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'You Are (Episode) Number 6': The Ordering Controversy

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Patrick McGoohan originally envisioned "The Prisoner" as a seven-episode story arc. It told the tale of a former secret agent who, upon resigning his post, is transported, mysteriously and against his will, to a resort-like interment camp called the Village. There is he stripped of his identity, given a number (6) to replace his name, and repeatedly interrogated for the reasons behind his sudden resignation - all by captors who also have numbers instead of names and who might work for either side, for both, or for neither.

McGoohan's original arc followed a simple, unambiguous order, following the narrative from Number 6's arrival in the Village to (perhaps) his eventual escape:

  "Arrival"
“Free for All”
"Dance of the Dead"
"Checkmate"
"Chimes of Big Ben"
"Once Upon a Time"
"Fall Out"

This proposal was ultimately force-fed growth hormones by Sir Lew Grade of ITC Television, who wanted McGoohan to produce enough episodes to make the show saleable to overseas markets. Twenty-six was the agreed-upon number, but after the first 13 shows it became obvious that both the concept and the producer/star were exhausted. Production halted after 17 episodes were completed, including the climactic two-part series wrap-up.

Even with the addition of ten episodes, many written and/or directed by outside talent, "The Prisoner" retains a semblance of McGoohan's intended narrative flow. In any ordering of the full 17-episode series, "Arrival" remains the introductory episode, "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out" the two-part series finale. But when the show was aired, the other "core" episodes were scattered throughout the original broadcast orders in both the UK and the US:

  U.S.     U.K.
"Arrival" “Arrival”
"Chimes of Big Ben" “Chimes of Big Ben”
"A. B. & C." “A. B. & C.”
"Free for All" “Free for All”
"The Schizoid Man" “The Schizoid Man”
"The General" “The General”
"Many Happy Returns" “Many Happy Returns”
"Dance of the Dead" “Dance of the Dead”
"Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling" “Checkmate”
"It's Your Funeral" “Hammer into Anvil”
"Checkmate" “It’s Your Funeral”
"Living in Harmony"** “A Change of Mind”
"A Change of Mind" “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling”
"Hammer into Anvil" “Living in Harmony”
"The Girl Who Was Death" “The Girl Who Was Death”
"Once Upon a Time" “Once Upon a Time”
"Fall Out" “Fall Out”
**not aired during original CBS run

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This essay is © 1998, 2000, Theresa Donia. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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