The Prisoner - Free For All

Episode 4: Free For All

First ITV broadcast: Friday 20th October 1967, 7.30pm (ATV Midlands/Grampian)
Estimated first run ratings: 11.1 million
First CBS broadcast: Saturday 29th June 1968, 7.30pm

There is an election on and Number Six is one of the candidates.We have got to know a bit about the Village now and it seems ridiculous that they should hold elections. The residents have been brought there by force and every aspect of their lives is monitored and controlled. The idea of there being something as free and democratic as an election is absurd. Number Two (Eric Portman) says that there are elections once a year. Of course not all elections are fair. Number Six says "Everyone votes for a dictator" but Number Two argues "Not at all. It's just that their resistance is low."

  Number Two encourages Number Six to stand against him in the election. Number Two has a large group of supporters following him around. They wear their most multi-coloured of clothes and cheer or blast horns whilst the Village's typical brass band music blares loudly. They wear ribbons with '2' on them and carry large posters of Number Two's face. Like the arts and crafts fair in The Chimes of Big Ben, it shows how devoted the population are to Number Two. Unlike Number Six, most of the Village appear to have given in and are determined to settle down and live a life as well as is possible in the Village. They conform. When Number Six is invited to follow Number Two and give a speech, he begins by saying "I am not a number. I am a person." Everyone falls about laughing. What a mad idea! No one in the Village is a person. But Number Six continues "I intend to discover who are the prisoners and who are the warders", giving us the reminder, as seen in the previous episodes, that not everyone in the Village has been brought there by force. Number Two announces to the crowd that Number Six will be running for office and suddenly the crowd move into action. All the posters of Number Two have been replaced by posters of Number Six - the photo is the same as his file photo seen in the opening credits. The crowd cheer and shower Number Six in confetti. But they have only done so because Number Two has announced it and so it would seem that they are really still under his control.

"I am not a number! Unless it is convenient for election campaigns."

  This episode marks the first time in the series that Number Six chooses to wear his number. He has only once been seen wearing his number badge and that was back in Arrival when he was leaving the hospital. He immediately tore it off, implying that someone else had pinned it to his jacket. Here he wears an election ribbon with a '6' on, just like the '2' ones. I think he only wears it because of his determination to win the election, having realised that no one else will ever stand against Number Two.

  Number Six is bundled onto a taxi and a photographer, Number 113b (Dene Cooper), leaps on the bonnet, trying to take pictures of Number Six. A reporter, Number 113 (Harold Berens), also gets on the taxi and says they are from the Tally Ho, the Village's local (and only) paper. Number Six answers "no comment" to all of the reporter's questions so the reporter makes up all the answers. It is a blatant ridicule of the press, compounded when the taxi stops next to a news stand and a copy of the paper is rolled off immediately with a headline saying "No. 6 Speaks His Mind". Clearly the article had been written before the interview.

Number Six gets papped!

  Number Six is required to attend a council meeting. Number Two is present and the council members stand in a circle. Their numbers are '2c' '2d' '2e' etc. and none of them speak. Everything is done through Number Two. The council is only for show. Number Two is still in charge really. Number Six calls them "brainwashed imbeciles". He asks "Can you laugh? Can you cry?" and shouts "In your hearts must still be the desire to be a human being again!" I find 'brainwashed' to be the perfect word for the Village. Like Number Two's supporters there are those in the Village who have given in and find it easier to conform to the rules. They do as they are told, chant and cheer at the right moments, trying above everything not to stand out or make a fuss. They have lost what it means to be human; to be an individual person.

  Number Six is spun round then plunged through a hole in the floor. He staggers down a corridor lit with a red light and loud tense music plays on the soundtrack. He falls through a door and is invited to have tea with the Labour Exchange manager, Number 28. There really has been a lot of tea in this programme. When Number Six tries to get up Number 28 presses a button. "This is merely the truth test. And there's no need to be alarmed. Why did you wish to run for electoral office?" Number Six cannot get up. He cannot speak. "Everything you think here is in the strictest confidence." Now this begs the question: if they have a way of reading thoughts, why do they not ask Number Six why he resigned? Presumably the machine can only read some thoughts and cannot get too deep if there is enough resistance. Number 28 discovers that Number Six thought he could organise break outs if he won the election. Number Six shakes in the chair until suddenly it all stops. Number Six seems different. He slowly stands up and smiles. "Thanks for the tea. You'll be voting for me of course?" He acts as though he has no memory of the truth test and from now on seems a little odd, as though he has been brainwashed in some way. It's always so hard with Number Six that it's difficult to tell whether he is putting it on or not.

  Outside there is a madly cheering crowd. The reporter and photographer appear. There's a film camera and a microphone shoved in Number Six's face. He waves to the crowd and happily answers all the questions.

The truth test.

 Back at his house, Number Six is with his new maid, Number 58 (Rachel Herbert), who Number Two introduced to Six at the start of the episode. She speaks no English and gabbles away in some Slavic language. The television is on and we see Number Six giving a speech. He gets frustrated with Number 58's inability to learn an English phrase and then seems to have a moment of sudden clarity. He runs out the house, gets in a taxi, and drives down to the harbour. Behind him we can hear a crowd chanting "Six! Six! Six!" Number Six gets in a speedboat and drives off. He grapples with some men, fighting several off before falling in the water and being brought back to shore by Rover. As he glides across the water, he mutters the words of the election broadcast.

  We see Number Six in hospital but not long afterwards he's back on a boat in the harbour making a rousing speech. He tells the citizens that if they give up information they will get access to more activities in the Village. We cut to Number Two on the village green. There's hardly anyone there and only a few listening. He says that Number Six has a good record "but he has no experience whatsoever of the manipulation of a community such as ours". Number Six himself is clearly being manipulated in some way. He drives past Number Two shouting "the word is: freedom!" It is a false freedom he is promoting though.

  Later Number Six is in a bar with Number 58 and gets angry when he can't get a real alcoholic drink. The waitress (Holly Doone) says that it "looks the same, tastes the same" and Number Six adds "but you can't get tiddly". This explains why in The Chimes of Big Ben when the Colonel serves Number Six a whisky, Number Six does not immediately realise they are still in the Village. Number 58 takes Number Six to a cave where he finds a drunken Number Two drinking illegal alcohol. "This is the therapy zone" he says and Number Six is given a drink. But as Number Six finishes his drink and keels over, Number Two is suddenly sober. The barman (John Cazabon) says "The portions are just right to take him through the election" and so it is confirmed that Number Six has been controlled in some way.

  Election day. Ballot boxes. Number Six's box is overflowing. There are cheers from outside "We want Number Two!" Defeated, Number Two hands his ribbon over to Number Six. Outside the old Number Two raises Number Six's arm in front of the crowd but they are silent. Miserable looking even. A taxi takes them both to the green dome with Number 58, who then encourages Number Six inside and Number Two leaves. Number 58 enthusiastically plays with all the dials and switches and then Number Six also joins in. The large screen shows lights whizzing by and Number Six is transfixed by it. Number 58 takes his '2' ribbon off, clicks her fingers, slaps him repeatedly, saying "tic tic tic" over and over. Number Six comes out of the daze and grabs one of the phones. "This is our chance! Take it! Now! I will mobilise all electronic controls. Listen to me - you are free to go! You are free! Free! Free!"

Hair tied back now she's in charge

  Two men appear and try to grab Number Six. He runs back out the door and fights with several men. They are all wearing sunglasses inside, reminding me of Presidential bodyguards in numerous films. Number Six takes quite a beating. He is dragged back into Number Two's control room to find Number 58 standing there, wearing the '2' ribbon. In perfect English she says "Will you never learn? This is only the beginning. We have many ways but we don't wish to damage you permanently. Are you ready to talk?" He is not. Number Six is taken away on a bed and carried back to his house.

  Like several of the episodes, 'Free For All' is one where I cannot help but feel sorry for Number Six. He is allowed to get so far, allowed to think he has won, that he can escape, but then it is all snatched away right at the end. It is the Village proving that it cannot be beaten, that even when you think you have control they still know exactly what they are doing and will get their own way in the end. This episode ridicules elections, campaigning and the press. In the Village, Number Six's 'chance' to become the new leader is really just an excuse for them to bring someone else in. Someone new takes over but the regime is going to remain almost exactly the same.

  We get some hints about Number One in this episode. At the beginning of the episode Number Two calls Number Six, wanting to meet with him. "The mountain can come to Muhammad." The front door opens, with Number Two standing there. "Muhammad?" he asks. "Everest, I presume?" Number Six answers. "Where's Number One?" "At the summit." At the top, in a higher place, he's worked his way up? That can be taken to mean a lot of things. Shortly afterwards they discuss the election. "What physically happens if I win?" "You're the boss." "Number One's the boss." "If you win, Number One may no longer be a mystery to you, if you know what I mean." No I don't know what he means and I'm sure Number Six doesn't either. Number Two doesn't expand on this. When he says "If you win" is he really referring to the election? Perhaps what Number Two really means is if Number Six beats the Village, wins against the system, finally finds a way to escape. We'll see.

Be seeing you.

The Prisoner - A. B. and C.

Episode 3: A. B. and C.

This episode focuses around dream sequences and I really enjoyed it. It certainly feels very different and I think a lot of that is down to the action taking place away from the Village. It gives everything a very different mood.

Throughout this episode we are reminded that Number Two (Colin Gordon) is under pressure to find out why Number Six resigned. At the beginning of the episode Number Two looks apprehensive as he answers a red telephone. He calls the person on the other end of the line "Sir" and says "I know I'm not indispensable", something we don't need reminding of considering this is now the fourth Number Two in the series! This Number Two believes Number Six resigned to "sell up" so wants to know "what he had to sell and to whom he was going to sell it". This is of course something that Visual Mutterings has raised before as it is the most obvious reason for keeping Number Six in the Village.

Number Two rings Number Fourteen (Sheila Allen) and tells her the experiment must be moved forward and we hear her reply that she hasn't even finished testing it on animals. Number Two insists that it will take place that night. A brilliant scene shows a flash of lightning before cutting to two men wearing wet, hooded black macs. They push a trolley through a set of double doors. We can still hear the thunder and the wind from outside. The lightning lights up blue behind them. A black body bag is on the trolley. The whole look and feel of it is amazing and completely different to anything we have seen in the previous two episodes. An 'experiment', a storm, howling winds and creepy-looking men. It's like we have entered a horror movie. This isn't what The Prisoner is supposed to be like and so it takes us by surprise.

Two extras do a sterling job at auditioning for the next Frankenstein film. 

The trolley is wheeled into a lab and it is revealed, unsurprisingly, to be Number Six in the body bag. Wires and all sorts are hooked up to him. Number Two has narrowed it down to three people, A, B and C, who he believes Number Six was going to sell up to. They all attended parties held by a Madam Engadine and having got hold of some film footage from one, Numbers Two and Fourteen are going to induce a dream for Number Six so they can see what would happen if he were to meet each of suspects.

On a large screen in the lab, Numbers Two and Fourteen can observe Number Six's subconscious. It plays a loop of the scene from the title sequence where Number Six hands in his resignation letter. Just before a needle goes in, Number Six's eyes flicker open and he briefly sees Number Fourteen before he's out again.

My first thought when Number Six appears at the party is that he looks very good in a tux. He looks natural and comfortable. He seems to know a lot of people at the party; as the camera follows behind him, he pats some on the back, nods at some and says hello to several. But then, of course he knows them all. The induced dream is still a dream, which means it draws on his own knowledge and subconscious. His mind is simply putting in place the various faces he would expect to find there.

The party is a rather posh one; all the men are in tuxes and the women are in glamorous dresses, adorned with expensive-looking jewellery. The huge house has large gardens and waiters bring drinks around whilst classical music plays from somewhere in the background. It is lavish and formal. The fact that Number Six appears relaxed here gives us a good indication that he is used to moving in these circles.

Number Six meets the party's host, Madam Engadine (Katherine Kath), and tells her that he is starting a holiday, "somewhere different, somewhere quiet, where I can think." Shortly afterwards Number Fourteen inserts the drug that brings suspect A (Peter Bowles) into the dream. A, like B later, has heard about Six's resignation. Number Six tells A that he's going to "go fishing". He will tell B that he doesn't know where he's going, just that's he's going for a long time and needs to think. It's quite hard to say when Number Six's mind believes this party to be taking place. My only conclusion is that he must have told some people that he planned to resign before he actually did. This would make sense as in the title sequence everything is already in place to send him to the Village.

Number Fourteen informs us that A defected about six years ago - remember that the Cold War was on. A tells Number Six "we used to be friends" "we do the same jobs" and Six replies "for different reasons". Then a rather interesting comment from A: "I see you still overrate absolute truth. Whatever way you look at it, we both want to conquer the world." This conversation is reminiscent of Number Six's with Number Two in 'The Chimes of Big Ben' where Number Two argues that "both sides are becoming identical" and are "looking into a mirror". A may have defected but Number Six's objection are to A's motives and the "absolute truth" comment could give us an indication as to why Six resigned. Number Six believes things should be done a certain way. I would take a guess that he believes in freedom, transparency and honesty. Perhaps the organisation he worked for had gone against these ideas for too long and Number Six felt he could no longer be a part of it.

Enemies should always meet over champagne

A believes Number Six must be selling information and offers to buy from him. Number Six tries to walk away from A but ends up bundled into a car. He remarks that "Paris hasn't changed much, has it?" It cannot have of course because the Paris he is seeing in the dream is based on his own memories. Perhaps Number Six expected it to have and this is the first indication that he suspects something isn't right. When they get out the car there's a fight, a proper fight! This is the first time in the series we've been able to see Number Six show off his skills and he does a brilliant job of knocking about A and his assistant. As he walks away, he says "Be seeing you" showing that the Village's phrase has started to become a part of him.

The next morning Number Six opens his front door and sees Number Fourteen outside. He looks at his wrist and sees a needle mark. He realises that something happened to him in the night. He speaks to Number Fourteen later. "How does one talk to someone that one has met in a dream?" and tells her "Last week Number Fourteen was an old lady in a wheelchair. You're new here. And you're one of them." Number Six is catching on to things in the Village. He is being observant and trying to work out when he can trust people. Number Six goes to see Number Two, solely to let on that he knows something, just to rattle him a bit. It works. When Number Six leaves the red phone rings and Number Two says he will have something "within two days". The pressure is on from above.

That night Number Six drinks from a teacup on the bedside table. He drops the cup and slumps to the floor. So now we know how they got Number Six to the lab without waking him! Number Six appears at the party again and it's the same party, indicated by Madam Engadine asking "Where've you been, darling?" He seems confused and when she asks what happened to A, Number Six simply says "Gone." It doesn't make sense because he can't remember how he got back to the party. Yet in a way it does make sense because it's a dream and dreams don't make sense. Does that make sense? In a dream we are not usually aware of having skipped bits. In the course of a dream we might suddenly find ourselves somewhere different but our subconscious tries to make sense of it and we are not allowed to dwell on it long enough to realise what has happened.

The B drugs goes in and a maid brings a letter for Number Six. Throughout all the dreams sequences, the script does a good job of avoiding use of Number Six's real name, being only obvious here. The maid (Bettina La Beau) gestures at Number Six, saying "It's for..." Madam Engadine is keen to know who the letter is from. "She's an old friend" Engadine sees that there is no name signed. "Old friends don't need names." Does that say something about the Village, a place where no one has a name?

Number Six meets B (Annette Caroll) in the gardens, telling her "you are still the most intriguing spy I have ever met." They dance to the music that can still be heard. It's just the two of them and it seems they really are dancing as friends, not lovers. Things aren't moving fast enough for Number Two and so Number Fourteen decides to get into the dream by speaking through B.

Providing the voice for B

 Despite being unconcerned by Number Six's warnings earlier, B now wonders aloud whether she will be killed. She tells Number Six that they want to make a deal with her, they want to know why Number Six resigned. "Are you shocked?" she asks. "I'm surprised. I can't believe it's you." he responds. He genuinely can't and it quickly becomes apparent that this interference in the dream has been a very bad move. "Have you the feeling you're being manipulated?" Number Six asks her. "You are not who you pretend to be." Some men show up and we get to see Six's hand-to-hand combat skills again. A man holds a gun to B's head but still Number Six tells her "I don't believe in you." He decides to test her: "How long has your husband been dead?" The information is in Number Two's files. It's been four years. "How old is your son now?" There is no record of any son in the file. She can't answer and Number Six walks away. It may seem absurd to say it, but our dreams have to credible. There has to be an element of reality in them. Ridiculous and fantastical things can happen in our dreams. Yet if someone in your dream claimed to be your mother and clearly wasn't, you would become very suspicious. You may even realise that you are dreaming. There are some things we remain very certain about, even during our dreams, and for Number Six it is the personality of his old friend.

Number Six is now very suspicious and the next day he follows Number Fourteen. He gets into the building through an air vent, a feature of buildings that I have only ever seen in film and television. I am half convinced that they were invented by the industry in order to provide escape and entry routes for characters that couldn't get through locked doors. Number Six makes his way into the lab where he has been hooked up to monitors and drugs for the past two nights. He examines the equipment and switches on a monitor that shows the film footage of the party. He looks through Number Two's folders on the three suspects, handily labelled 'A', 'B' and 'C'. Finally he finds the one remaining hypodermic needle containing the purple liquid he has been getting injected with. He empties most of it and replaces it with water.

That night he finds a cup of tea left out for him (tea has featured in every episode so far) and pours it down the sink. He has a glass of water instead and smiles to himself, thinking he has got one over on them. He hasn't. He collapses. Clearly all bases had been covered.

On the lab's screen the camera is showing Number Six's point of view. The camera is all over the place. It's like he's drunk or on drugs. Number Six passes by a woman and remarks "Haven't they killed you yet?" The classical music has been replaced by more modern and upbeat 1960s' music. It's quite hippie and would have been very appropriate for a student party whilst someone passed a spliff round. The party has got a lot more raucous and the guests are laughing loudly, whilst some are feeling each other up in the background.

A woman gives Number Six an earring and tells him to bet it on the roulette table (because that is just how posh this party is). Glancing at the numbers, she says "6 - I'm sure it's your lucky number". Number Six wins a key. Clearly everything has become a bit more allegorical.

It turns out the Madame Engadine is C. "It's a one way journey. You have the fare?" The fare is in a plain white envelope that Number Six keeps in his jacket. "If you want to go back you can. Back to the party. Back to your life. Once through this door you can never return." She also has a key and along with Number Six's, it opens a door in the gardens.

They drive off to meet her boss and stop at a set of stone double doors. She leaves Number Six there and when he goes through the doors the wind can be heard blowing and church bells ring out. Number Six meets a man whose face is covered with a thick black stocking. You can just about make out that the man wears glasses.

The man with the mystery voice

Number Six won't hand over the papers. "I want to know who I'm selling out to. We must all know" he says, smiling. Number Six is very happy through this whole scene. The man refuses to reveal his identity but Number Six is in charge of the dream now. He turns the man away from the camera, rips off his hat and stocking. "I knew of course. Now show them" and Number Six spins the man back round to face the camera. It is Number Two. "Your drug failed!" Number Two tells Number Fourteen. "No. He succeeded" she says.

In the dream, Number Six walks into the lab. Instinctively Numbers Two and Fourteen look at the real doors but Number Six isn't there - only on the screen. In the dream, Number Six gives Number Two the white envelope. He quickly tears it open only to find it's full of travel brochures for Greece and Italy. "I wasn't selling out. That wasn't the reason I resigned." In the real lab, the red phone rings ominously.

Having failed to trick Number Six in real life into telling them why he resigned, this Number Two decided to try a mind trick. This episode is an interesting look at Number Six's life outside of the Village. The party is in Paris so we know he gets to travel. He meets several spies so if we weren't already certain before, I think we can say for definite now that Number Six was a spy before he came to the Village. We also know that he didn't resign in order to sell information. His subconscious would have betrayed him if he had been planning to.

One point I would like to raise about this episode is a problem of continuity. The party takes place at night. It is dark in the gardens. When Number Six gets in A's car it is clearly dark outside. When he gets out of A's car it is suddenly daylight! The same thing happens when Number Six goes in Madame Engaldine's car. When they arrive at the double doors it changes to daylight. She even talks about getting back to the party. Are we supposed to believe that they drove all through the night? She says she "can't be gone too long". When Number Six pushes the doors open, the other side is in darkness. When we cut back for his reaction shot, it is still daylight behind him. I am willing to give some of this the benefit of the doubt, due to it all being part of a dream. Dreams do sometimes get things mixed up.

However, in my heart of hearts I know that this is down to the difficulties of filming in the 1960s. Filming at night was hard and the alternative did not produce great results. This can be seen clearly in episodes of The Saint from the same period where scenes set at night would be filmed in daylight but a dark filter would be put onto the film, in order to give the impression that it was nighttime or dusk. This effect is also used in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). In The Saint, the easiest way of spotting this effect it that the supposed nighttime scenes would have shadows in them created by the sun.

I am not particularly sure how this effect was created so if anyone has information on it please get in touch.

Finally, the voice of the man with his face covered that is revealed to be Number Two sounds nothing like Colin Gordon. There is no credit for the voice at all. He has a foreign accent and his voice reminds me slightly of that of Emilio Largo in the Bond film Thunderball. A bit of research reveals that the voice for Largo was provided by Robert Rietty, who was Italian. He provided various bits of voice over for The Prisoner but I can find no credit or reference to him working on 'A. B. and C.'

If anyone has evidence that proves he did provide the voice, please get in touch.

Be seeing you.