THE UNMUTUAL PRISONER ARTICLE ARCHIVE
Measure of the Man
by Mark O'Brien
Though often regarded as
one of the greatest TV series ever made, with a still devoted fan-base, Patrick
McGoohan's The Prisoner has had a checkered history. Its first run began in
1967, but then, largely due to its supposed incomprehensibility, it received
only rare repeat runs. In recent years, however, it appears to have found a
home on the Sci-Fi Channel, where the whole series has been shown several times.
In a TV world dominated by American series in which the action is paused every
ten minutes or so for a recap of what's happened so far, it is hardly surprising
that a show which expects its audience to think for themselves should be so
treated.
As one would expect in any great work of fiction, there are themes which recur
throughout the series. For instance, and whatever else one reads into The Prisoner,
the struggle for identity in the face of an overwhelming power, willing to go
to any lengths to force conformity, must surely be central. Fifteen out of the
seventeen episodes open with the following dialogue:
No.6: Where am I?
No.2: In the Village.
No.6: What do you want?
No.2: Information.
No.6: Who's side are you on?
No.2: That would be telling. We want information. Information. Information.
No.6: You won't get it.
No.2: By hook or by crook, we will.
No.6: Who are you?
No.2: The new Number 2.
No.6: Who is Number 1?
No.2: You are Number 6.
No.6: (Shouting, while punching the sky) I am not a number. I am a free man!
No.2: Laughs
Though the above dialogue does not open the first episode, 36½ minutes
into it the new No.2 concludes a conversation between himself and the Prisoner
by saying: "Good day, Number 6." McGoohan's character turns and asks:
"Number what?" To which he's informed: "6. For official purposes
everyone has a number. Yours is Number 6." Differing slightly from the
opening sequence dialogue, No.6 replies: "I'm not a number; I'm a person."
The Prisoner is alienated, at odds with his environment. Those who run the Village
- if in fact they are identifiable - see him only as a commodity to do with
as they please to obtain the information they desire. Having been divested of
his identity, designated only by a number, he strives to maintain his individuality.
But why does this - allegedly incomprehensible - story of one man's struggle
continue to attract the attention and why has it had such an influence upon
popular culture? (For the interested, go to Wikipedia.) This question may be
answered by asking another. Why is the Prisoner given the number 6?
On the DVD commentary for episode one, over the conversation referred to above,
in which No.2 calls McGoohan's character No.6 for the first time, Bernie Williams
(Production Manager) and Tony Sloman (Film Librarian) consider this question,
suggesting it may be a nod in the direction of an episode of another show called
William Tell, in which a then unknown Michael Caine plays a character referred
to only as 6; or it may just be that 6 is easier to say than 4 or 5.
This seems rather an inadequate explanation for a show so dependent on allegory
and symbolism. And numbers have long held great significance in many cultures
around the world.
In an interview conducted by Warner Troyer in March 1977, responding to a questioner
asking about possible religious symbolism in the final episode of the series,
McGoohan answers:
"No, I had never any religious inspiration for that whatsoever. I was just
trying to make it dramatically feasible. Certainly the temptation with the guy
putting me up on the throne and all this stuff, ah...it's Lucifer time. But
I never thought at that moment. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind it was
there..." [My emphasis]
However, it is known that as a young man, McGoohan had hoped to become a Catholic
priest. It is not unreasonable to assume, therefore, that he was somewhat familiar
with the Bible and that it was on the sixth day that God created man, saying,
"Let us make man in our image."
Further, God is the three-in-one: God the Father created the Heavens and the
Earth in six days, resting on the seventh. God the Son gave his life for the
salvation of fallen humanity and God the Holy Spirit inspires us to strive to
live in imitation of Christ.
Being in the image of God, man, too, shares in this three-in-one nature: his
god-like nature is expressed in his ability to control the natural world and
create an environment to his liking; his Christ-nature is expressed through
his altruism, even to the extent of giving his life for others; the Spirit being
an expression through the arts and other media of the mystical quality of life.
But man is also two - male and female or 3 + 3, for, though equal, the sexes
are distinct and so different. Of course, two 3s added together obtain 6, the
number of Man or Humanity.
And, if that wasn't enough, after dealing with the Law of God in the first five
books, the sixth book of the Bible is Joshua, the first of the History books.
As God is outside history this can only be yet another example of 6 being of
Man rather than God.
So, maybe somewhere at the back of his mind, McGoohan was aware that giving
his character the number 6 was of great significance. And it would certainly
shed some light on the shows continuing popularity, for, being concerned with
the very nature of man/humanity, it has something to say to its audience, whether
they watched it originally in 1967 or for the first time in the Noughties.