Did You Know?

Leo McKern and Colin Gordon are the only actors to play Number Two more than once: McKern in "The Chimes of Big Ben", "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out", Gordon in "A. B. and C." and "The General".

Patrick McGoohan would have liked to limit the programme to seven episodes, but there was no chance that ITC executive Sir Lew Grade would back such a short run, so he reluctantly agreed to make two "series" of thirteen each. The first was to end with "Degree Absolute" (later re-titled "Once Upon A Time", when it was decided to make it the first half of a two-part finale). When the point in time came when the entire run was supposed to be in the can and only the first thirteen episodes actually were, Grade pulled the plug (or, according to some, McGoohan told him that the premise wouldn't yield another thirteen stories). Eventually, Grade was convinced to allow four more episodes to be made, including a finale, but with the proviso that production continue uninterrupted. Many of the crew were committed to other projects (script editor George Markstein's departure is attributed to a falling out with McGoohan, but as he left at the exact same time as all the others, this is debatable), including McGoohan himself, who co-starred in the Hollywood movie, Ice Station Zebra. For filming to be able to continue in his absence, "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling", with The Prisoner's mind transferred to another man's body, was concocted, and replacements for departed crew members were found. After the star returned from America, shot his ending speech and a few insert shots for "Darling," and the episodes "Living In Harmony" and "The Girl Who Was Death," he then confessed to Grade that he had no ideas for the finish (he knew only that he wanted no conventional "James Bond" type finale, such as one suggestion, allegedly from Markstein before he quit, that Number One turn out to be The Butler). Grade replied that the actor was obligated to come up with something. McGoohan locked himself away for most of the next week and wrote, "Fall Out" while the two episodes from the abandoned final season of "Danger Man" ("Koroshi" and "Shinda Shima") later reedited into a feature film, Koroshi preempted "The Prisoner" for two weeks to buy him the needed time. Actor Kenneth Griffith, who plays The President in the final episode, has repeatedly claimed that he was asked to write his own speech (singular his). As the character talks only in speeches, this is less than clear, but at least Griffith specified that his point was how pressed for time McGoohan was.

"Rover", the menacing white balloon that acts as a surreal sentry in The Village, was supposed to have been a large robotic machine. During the filming of the first episode, it was supposed to travel across water on a pair of rails hidden under the surface. The machine fell off the rails and into the water, damaging the motors inside. Just then, a weather balloon passed by, and Patrick McGoohan came upon the idea of "Rover" being a large white balloon that traveled by itself. The reason the cast stands still as Rover wanders past is because the balloon is being pulled by a wire. The shots were then run backwards, and edited into the film (In one episode, smoke can be seen drifting back into a chimney in the distance as Rover passes by).

Patrick McGoohan was adamant that Number Six not become romantically involved with anyone on the series (carrying over a policy he put in place for his John Drake character in Danger Man). Nonetheless, writers tried to pair Number Six up with female leads on a few occasions, only to have their efforts vetoed by Patrick McGoohan. The characters played by Nadia Gray in "Chimes of Big Ben" and Angela Browne in "A Change of Mind" were both written as love interests for Number Six, and there was reportedly a bed scene written for "Chimes" but McGoohan would have none of it. The closest Number Six comes to romance is in his friendship/simpatico with Alison in "The Schizoid Man" and in the character of an observer who falls in love with him in "Dance of the Dead."

Patrick McGoohan and "Number 6" were both born on the same day, 19 March 1928 according to the episode Arrival.

There is much debate over the proper order in which the episodes should be viewed, as neither ITV in Britain nor CBS in the US originally broadcast the episodes in production order. The A&E DVD release in 2001 placed the episodes in what it described as the "fan-preferred" order (though this is open for debate). The episode viewing order suggested by A&E is as follows: 1. Arrival 2. Free for All 3. Dance of the Dead 4. Checkmate 5. Chimes of Big Ben 6. A, B and C 7. The General 8. The Schizoid Man 9. Many Happy Returns 10. It's Your Funeral 11. A Change of Mind 12. Hammer Into Anvil 13. Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling 14. Living in Harmony 15. The Girl Who Was Death 16. Once Upon a Time 17. Fall Out

The building in Portmeirion shown as Number Six's house in the series became a gift shop selling Prisoner-related merchandise.

Only two actors played Number Two more than once: Leo McKern in "Chimes of Big Ben," "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out"; and Colin Gordon in "The General" and "A, B and C." Several other actors who played Number Two also appeared in other roles in the series (e.g. Kenneth Griffith as No. 2 in "Girl Who Was Death" and as The Judge in "Fall Out.").

Both Brian Cox, and Clough Williams-Ellis - creator of Portmeirion - worked on the series as extras.

Ranked #7 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).

In order to create their characteristic movement, the Rovers were filled with a mixture of air, helium and water.

The 1967 world television premiere of the series was actually in Canada (on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation-CBC) - shortly before the UK airing.

Leo McKern, Colin Gordon, Mary Morris and Peter Wyngarde are the only Number Twos to have their voices on the introduction piece featuring the questioning of Number Six. The other "standard" voice(s) of Number Two was supplied by 'Robert Rietty (I)'.

According to script editor and co-creator George Markstein, Number Six resigned from his position after discovering files indicating the existence of the Village. The Village was an idea Number Six had submitted to his superiors many years before but had since decided was monstrously inhuman.

Patrick McGoohan was so averse to on-screen romance that in the scenes in "Chimes of Big Ben" when he has his arm around Nadia and is stroking her hair, it is actually McGoohan's own daughter in a wig.

During its premier run in the Winter of 1967, filming had got so far behind schedule that TV stations in the UK ran out of episodes to show and some opted to show the two (then unseen) last episodes of Danger Man. This of course confused the public even more.

No 6 gives his birthdate and time as 4.31 am, 19th March, 1928 - which is exactly the same as Patrick McGoohan's.

The Village pub is called "The Cat and Mouse". It is only seen in "Free for All", however.

The numeral 7 never appears in the Village, either on its own, or in another number. Although we see No 2 and No 6, the characters No 3, No 4 and No 5 never appear (if they exist).

Signs with "Residents Only" and "Private, Residents Only", feature regularly in the series, written on walls and even on the grass. These may be "artefacts" from Portmeirion (which is a hotel in real life), however, they are something an in-joke, since everyone in the Village is by definition a "resident" anyway.

The hand signal used by villagers is supposedly identical to one used by early Christians to represent a fish.

The true name of the Prisoner/Number Six is not revealed. A few names are attached to him in the series, but it is never verified whether any of them are real: In The Prisoner: Many Happy Returns he identifies himself as Peter Smith; in The Prisoner: Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling, it is revealed that he possesses several code names: Schmidt, Duval, and ZM-73.

The resort village of Portmeirion in North Wales, which was used as "The Village," was not credited until the beginning of the final episode.

While most Number Twos are male, during the course of the series we see at least four women in the position ("Dance of the Dead", "Free for All", "Many Happy Returns" and a female Number Two is seen very briefly in "It's Your Funeral").