TV SERIES · 1967– · UK
The Prisoner
49 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (49)
- #001
The Prisoner was filmed over the course of a year at Portmeirion, a holiday village in North Wales. Patrick McGoohan was inspired to shoot his series there after filming several episodes of Danger Man (1960) in the village.
- #002
Rover, the menacing white balloon that serves as a surreal sentry in the Village, was originally meant to be a large robotic machine. During filming of the first episode it was to travel across the water on a pair of rails hidden beneath the surface. The machine fell off the rails into the water and its internal motors were damaged. Just then a weather balloon drifted past, and Patrick McGoohan hit on the idea of Rover being a large white balloon that moves on its own. The reason the actors stand motionless as Rover passes is that the balloon is pulled along by a wire. The footage was later played in reverse and edited into the film (in one episode, smoke can be seen drifting toward a distant chimney as Rover passes). An impressive piece of last-minute improvisation, Rover remains disturbingly menacing and convincingly futuristic as a sentry drone, while the series' environmental technology has visibly dated over the decades.
- #003
Peter Swanwick, who played the Supervisor, died before the series completed its first run in the United Kingdom. He is best remembered for his unusual pronunciation of "Orange Alert."
- #004
The Butler (played by the Maltese actor Angelo Muscat) never speaks and appears in more episodes than anyone other than Patrick McGoohan.
- #005
The series first aired on American television in 1968 as a summer replacement for Jackie Gleason's show.
- #006
Because neither ITV in Britain nor CBS in the United States originally broadcast the episodes in production order, there is much debate over the correct order in which to watch them. The 2001 A&E DVD release placed the episodes in what it described as the "fan-preferred" order (though this is open to dispute). A&E's suggested viewing order is: 1. Arrival 2. Free for All 3. Dance of the Dead 4. Checkmate 5. The 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.
- #007
McGoohan arranged for another actor to play Number Six in one episode (a mind-swap story) so that he could devote time to the film Ice Station Zebra (1968).
- #008
The bald man sitting behind the desk in the opening title sequence is the series' script editor and co-creator.
- #009
Number Six gives his date and time of birth as 4:31 a.m. on 19 March 1928, which is exactly the same as Patrick McGoohan's.
- #010
According to script editor and co-creator George Markstein, Number Six resigned from his post after discovering files revealing the existence of the Village. The Village was an idea Number Six had presented to his superiors years earlier but which had since been judged to be extremely inhumane.
- #011
Co-creator George Markstein later wrote a book about a real-life facility said to have been established during the Second World War in a remote part of Britain to protect people with sensitive information, similar to the Village (though not as sinister). The novel was titled "The Cooler."
- #012
Annette Andre made no secret of her intense dissatisfaction with working on The Prisoner. She hated the design of the sets and did not get along with Patrick McGoohan at all.
- #013
Although the villagers often carry umbrellas and weather forecasts can sometimes be heard, the only time rain is visible in the series is in "A., B. & C."
- #014
The costumes worn throughout the series are actually the sports uniforms of Mill Hill School in North London. While developing the series, Patrick McGoohan moved into a house opposite the school. The school had an eccentric selection of blazers and ties in its chocolate and white colors. One day he went into the school shop and ordered all of the items from the shopkeeper. While in the area he became friends with the actor Ian Carmichael, and the two would walk their Labrador dogs, matching The Prisoner and Bertie Wooster, on the school grounds.
- #015
One of the Number Twos states that the Village is a template for the world. Many fans of the series, especially in the 21st century, see this as prophetic given the rise in public surveillance since the series aired. CCTV is far more widespread in developed countries, and identity numbers have become indispensable for many purposes. It is also common to hear the world described as a "global village."
- #016
It ranked seventh on TV Guide's "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" list (30 May 2004 issue).
- #017
Among the musicians who worked on The Prisoner's theme was guitarist Vic Flick, who also played the famous James Bond Theme in the early 007 films.
- #018
It has been claimed that the hand sign used by the Villagers is the same as the hand sign early Christians used to represent a fish.
- #019
Number Six is speculated to be John Drake from Patrick McGoohan's earlier series Danger Man (1960) and Secret Agent (1964). Various references to the earlier series appear, many bit-part actors are shared between them, and some believe he is once addressed by name (though others interpret the dialogue differently). Although McGoohan strongly denied that Number Six was Drake, co-writer George Markstein said yes, and it appears to have been voted in his favour, while officially approved novels based on the series refer to Number Six as John Drake. A more mundane answer is that the production company did not own the rights to the John Drake character.
- #020
In some shots, a pursuing Rover was steered by cables attached to the victim's feet.
- #021
Leo McKern, Colin Gordon, Mary Morris and Peter Wyngarde are the only Number Twos whose voices are heard in the opening episode in which Number Six is interrogated. Number Two's other "standard" voice was provided by Robert Rietty.
- #022
The series' 1967 world television premiere actually took place on 5 September 1967 at 10:00 pm in Canada on the local CTV Television Network --- 24 days before its broadcast in the United Kingdom on 29 September 1967 on Associated Television (ATV) Midland.
- #023
The Prisoner's/Number Six's real name was never revealed. Several names are attached to him in the series, but it is never confirmed whether any of them is real: in Many Happy Returns (1967) he identifies himself as Peter Smith; in Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling (1967) it emerges that he has several code names: Schmidt, Duval and ZM-73.
- #024
Plans were made several times to adapt The Prisoner (1967) into a feature film. Patrick McGoohan once considered making a sequel set 100 years or more after the series. In 2001 a film was announced with McGoohan as executive producer and Simon West as director, but it was shelved in 2002.
- #025
The Portmeirion resort in North Wales, used as "The Village," was not credited until the beginning of the final episode.
- #026
During The Prisoner's first showing in the United States in the summer of 1968, Living in Harmony (1968) was not aired because of its controversial nature, being indirectly linked to the United States' active involvement in the Vietnam War.
- #027
The original closing sequence was to end with the word 'POP'. It consisted of two spheres; one was the Earth and, rather confusingly, it stood next to another sphere containing 'space' rather than against a space background.
- #028
Signs reading "Residents Only" and "Private, Residents Only" written on walls and even on the grass appear regularly in the series. These may be "artefacts" from Portmeirion (in real life a hotel). They are, however, intended as a joke, since everyone in the Village is already by definition a "resident".
- #029
During its first showing in the winter of 1967, filming had fallen so far behind schedule that there were no episodes left to show on UK TV channels, and some chose to show the last two (then unseen) episodes of Danger Man (1960). This of course confused the public even further.
- #030
The distinctive voice of actress Fenella Fielding can be heard as one of the Village's general public address system announcers.
- #031
The number 7 never appears in the Village on its own or within another number. Although we see No 2 and No 6, the characters No 3, No 4 and No 5 (if they exist) are never seen. However, in the episode Hammer Into Anvil the number 7 appears on a gravestone marked 73 when Number Six visits the cemetery.
- #032
Patrick McGoohan's jacket was actually dark brown with stripes. Two were used in the series and they differed slightly from each other.
- #033
The series features at least four female Number Twos, though one appears only briefly and two others are revealed only at the end of their episodes.
- #034
Clough Williams-Ellis, the creator of Portmeirion, worked as an extra on the series.
- #035
When the series began, it was implied to be about a village where spies, double agents and file clerks handed over highly classified information, but by the 17th episode it had apparently turned into a story about individuality and nonconformity.
- #036
The working relationship between Patrick McGoohan and George Markstein quickly grew tense, leading Markstein to sever all ties with the series.
- #037
Thanks to the responsibility and authority Patrick McGoohan held during production, he was a rather demanding taskmaster on set.
- #038
Derren Nesbitt was quite exasperated by the script he was given for his appearance as Number Two. He claimed that parts of the story made little sense and that Patrick McGoohan was not very helpful when asked to explain what it all meant.
- #039
It is generally regarded as one of the strangest and most limited-run television series in world television history.
- #040
Fans still debate who developed The Prisoner during pre-production. The most accurate answer is that Patrick McGoohan created the concept, after which George Markstein and director David Tomblin were influential in the series' development.
- #041
The siren's melody is a variation on the theme music of The Twilight Zone.
- #042
Patrick McGoohan's previous series Secret Agent (1964) included an episode that curiously foreshadowed the premise of The Prisoner (1967). Colony Three (1964), set behind the Iron Curtain, was a training centre for spies preparing to infiltrate Britain. Nicknamed "Hamden," the village resembled an English village and was also referred to as "the Village." Although Colony Three served a different purpose from the Village in The Prisoner, its residents likewise faced great difficulty trying to leave.
- #043
The series was filmed and broadcast out of any consistent order, which contributed to the confusing nature of many of its stories. Fans have proposed several different viewing orders to solve the problem, but in 2020 Zoë Dean, host of 'Be Seeing You - The Prisoner Podcast' (now defunct), found an order that appeared to crack the code and finally make the series make sense. That viewing order is: 1. Arrival 2. Free for All 3. Checkmate 4. Dance of the Dead 5. Many Happy Returns 6. The Chimes of Big Ben 7. A, B and C 8. The Schizoid Man 9. It's Your Funeral 10. A Change of Mind 11. The General 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.
- #044
Ace Books published three paperback novels: The Prisoner by Thomas M. Disch (1969), The Prisoner #2 by David McDaniel (1969) and The Prisoner #3 by Hank Stine (1970). They were also available in both hardcover and paperback from other publishers. The stories are well written and above average for cheap fiction, and are completely different from the television scripts. Fans and collectors can buy these vintage editions from the usual online sources, though at a high price depending on quality.
- #045
Only in the cave scenes of the 17th episode does it become clear just how vast the sound stages used in the previous 16 episodes really were, large enough to hold all the interior sets. In addition, sequences shot on the standing backlot sets give a good indication of how much space was available at the original MGM (British) Studios in Borehamwood before it was primarily permitted for residential use. It should not be confused with the later MGM-EMI Studios, which was in fact a rebadged version of the old Associated-British Pictures Corp; that would later become better known as EMI Elstree Studios, where Star Wars and Indiana Jones were filmed (the same complex was also notoriously split in two for a Tesco supermarket).
- #046
The car used by The Prisoner in the title sequence has the registration KAR 120C. The car following him has the registration 858 TLH.
- #047
The helicopter used in the series is a French Alouette II, the same helicopter seen in From Russia With Love and The Baron.
- #048
In 1990, a trio calling themselves F. A. B. released a dance remix of the theme music. Patrick McGoohan was approached and approved the idea, after which MC Number 6 appeared on it. The song uses samples of McGoohan's dialogue as well as the Number Two voice-over opening from the 'Chimes of Big Ben' episode, spoken by Leo McKern. Peter Swanwick's "Orange Alert" is also sampled. The song reached the UK top 40 and appeared on mainstream compilation albums that year.
- #049
It aired on CBS in the summer of 1968 in the time slot of The Jackie Gleason Show (1966), while The Dom DeLuise Show (1968), the alternative Jackie Gleason's production company had planned for the summer, aired on Wednesdays that summer in place of The Jonathan Winters Show (1967).
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