The Prisoner

Free for All - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: Number 6's bed tidies itself in the scene where the spying lamp is lowered from the ceiling. First the bedcovers are rumpled and disarrayed. Then in the next shot, all is straight with the blanket neatly folded at the foot.

Jean G

Free for All - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: The number of toast slices in the rack on the breakfast cart changes between shots. Number 2 takes a piece, leaving three. No one's gone near the cart, but a moment later, the toast rack contains five pieces.

Jean G

Free for All - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: During the campaign, watch the bass drummer as he turns left. The same taxi with the same driver passes him twice in quick succession - going in the same direction.

Jean G

The Schizoid Man - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: In the beginning, the cards and notebook on Number 6's kitchen counter change positions between shots. There's also a circle card on the counter that disappears when he draws the star card from the deck.

Jean G

The Schizoid Man - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: Watch the helicopter when it first lifts off. It has regular "sled-style" landing struts. But in the air, it suddenly has water pontoons. When it lands again, though, the regular struts return.

Jean G

The Schizoid Man - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: When the Village doctors and technicians begin their procedure on the unconscious Number 6, one man folds the sheet and blanket back from his chest. A few shots later, the same man does this again.

Jean G

The Schizoid Man - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: While the technicians are prepping the unconscious Number 6, there's no watch on the lamp table by the bed. One appears there, though, when the tech begins collecting the prisoner's personal items.

Jean G

The General - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: Number 6 is stabbed in the hand during his struggle with the projectionist. After he's treated for the injury, not only is he placed in an unnecessary sling (his arm wasn't broken), he's also suddenly bleeding from the forearm, several inches above the area where he was stabbed.

Jean G

The General - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: At the Village cafe, the menu on the table turns itself 90 degrees between the master shot and the close-up. Number 6's hand position and one of the chairs also both change positions instantly.

Jean G

The General - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: In The General's office, the professor pulls the sheet of paper he's been typing on out of the typewriter and inserts it head-first into the computer. When we cut to a close-up of the paper going in, however, it is now being inserted bottom-first.

Jean G

The General - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: At the end, using only one finger of one hand, Number 6 types 4 characters on the typewriter. He then expressly states that what he typed was, "W-h-y question mark." But you can't type the question mark with one finger: it requires holding down the shift key.

Jean G

The General - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: Number 6 is quite a quick-change artist. In the projection room, after the countdown reaches 2 minutes, he manages to: strip the unconscious technician; take off his own black suit, tie, hat and glasses; get into the white lab outfit, and finally, don all the communications gear in time for the 1-minute countdown announcement.

Jean G

The Chimes of Big Ben - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: Number 6 chooses a rather thin tree to cut down and fashion into his canoe. Somehow, when he's finished hewing out the wood to form the boat, it's considerably wider than the tree he started with.

Jean G

More mistakes in The Prisoner

Number 6: Unlike me, many of you have accepted the situation of your imprisonment, and will die here like rotten cabbages.

More quotes from The Prisoner

Living in Harmony - S1-E14

Trivia: This episode was not shown in the initial U.S. airing of "The Prisoner" on CBS. There was speculation that its pacifist, anti-violence moral might have been construed as a Vietnam War protest, but the network's reason for censoring the episode has never been disclosed.

Jean G

More trivia for The Prisoner

Chosen answer: 1) It's never made entirely clear, but it seems that the government, Six's employers, are involved. 2) Because they wanted to know why he resigned. 3) It's never revealed, although many fans assume that Six is really John Drake, McGoohan's character from the prior show Danger Man. McGoohan has, however, denied that this was the intent and there are some notable differences between the characters. 4) It's never revealed, although, as, in the final episode, Six and his companions are able to drive to London, it must logically be located within the British Isles. 5) No details are ever given as to who has ultimate authority over the Village.

Tailkinker

Answer: Hope I am not going on too much, but I was watching bits of "The Prisoner" on YouTube, and have some information in response to question three "What was Number Six's name?" In the opening sequence of "The Prisoner" Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six walks into an office and throws a resignation letter on the table. He then drives to his house and hurriedly packs a suitcase. You can see him throw a UK passport into the suitcase. Seconds later, knockout gas is pumped into his house. He falls unconscious, then revives in "The Village." If he has a UK passport this must give his name, so it can be inferred that his name might be known to, or available to, anybody who really wants to know. After all, it seems plausible that the people or organisation who ordered his removal to "The Village" would have made at least a rudimentary search of his house and found the passport. Subsequently, in "Arrival" the first episode of the series, Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six meets "Number Two" who shows him a series of photographs illustrating his life from his schooldays up till his resignation. I find it inconceivable that Number Two could have acquired such a comprehensive amount of information about Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six, and not known his name. Yet Number Two never once mentions his name. Occasionally, in later episodes, characters mention that they knew Number Six in the time before they were transported to "The Village." But, during all seventeen episodes of the series, neither Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six, nor anybody else, ever mentions his name. From all this, it is clear that it was deliberately intended that viewers of "The Prisoner" would never know his real name.

Rob Halliday

Answer: Patrick McGoohan was often asked these, and many other questions about The Prisoner. He always refused to answer. He said the programme contained the answers. But you might want to try reading "I Am (Not) A Number, Decoding The Prisoner" written by Alex Cox and published in the UK in 2017. I regret that I, personally, was not wholly convinced by everything in this book. However, Alex Cox makes a dedicated and conscientious effort to deal with some questions asked about this very enigmatic television series. Alex Cox argues that Patrick McGoohan intended that the 17 episodes of The Prisoner should be watched in the order in which they were filmed, as these fill in details along the way. Even so, many questions about The Prisoner may always remain unanswered. One obvious paradox is that Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number 6 always says "I am not a number", and it is quite clear that much of his life before he arrived in "The Village" is well known to everybody, but he never, not even once, ever mentions his real name.

More questions & answers from The Prisoner

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