The Prisoner

The Prisoner (1967)

20 mistakes in Free for All - chronological order

(3 votes)

Free for All - S1-E4

Revealing mistake: When Rover is sent after Number 6, while he is attempting to escape the island in the speedboat, there is an overhead shot of Number 6 in the speedboat and you can see he is being played by a stunt double. (00:29:18)

Jack Vaughan

Free for All - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: Number 2 has a nice, bright red handkerchief peeking out of his pocket when he leaves the house. But between shots, it turns itself into a blue handkerchief.

Jean G

Free for All - S1-E4

Audio problem: During the campaign, the marching band is striking up a lively tune, and the bass drummer is pounding away on his drum - but there's no drum beat in the sound mix.

Jean G

Free for All - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: Number 6 grabs the boat hook and pulls the mechanic into the water. With a sudden shift in camera angles, the hook instantly vanishes from the falling man's hands.

Jean G

Free for All - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: While Number 6 and the maid are in the kitchen, the toast rack moves itself several feet in between takes. It's on Number 6's right, then suddenly appears on his left instead.

Jean G

Free for All - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: The sequences of Number 6's campaign speech scene were apparently filmed several months apart from each other. The trees behind him change from Springtime bloom to Winter bare and back again continually.

Jean G

Free for All - S1-E4

Revealing mistake: Stock footage puts Number 6 in two places at once when he grabs the bull-horn and starts shouting at the Villagers to go. There's an inserted shot of the plaza from "Arrival" that includes Number 6 walking through it on his first day in the Village.

Jean G

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

Revealing mistake: Though there aren't supposed to be any "normal" automobiles in the Village, there are several visible in this episode, parked in the background. Look closely behind the campaign placards as the golf cart/taxi moves, and behind Number 6 as he leaves the exchange. Several more can be seen behind 6 when the cameraman approaches him.

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

Number 6: Be seeing you.

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

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.