r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • 1d ago
r/ThePrisoner • u/El_Topo_54 • May 04 '25
Well Come to the r/ThePrisoner Wiki
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r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • May 01 '25
Episode Viewing Orders
**6 Of 1**
Endorsed by Six of One, The Prisoner Appreciation Society, and used for the A&E DVDs. The UK Sci Fi Channel marathon used a similar order, but with "Dance of the Dead" preceding "Free for All", and "The General" preceding "A. B. and C.".
Arrival
Free For All
Dance Of The Dead
Checkmate
The Chimes of Big Ben
A. B. and C.
The General
The Schizoid Man
Many Happy Returns
It's Your Funeral
A Change of Mind
Hammer Into Anvil
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Living in Harmony
The Girl Who Was Death
Once Upon A Time
Fall Out
**'What Really Counts'**
The original scope imagined by series creator Patrick McGoohan.
Arrival
Free For All
Dance of the Dead
Checkmate
The Chimes of Big Ben
Once Upon A Time
Fall Out
**KTEH**
Arranged by Scott Apel for KTEH channel 54, a PBS member station in San Jose, California.
Arrival
Dance Of The Dead
Checkmate
The Chimes of Big Ben
Free For All
Many Happy Returns
The Schizoid Man
The General
A. B. and C.
Living in Harmony
It's Your Funeral
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
A Change Of Mind
Hammer Into Anvil
The Girl Who Was Death
Once Upon A Time
Fall Out
**US**
Original US Broadcast order, and ongoing since the first showing on CBS in 1968. The original broadcast omitted "Living in Harmony", but the episode was reinstated in following re-airings.
Arrival
The Chimes of Big Ben
A. B. and C.
Free For All
The Schizoid Man
The General
Many Happy Returns
Dance of the Dead
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
It's Your Funeral
Checkmate
Living in Harmony
A Change of Mind
Hammer into Anvil
The Girl Who Was Death
Once Upon A Time
Fall Out
**ITC**
Original UK broadcast order, and for all UK DVD and Blu-ray releases including the 2007 official 40th anniversary and 2017 official 50th anniversary Network DVD and Blu-ray releases.
Arrival
The Chimes of Big Ben
A. B. and 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
**ITC 'storyinf'**
The episodes as listed with synopses in a period ITC booklet titled Story Information, archived as storyinf.pdf on disc 5 of the 2009 Blu-ray set. This also gives the first episode title as "The Arrival".
(The) Arrival
Many Happy Returns
A. B. and C.
The Schizoid Man
Free For All
Checkmate
The Chimes of Big Ben
The General
It's Your Funeral
Hammer Into Anvil
A Change Of Mind
Dance of The Dead
The Girl Who Was Death
Living in Harmony
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Once Upon A Time
Fall Out
**AV Club**
After viewing in the KTEH order, the personal arrangement of Zack Handlen of the website The A.V. Club.
Arrival
Dance Of The Dead
Free For All
Checkmate
The Chimes of Big Ben
The Schizoid Man
The General
A. B. and C.
It's Your Funeral
Many Happy Returns
A Change of Mind
Hammer into Anvil
Living in Harmony
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
The Girl Who Was Death
Once Upon a Time
Fall Out
**Gigacorp**
The recommended viewing order from the fansite The Prisoner U.S. Home Page.
Arrival
Dance of The Dead
Free For All
The Chimes of Big Ben
Checkmate
The General
A. B. and C.
The Schizoid Man
Many Happy Returns
Living in Harmony
A Change Of Mind
Hammer Into Anvil
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
It's Your Funeral
The Girl Who Was Death
Once Upon A Time
Fall Out
**Production**
The chronological studio production order. (This is not an intended viewing order)
Arrival
Free For All
Checkmate
Dance of the Dead
The Chimes of Big Ben
Once Upon A Time
The Schizoid Man
It's Your Funeral
A Change Of Mind
A. B. and C.
The General
Hammer Into Anvil
Many Happy Returns
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Living in Harmony
The Girl Who Was Death
Fall Out
CapForShort
Here’s where I am.
In my headcanon, MHR is a dream P has during TCOBB. It can be watched before TCOBB, during TCOBB (about 14:24 on the Blu Ray), or as a special feature apart from the other 16.
Here’s how I order the other 16:
Arrival
Dance of the Dead
Checkmate
Free for All
A Change of Mind
It’s Your Funeral
Hammer Into Anvil
The Chimes of Big Ben
The Girl Who Was Death
The Schizoid Man
The General
A. B. and C.
Living in Harmony
Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling
Once Upon a Time
Fall Out
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • 1d ago
Series 1, No. 14; Living In Harmony
In what PMG has described as a 'filler' episode (more below), we have this oddball episode where the main character appears as a sheriff in a western town in the US. He does the same act or resigning and leaving, only to be captured and brought back to a town named Harmony.
A deal is reached for him to return as Sheriff, but when he refuses to wear a gun, the deal goes south.
Eventually, we find that Harmony is an annex of the Village, the Judge is Number 2, and his friend Kathy is Number 22.
https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/Living_in_Harmony_(1967_episode)
Two points.
One, this episode did not air in the original series on CBS. They refused to air it due to his refusal to carry a weapon thinking it was a protest against US involvement in Southeast Asia. At the time, late 1960s, protests against Viet Nam were at a fever pitch.
Second, this episode was apparently never intended to exist at all, along with 9 others. The story in this linked Fandom indicates PMG only intended for seven total episodes. Producers wanted a full 26 to go along with a typical US season. They settled on 17 which required 10 'filler' episodes.
Ture? Chime in below.
r/ThePrisoner • u/HeavenFieldRecords • 8d ago
Library Music from The Prisoner, Robert Farnon- Industrial Vortex 1956
I spend a lot of time exploring and listening to old library records. At first, I was just intrigued by the title of this track, so I looked into the music and discovered it was used in The Prisoner, Episode 1 – “Arrival.”
It’s an old 78rpm 10" record on Chappell Recorded Music, catalog number C.529. I thought the full-length version, taken directly from the 1956 vinyl release, might be of interest to this community, so I’ve shared a link below.
The recording is now catalogued on Discogs, along with a few other 10-inch 78rpm library records that featured music used in the series that i came across.
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • 8d ago
Series 1, No. 13; Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Produced after Many Happy Returns and before Living in Harmony, while Patrick McGoohan was in America filming Ice Station Zebra, a workaround to McGoohan's absence was accomplished by the writers who contrived to have Number Six's mind implanted in the body of another man (Nigel Stock), who is then sent out of the Village to help capture a scientist
A man referred to only as "Colonel" arrives at the Village and only then learns from a new Number 2 that his mission is to trade bodies with Number Six, using Seltzman's system. Number Six had been the last agent to have contact with Seltzman. After the swap, Number Six (now in the Colonel's body, and retaining only his pre-Village memories) awakens in his old London apartment and soon sees an unfamiliar face in his mirror. His fiancée arrives and, of course, fails to recognise him. He prudently restrains himself from enlightening her. Despite the shock, he realises what has been done to him, maintains his cool, and sets about to regain his own body.
https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/Do_Not_Forsake_Me_Oh_My_Darling_(1967_episode)
With episodes being shot and aired out of sequence and fill ins used, I can see why there is a debate over episode order.
r/ThePrisoner • u/FamousLastWords666 • 9d ago
'In My Mind' (2017) is streaming on Tubi.
A 50th anniversary celebration of the classic British mystery series The Prisoner and an award-winning director’s 1983 mission to interview its star.
r/ThePrisoner • u/Squeepty • 9d ago
The Prisoner Trivia Challenge (ITC / D.K.Sansom 1994) - Update: Preserved!
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I managed to access the original 3.5" floppy disk content.
https://github.com/squeepty/The-Prisoner-British-TV-Show-Trivia
r/ThePrisoner • u/Squeepty • 11d ago
The Prisoner Trivia Challenge for IBM PC, (c) D.K. Sansom. I do not recall how I got my hands on this one, probably in the 90s.
Does anyone remember playing this on PC, or how it was made ? I could not get a good reference online, I guess I would need a floppy drive to preserve the game...
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • 15d ago
Series 1, No. 12; A Change of Mind
No.6 is declared 'Unmutual' for choosing to do things his own way and scheduled for a Social Conversion process.
What is No. 86's true intention? How does she become part of No.6's latest plan to discredit No. 2?
How does 'self criticism' play into the show and the real world.?
https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/A_Change_of_Mind_(1967_episode)
r/ThePrisoner • u/PineconeKicker • 20d ago
Does anything hold a candle to The Prisoner?
As someone who was born in the 90s, I was lucky enough to have a mother that introduced me to The Prisoner. Having seen a fair share of TV series and movies since, I'm left feeling that there's nothing that truly matches the creativity or vision of Patrick McGoohan's creation.
The closest I can think of is Twin Peaks - at least insofar as it follows a single visionary (Cooper) solving and rebelling against the world around him. Admittedly that's still a very limited comparison.
Is there anything out there that compares to The Prisoner as a piece of media that speaks to the issues of society, control, and selfhood in the same way The Prisoner does? Curious to hear what everyone's recommendations would be.
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • 22d ago
Series 1, No. 11; It's Your Funeral
Which No. 2 will prevail in an assassination plot?
Who are the Jammers? Is No. 6 considered to be one? Will his cautions be heeded?
No. 2 seems to be worried about a pension and if he'll be able to collect.
(Did someone on the production crew forget to remove the Welsh flag before filming?)
https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/It%27s_Your_Funeral_(1967_episode)
r/ThePrisoner • u/TwirlipoftheMists • 28d ago
Morning in The Village
Morning in The Village. July. Leica M6, 35/2 Summicron, Kodak Ektachrome.
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • 29d ago
[RESOURCE] The Prisoner: the complete screenplays for the cult sixties TV show
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • 29d ago
Series 1, No. 10; Hammer into Anvil
After a frightened No. 73 leaps to her death as a result of No. 2's interrogation, No. 6 vows results.
A game of minds ensures. Who is leading who to where. Which is the hammer and which the anvil? Bits of nothing are left lying about, or are they something?
A clock or ?
Once No 2 is convinced things are not as they appear, what will be left for him to do?
https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/Hammer_into_Anvil_(1967_episode)
r/ThePrisoner • u/theprisoner57 • 29d ago
Commentary by a University Professor
While in college several decades ago my friends and I watched ‘The Prisoner’ on PBS. Each episode was followed by a half-hour commentary by a college professor (university of Toronto, perhaps?). Does anyone else remember this? Are those segments still available for viewing?
r/ThePrisoner • u/craigjclark68 • Jul 27 '26
Alex Cox on THE PRISONER: The Genius of Patrick McGoohan
Alex Cox, author of I Am (Not) a Number: Decoding The Prisoner discusses the show. This is the first of new YouTube-exclusive series of five introductions to The Prisoner on Criterion's YT Channel.
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • Jul 27 '26
Series 1, No. 9; Checkmate
As No. 6 is enticed to be a pawn in a game of chess, questions develop as to who is a prisoner, who is a guardian and who can tell which is which.
"Checkmate" received the highest viewership of any of the series' episodes on its first UK broadcast.
r/ThePrisoner • u/slickbackbillyboo • Jul 27 '26
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Doing a rewatch on Criterion, it's great to be back in the village!
One really does forget how great a job McGoohan does until you get to Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.
r/ThePrisoner • u/DRZARNAK • Jul 26 '26
Philip K Dick
Does anyone know if PKD watched the Prisoner or commented on it?
I know he wrote an episode proposal based on Mission Impossible, but the Prisoner with its themes of betrayal, subjective reality, and how imprisonment would seem exactly the type of show he’d respond to.
r/ThePrisoner • u/Tarnisher • Jul 20 '26
Series 1, No. 8; Dance of the Dead
A failed experiment with hypnosis, a black cat and a dead body play to be set adrift roles here. Added in are a Carnival, costumes, a court jester and kangaroo court, a teletype that thought to have been damaged comes to life again.
"Number Two wryly observes, "Then how very uncomfortable for you, old chap!""
https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/Dance_of_the_Dead_(1967_episode)
r/ThePrisoner • u/Phoenix_Wright_Guy • Jul 17 '26
Butchered Prisoner reference found in 4 year old Matt Rose video.
The moment I saw it I knew it was a prisoner reference, but the way he read it.
Also they have it flipped anyway, it should be I am not a number on the top.
This was in his video "Misspelled protest signs". (The name says it all)
r/ThePrisoner • u/JazzySmitty • Jul 16 '26
Re-re-rewatching my favorite episode.
Fully half of it with no dialogue.


