The Prisoner

The Prisoner (1967)

199 mistakes

(3 votes)

Once Upon A Time - S1-E16

Continuity mistake: When No.2 is writing on the blackboard, in Question A. The capital letter "F" changes several times between the long shots and close ups. Also in Question B. The position of the first "T" in the word together also shifts position during the same shots, showing that the scene was filmed twice.

Arrival - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: When Number 6 is looking for a map in the Village store, the shopkeeper wears a badge with 19 on it. A few shots later, his number has mysteriously changed itself to 56.

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

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling - S1-E13

Continuity mistake: When Seltzman is talking to Number 2, there's a chair beside the tea cart with a foot rest, visible in the shots from behind Number 2. But when the camera angle changes to Seltzman's POV, the same chair appears in the shot - without its foot rest.

Jean G

A. B. and C. - S1-E3

Continuity mistake: During the dance, the bottle of wine on Number 6's table is sitting on the left side. No one touches it, but when he and B come back to the table, the wine has moved itself to the center.

Jean G

Arrival - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: Number 6 is looking out his window as the maid runs down the stairs. As he watches her, two tables in his apartment change places with each other between takes. A large table with a statue/sculpture on it switches positions with a smaller table on which his lamp and telephone rest.

Jean G

Arrival - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: When Number 6 climbs to the top of the bell tower and looks down at the Village, the beach below him changes remarkably between shots. The sequence was obviously shot at different times of day, as the tide is in during much of the scene, but in several intervening shots, the beach sand is completely exposed.

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

A Change of Mind - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: Watch the Butler standing in the background after the committee exits the meeting room. A very bad edit causes him to jump to a different position (a foot further away than he was before) between shots.

Jean G

Checkmate - S1-E9

Continuity mistake: At the start of the chess match, a man holding a stick climbs the ladder behind the Queen and settles in to watch. As Number 6 and the Queen converse throughout the game, however, both the ladder and the man have vanished. They both reappear behind the Queen as the game is ending.

Jean G

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling - S1-E13

Revealing mistake: When No. 6 is putting the 4 slides together to get the location information for Seltzman, as the slides are dropped into the top of the projector, they drop down the screen. However, a projector inverts slides, so they should slide up from the bottom. Also, when the last slide is dropped in, the final letters fade into view and not slide down as would be expected. (00:33:30)

The Chimes of Big Ben - S1-E2

Revealing mistake: When Nadia and Number 6 are embracing, many of the reverse-angle shots showing them from behind betray the use of a double for Nadia. Nearly every time the camera angle changes, she is noticeably several inches shorter.

Jean G

Fall Out - S1-E17

Continuity mistake: At the end, Number 6 and the Butler catch a bus near Westminster Bridge in London. The bus that drives up and stops for them has no back platform. But when they board, the style of bus suddenly changes to the more common type with an entrance in the back.

Jean G

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

Free for All - S1-E4

Trivia: This episode's writing credit reads "Paddy Fitz." This was one of many pseudonyms Patrick McGoohan used in writing, directing and producing most of the series himself. "Fitz" was borrowed from his mother's maiden name, Fitzpatrick.

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.

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