Peter Pan and his shadow – or, rather, No.2 (Mary Morris), costumed for Carnival.

OBSERVATIONS

I always find “Dance of the Dead” one of the most pleasurable episodes to watch – which maybe says something about me. It’s downbeat and cynical, featuring a No.6 whose morale is at a low ebb. There is little action and the stakes are mostly abstract. It’s not an episode that most Prisoner fans cite as one of their favorites, but it’s one of mine. There is something in its melancholy tone and increasingly surreal atmosphere that I find mesmerizing; I also appreciate that it is one of the few Prisoner episodes which takes a pause from the usual frantic pace, lingering in the Village (with lots of Portmeirion location shooting), observing its sinister and strange workings. Some of its imagery is quite beautiful, like the sunset walk on the beach where No.6 meets No.2 dressed as Peter Pan, her shadow extending behind her as in a storybook illustration. But “Dance of the Dead” is a downer, completely lacking the usual comic touches. Morris, a distinguished theater veteran with numerous TV credits, makes an excellent No.2, one of the few females to occupy the office in the series’ run. She holds her own with confidence, biding her time before making her move against No.6’s iron will with the revelation of poor Dutton’s fate, and letting No.6 know that he no longer has a life to go back to. Both Dutton and 6 are the “dead” of the title, and this Carnival might as well be the ball from “The Masque of the Red Death.” In The Prisoner, death is losing one’s sense of self. When No.6 asks 2 “Why haven’t I got a costume?” she casually responds, “Perhaps because you don’t exist.” This is her goal: to convince No.6 that the personal identity to which he clings is worthless, because he’s already a dead man walking – as the disabled but still-running computer demonstrates.

The three judges who hold No.6’s fate: Queen Elizabeth (Denise Buckley), the Emperor (Aubrey Morris), and Napoleon (Duncan Macrae).

SEQUENCE

There are compelling reasons to place this second in episode order, even though I have it at #4. Anthony Skene, who also wrote the classic Prisoner episodes “A. B. & C.” and “Many Happy Returns,” believed he was writing the second episode of the series, but so did the writers of “Free for All” and “Checkmate” (McGoohan and Gerald Kelsey). No.6 announces to his maid, “I’m new here,” so there should be no dispute that it ought to be earlier than its original placement by transmission date (#8). We can check off the arguments to place this episode second: there are discussions of the Village as a democracy, a satirical idea which will be further explored (and pretty definitively concluded) in “Free for All”; No.6 states that he no longer has nights (due to the nocturnal experiments conducted on him by the Hospital), though in “Checkmate” he slinks about after curfew; although No.6 visits the Town Hall in “Free for All,” here it’s given a conspicuous introduction when No.6 is blocked from entering by an invisible force, and a Villager explains to him that the Town Hall “is fussy about who it lets in.” But we can write our own justifications to these arguments. To the last point, it’s possible that No.6 thinks he can just walk into the Town Hall because he’s allowed to do so in “Free for All” (he’s shepherded inside by Rover).

The Doctor (Duncan Macrae) oversees a dangerous experiment on No.6.

But production order might help here; it was fourth to be filmed, and pushed back when McGoohan was dissatisfied by the result. It appears there were some arguments over how the story and various scenes should be handled. McGoohan wanted to remove more intimate scenes between his character and Norma West’s. (As it is, her cleavage-sporting Bo Peep costume remains the sauciest thing in a series which staunch Catholic McGoohan insisted not be sexy.) In Robert Fairclough’s 2002 book The Prisoner, he writes of the original scripted ending: “The story should have ended with the Prisoner acknowledging his death in the outside world, and saying that ‘being dead does have its advantages.’ He would then smash the telex machine with an ash tray, and join in a frantic dance with Bo Peep – requiring more close shots with West – and the rest of the Villagers, making the meaning of the story’s title explicit. This final sequence was never shot; as a result, the original edit under ran by several minutes.” The episode was rescued much later by film editor John S. Smith, who was able to piece together a full hour that pleased McGoohan.

Norma West as No.6’s observer and accuser, Little Bo Peep.

In addition, from a storytelling and pacing perspective, “Dance of the Dead” places well at this point in the series. No.6’s only attempt to escape is essentially a message-in-a-bottle – pretty tepid, considering that No.6 is defined by his aggressive defiance. By placing it after “Checkmate,” we know that No.6 has just made a grand effort to escape, only to see it fall apart. “Dance of the Dead,” then, finds him stewing and taking stock of his situation – he is passive for most of this episode. No.6 mentions that he goes through maids quickly, so it helps to have “Free for All” earlier in the mix, since it also include a temporary maid. Stylistically, the episode is more outlandish than “Checkmate,” something closer to the extremes of “Free for All” – thus, “Checkmate” acts to separate those two episodes so that one doesn’t think The Prisoner is all about surrealism. And there is so little action and conflict in the melancholy “Dance of the Dead” (no fisticuffs at all!) that to place it second gets the series off to an awkward start; it’s possible this is why it was it was pushed to fourth in the production schedule, and possibly another reason why it aired so late.

No.6 is outpaced by Rover.

THE VILLAGE

We learn a bit more about the Village, but it only adds to the mystery. No.240, the observer, says, “This place has been going for a long time.” No.6 belligerently replies, “Since the war? Before the war? Which war?” She only answers, “A long time.” We also discover how the legal system works: three judges are assigned a person’s fate. Indeed, the climax of this episode can rate as the strangest courtroom drama to ever air on television.

PROPAGANDA

No.240 repeats a mantra from the Labour Exchange in “Arrival,” “Questions are a burden to others, answers a prison for oneself.”

THE BLACK CAT

The stray cat which No.6 befriends appears in two episodes of the series, both written by Skene; the other is “Many Happy Returns.” His maid, No.54, says, “We’re not allowed animals. It’s a rule.” But later it’s revealed that the cat belongs to No.2. “She works here too,” No.2 says of the cat. “She’s very efficient. Almost ruthless.” No.6 takes this news poorly: “Never trust a woman. Even the four-legged variety.”

METHODOLOGY

The Hospital subjects No.6 to life-threatening treatments nightly, trying to force him to give up his secrets with a crown of electrodes on his head. No.2 disapproves. As stated again and again in the series, No.2 doesn’t want to damage such an important subject. Her method is to attack No.6’s sense of hope. Like the female No.2 at the end of “Free for All,” she is more interested in bringing him low than getting information. After all, we’re still in the early stage of his internment.

WIN OR LOSE?

He loses – again, pretty badly. It will be some time before he can begin to turn the tide…

QUOTES

No 40: I’ll take responsibility. If we wait for orders, we’ll never get results.

No.2: We’re promised a cabaret this year. You’ll come?
No.6: I have a choice?
No.2: You do as you want.
No.6: As long as it is what you want.
No.2: As long as it is what the majority wants. We’re democratic. In some ways.

Town Crier: There will be music, happiness, dancing, all at the Carnival – by order.

No.24, on seeing No.6’s costume is his standard suit: What does that mean?
No.6: That I’m still – myself.

No.240, the Observer, learns of the death of one of the prisoners she’s been assigned to watch: Dead?…I got to know him quite well.
Supervisor: He didn’t know you, did he?

UP NEXT: THE CHIMES OF BIG BEN

Production Christmas card from 1967.

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