Some of the more obvious time-stamps are as follows:

• "Arrival" is without a doubt the beginning of the sequence
  
  
• In "Dance of the Dead," Number 6 refers to himself as "new here"
  
  
• In "Checkmate," he seems to be relatively unknown to the other citizens; he is also relatively ignorant of the workings of the Village
  
  
• In both "Chimes" and "Free for All," he is exhorted to become more involved in Village life, suggesting their placement early in the sequence
  
  
• "The General" and "A. B. & C." are logically consecutive episodes because they show the progressive downfall of the milk-drinking Number 2 (although there is precedent for Number 2's returning for non-consecutive terms, e.g., "It's Your Funeral" and "Once Upon a Time"); it can also be argued that these episodes represent Number 6's first tastes of success against the Village
  
  
• "The Schizoid Man" and "Many Happy Returns" occur about a year apart: both begin in February and end in March but cannot logically occur simultaneously; the logical progression suggests that "The Schizoid Man" occurs first in the sequence
  
  
• "Hammer into Anvil" seems to be a later episode; Number 6 tells Number 2 that "many have tried" to break him
  
  
• WARNING: BIG "IF" HERE If we assume that the actor (Patrick Cargill) who played both Thorpe in "Many Happy Returns" and Number 2 in "Hammer into Anvil" is actually playing the same character, then "Many Happy Returns" comes before "Hammer into Anvil" in the sequence, although they may occur quite close together (There is no concrete indication in the scripts that Thorpe is working for the Village and later becomes Number 2, but "Many Happy Returns" does suggest that Number 6's former superiors may not be all they seem, and it would give Number 2's personal enmity toward Number 6 in "Hammer" extra shadings of significance)
  
  
• In "Do Not Forsake Me..." Number 6's "fiancee" states that he has been away for a year; this is rather problematic for several reasons: First, the plot of "Many Happy Returns" strongly suggests that it is the first time he has been back home since his imprisonment, and we know he has been in the Village for at least a year at this point (see above); perhaps he has his memory wiped at the end of the episode, although the script itself does not suggest this; in any event, it seems strange that Number 6 should reappear in London twice after resigning and disappearing, and even stranger that in "Many Happy Returns" he gives no thought to his "fiancee" (unless he has made a conscious effort to avoid her after their painful previous meeting in "Do Not Forsake Me..."). Ultimately, one must fall back on the knowledge that "Do Not Forsake Me..." was a stopgap episode, filmed to accommodate McGoohan's absence while making Ice Station Zebra, and there is simply no way to comfortably fit this episode chronologically without allowing some logical lapses
  
  
• In "It's Your Funeral," the retiring Number 2 returns after a leave of absence, but Number 6 apparently has never met him before. Several individuals have served as Number 2 in the interim, although no specific interval of time is mentioned. It is plausible that the retiring Number 2 began his service prior to Number 6's arrival in the Village. However, there is no way to determine how many of the Number 2's we meet in the 17 episodes are interim holders of the post and how many serve after "It's Your Funeral" takes place
  
  
• It is suggested that considerable time has elapsed when Leo McKern returns as Number 2 in "Once Upon a Time." This suggests that McKern's first outing, in "Chimes," comes fairly early in the sequence, although technically it could come at any point prior to "Once Upon a Time"
  
  
• Several episodes have no time stamps whatsoever, including "Living in Harmony," "A Change of Mind," and "The Girl Who Was Death," although there are logical cues in each
  
  
• "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out" are concretely the final two episodes in the sequence
  
  
• Finally, one gets a few clues about when Number 6's imprisonment begins; in the opening sequence, he is not wearing an overcoat in London, suggesting that the time is anywhere from late spring to early fall when he resigns; similarly, at Madame Engadine's party in "A. B. & C," which occurred not long before he resigned, the weather seems to be warm. Of course, the weather in the Village is nearly always fine...

The chronological sequence thus looks like this:

Continue

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