Number Six (The Prisoner)

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Number Six is the central fictional character in the 1960s television series The Prisoner, played by Patrick McGoohan. In each episode, his attempts to escape his prison the Village would be foiled, either by Number Two, the place's chief administrator, who was changed on a regular basis, or by Rover, an enigmatic artificial guardian that resembles a weather balloon. Another central theme in the series was Number Two's attempt to discover why Number Six resigned from his position — despite the fact that this is already known to them. ^[1]

Much of Number Six's background is kept a mystery during the series, and not even his true name is revealed. In the first episode it is stated that he was born on March 19, 1928 (the same date as McGoohan's birthday), and that he held a position of some authority with the British government, possibly in some branch of British Intelligence, but the exact nature of his job is not known. Several episodes suggest that he was a spy or similar operative (code number ZM-73, as well as several other aliases). In several episodes it's alluded that other residents in "The Village" are ex-spies who were 'retired' without their consent.

He is known to have answered to at least two individuals known as simply "The Colonel", as well as to another long-time superior named Fotheringay. These men are shown as being in league with the Village to one extent or another.

It is known that he was engaged to be married to Janet Portland, the daughter of his superior, Sir Charles Portland, prior to his capture by the Village, though this doesn't stop Number Six from developing close relationships (if not necessarily romantic ones) with various women during his imprisonment.

Medically, Number Six appears to be the picture of good health. However, the episode "Free for All" reveals that he was required to eliminate sugar from his diet "on medical advice" (although he intentionally drops sugar cubes in his tea in "The Chimes of Big Ben" as an act of defiance). He claims to rarely drink in "Dance of the Dead" and is seen to smoke only twice, once a cigar, once in a dream sequence. "The Schizoid Man" establishes Number Six as an at least occasional cigar smoker, as Number Two brainwashes him into preferring Russian cigarettes as a means of undermining his identity.

During the episode "Once Upon a Time", Number Six undergoes an intense form of brainwashing/interrogation called "Degree Absolute" in which his mind is reverted to that of a child and he is made to relive major events of his life. Given the nature of this interrogation and the motive behind it, it is not known for certain what elements of Number Six's life so portrayed are real and which are fiction. Among these events presented is the suggestion that as a young man Number Six was driving a vehicle and speeding. It is also suggested he attended some sort of private school and was once punished for not telling the headmaster about some of his friends' rule-breaking activities.

During "Once Upon a Time" it is also stated (with greater certainty) that Number Six flew a bomber in "the war"; exactly which war is not stated but evidently Number Six was shot down and captured by the Germans, which presumably means World War II, which is possible given his stated birthdate, if only just.

Many fans of The Prisoner believe that Number Six is really John Drake, the character that McGoohan played in Danger Man from 1960 to 1962 and then again from 1964 to 1966, but the actor has always denied this. Script editor, George Markstein, who co-created the series with McGoohan, always claimed that Number Six is John Drake. Official novels based on the series also make this connection, although these are generally not considered canon. In addition, the character of Fotheringay is played by the same actor who played Drake's superior in Danger Man, while Christopher Benjamin plays a secret service contact named Potter in both Danger Man and the "The Girl Who Was Death" episode of The Prisoner.

A few names are attached to Number Six in the series, but it's impossible to tell if any of them are real. In "Many Happy Returns" he identifies himself as "Peter Smith". Although it is possible that this is an alias, he does say it to a woman who possesses the maintenance log books for his car — something that would presumably include his name. However, the house and car may have been acquired under one of Number Six's long-term false identities as a spy. In the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", it is learned that Number Six possesses numerous code names: Schmidt, Duval, and ZM-73.

The connection between Number Six and Number One — the entity presumably in charge of the Village — is left intentionally ambiguous and has been the subject of debate and analysis since the final episode of the series aired. In "Fall Out", Number Six encounters a man who is supposedly Number One: upon removing two masks worn by him, a person who is identical to Number Six is revealed. This man quickly escapes and never appears again. Speculation as to the identity of this person ranges from a twin brother of Number Six, to John Drake, to a hallucination. It may be of importance that Number Six's address number is "1".

In any event, following this encounter, Number Six appears to escape the Village. However, his ultimate fate is not revealed and in the closing credits as he enters his original house, the "undertakers'" car -- seen in the opening credits when the occupant gets out and gasses the Prisoner through his letterbox -- appears to drive by again. In interviews, McGoohan has repeatedly maintained that the Prisoner "hasn't got [his freedom]".

In the late 1980s, DC Comics published Shattered Visage, a four-issue comic book mini-series based on The Prisoner, drawn by Mister X creator Dean Motter and co-written with Mark Askwith. Taking place twenty years after the TV series, a shipwrecked woman named Alice Drake is washed up on the shores of the Village. She comes across an older, bearded Number Six. He is a docile, gentle man who is nevertheless psychologically scarred and withdrawn, living a solitary life as the single inhabitant of the Village. He says that the other villagers were "free to go" while he was "free to stay" and describes his fear of societal conditioning and conformity. While Six is obviously traumatized and an isolationist, Alice nevertheless finds him kind as he catches fish and makes them dinner.

Later, Alice encounters Leo McKern's Number Two, who speaks of Six as a man an athlete, soldier, pilot and statesman with many names -- a powerful man who was punished as an individual for actions he was made to perform on behalf of all his countrymen. Two says that "the system" interrogated Six and that "the man who would not bend simply broke. Shattered and alone, he chose a number and christened himself Number One." Alice asks who Number One was to begin with, and Number Two says she has missed the point. Two explains: "Here's a man who raged against numbering of any kind. To choose any number, even the number one, was a contradiction. He was caught between belief systems. He had accepted. His days were numbered. He was ours, body and soul. We had won!" According to this version of events, what is seen onscreen in Fall Out is a drug-enhanced psycho drama, in which Six was being presented with a role of supreme leadership that lauded his individuality while paradoxically requiring that he conform to the Village's system of dehumanization. Revealing the face beneath One's mask as Six's was the crucial method of this final effort to break Six. The paradox of being the only individual, therefore the leader, therefore Number One, was what finally shattered Six's mind. It is unclear if Number Two is being truthful about his victory, however, just as it is unclear what information was extracted from the broken Number Six. All that is certain is that UN troops evacuated the Village shortly after Number Two's success, and that for whatever reason, Number Six alone chose to remain in the Village.

Later, Number Six and Alice walk through the silent streets of the Village and are accosted by Number Two. In the course of Two and Six engaging in a fistfight, Two calls Six a coward, saying that Six lost twenty years ago and won't return to the outside world because then he'd have to face defeat. Two adds that Six's secrets are out of date and that Six is nothing. Their fight takes them inside an old mill as a pumelled Number Six declares that he is a free man and his life is his own. Two, choking Six around the neck with both hands, answers, "Then take it!" Both fall out the window of the mill, into the water below. Shortly afterwards, Number Six returns to his old place of residence in the Village, and begins to shave his beard.

At the end of the story, Number Six and Alice Drake have returned to London. Six is clean-shaven and tidily dressed. Alice asks Six who Number One was. Six asks in reply, "Does the presence of Number Two require the existence of Number One?" He assures her that the secrets the Village sought from him are safe. "None of us would be here if they weren't," he says with a confident smile.

[edit] In Other Works

• Number Six, played by Tricia Helfer, who appears on the television series Battlestar Galactica is apparently a tribute to the character.
• There is also an episode of The Simpsons entitled "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes", parodying The Prisoner, with McGoohan reprising his role as Number Six and Homer Simpson as Number Five.
• The Bionic Woman, Brazil, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5 and The Matrix all contain references to the character.
• The opening dialogue is sampled in the intro to the Iron Maiden song "The Prisoner", inspired by the series. The band has also recorded another song called "Back in the Village", similarly influenced.
• Sky One is scheduled to broadcast a new version of The Prisoner in 2007, it was confirmed in May 2006. The actor who will play Number Six has yet to be officially confirmed, but the BBC and other sources initially indicated that Christopher Eccleston was in negotiations. Eccleston's agent has since categorically denied these rumours [1].

[edit] References