.gif)
Number Six (The Prisoner)
Encyclopedia
Number Six is the central fictional character
in the 1960s television series The Prisoner
, played by Patrick McGoohan
. In the AMC remake, the character is played by Jim Caviezel, renamed "Six".
In several episodes, his attempts to escape his prison the Village
would be foiled, either by Number Two
, the place's chief administrator, who was frequently changed, or by Rover
, an enigmatic artificial guardian that resembles a weather balloon
.
Much of Number Six's background is kept a mystery during the series, and not even his true name is revealed. In the first episode, it is stated that he was born on 19 March 1928 (the same date as McGoohan's birthday), and that he held a position of some responsibility with the British government, possibly in some branch of British Intelligence, but the exact nature of his job is not known. Several episodes suggest that he was a spy or similar operative (code number ZM-73, as well as several other aliases). He is shown to be highly sagacious, if not a Genius
, with tremendous proficiency and expertise in subjects ranging from: Fencing
, Boxing
and Marksmanship; to Mathematics
, Languages and Astronomy
.
Many people as well as the series itself postulate that those in control of the Village are either testing Number Six, or actually want to know why he resigned. Even according to McGoohan during subsequent interviews, the answer is not clear. For if the Village is testing him, to see if he will tell his 'state secrets,' that is one thing. However, others suggest that the Village wanted to find why he resigned first, hoping that this revelation would unleash a torrent of other information. (At least one Number Two believes that it would: in "The Chimes of Big Ben", Number Two states, "If he will answer one simple question, the rest will follow: Why did he resign?")
In any event, following this encounter, Number Six appears to escape the Village. However, his ultimate fate is not revealed and in the closing credits as he enters his original house, the "undertakers'" car—seen in the opening credits when the occupant gets out and gasses the Prisoner through his door letter box—appears to drive by again. In interviews, McGoohan has repeatedly maintained that the Prisoner "hasn't got [his freedom]".
In several episodes, it is alluded that other residents in "The Village" are ex-spies, 'retired' without their consent. Number Six is known to have answered to at least two individuals known as simply as "The Colonel", as well as to another long-time superior named Fotheringay. These men are shown as being in league with the Village to one extent or another. It is also ambiguously (and menacingly) suggested that some people in the British government are in-concert with those who run the Village, regardless of whom they might be.
It is known that he was engaged to be married to Janet Portland, the daughter of his superior, Sir Charles Portland, prior to his capture by the Village, though this doesn't stop Number Six from developing close relationships (if not necessarily romantic ones) with various women during his imprisonment.
Medically, Number Six appears to be the picture of good health. However, the episode "Free For All" reveals that he was required to eliminate sugar from his diet "on medical advice" (although he intentionally drops sugar cubes in his tea in "The Chimes of Big Ben" as an act of defiance). [This act had been also done earlier in the series.] He claims rarely to drink in "Dance of the Dead
", and is seen to smoke only twice—once a cigar, and once in a dream sequence. "The Schizoid Man
" establishes Number Six as an at-least-occasional cigar smoker, as Number Two brainwashes him into preferring Russian cigarettes as a means of undermining his identity.
During the episode "Once Upon a Time
", Number Six undergoes an intense form of brainwashing/interrogation called "Degree Absolute" in which his mind is reverted to that of a child and he is made to relive major events of his life. Given the nature of this interrogation and the motive behind it, it is not known for certain what elements of Number Six's life so portrayed are real and which are fiction. Among these events presented is the suggestion that as a young man Number Six was driving a vehicle and speeding which may (or may not) have resulted in a fatal accident. It is also suggested he attended some sort of private school and was once punished for not telling the headmaster about some of his friends' rule-breaking activities. Another scene from the episode suggests that he worked for an established British banking firm before someone (the episode implies it was someone connected with the bank) enrolled him to a top secret government job.
During "Once Upon a Time" it is also stated (with greater certainty) that Number Six flew a bomber in "the war"; exactly which war is not stated but evidently Number Six was shot down and captured by the Germans, which presumably means World War II, which is possible given his stated birthdate, if only just.
A few names are attached to Number Six in the series, but it's impossible to tell if any of them are real. In "Many Happy Returns
" he identifies himself as "Peter Smith". Although it is possible that this is an alias, he does give it to a woman who has presented herself as the current owner of his car and tenant of his apartment. He in fact asks to examine the former's lease and the latter's log books, expressing surprise that both bear only her name. However, the house and car may have been acquired under one of Number Six's long-term false identities as a spy. In the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
", it is learned that Number Six possesses numerous code names: Schmidt, Duval, and ZM-73.
The connection between Number Six and Number One—the entity presumably in charge of the Village—is left intentionally ambiguous and has been the subject of debate and analysis since the final episode of the series aired. In "Fall Out
", Number Six encounters a man who is supposedly Number One: upon removing two masks worn by him, a person who is identical to Number Six is revealed. This man quickly escapes and never appears again. Speculation as to the identity of this person ranges from a twin brother of Number Six, to John Drake, to a likely mind-straining hallucination. It may be of importance that Number Six's address number is N° 1.
from 1960 to 1962 and then again from 1964 to 1966, but the actor always denied this. However, script editor, George Markstein
, who co-created the series with McGoohan, always claimed that Number Six is John Drake. According to Markstein, he conceived the Prisoner show-format as a revamp of Danger Man when McGoohan resigned. In Markstein's mind, The Prisoner was a sequel. Markstein's spy thriller concept was then melded with McGoohan's Kafka-esque
ideas, which McGoohan had been developing since he first saw Portmeirion
during the shooting of a Danger Man episode in 1959.
Official novels based on the series also make this connection, specifically those written by Thomas Disch and David McDaniel
, although these are generally not considered canonical.
In fact, Number Six's real name is never given or learned, even in episodes when he has met old colleagues or friends in the village, or in episodes where he comes into contact with his former superiors, coworkers or people in his life, they never refer to him by name, and such episodes appear to go out of their way to avoid anyone actually speaking his name.
In addition to this, the character of Fotheringay is played by Richard Wattis
, who played one of Drake's superiors on Danger Man. Also, Christopher Benjamin plays a secret service contact named Potter in both Danger Man and "The Girl Who Was Death
" episode of The Prisoner. However, Wattis' character on Danger Man was named Hardy, not Fotheringay, and Christopher Benjamin appears in early episodes of The Prisoner as an assistant to several Number Twos without being identified as Potter. The significance of Wattis and Benjamin's appearances is uncertain, especially as Potter appears only in a story being improvised by Number Six.
While John Drake and Number Six look identical and have the same moral integrity, the same profession, the same skills, and the same mannerisms, some differences are noteworthy. Drake is a less emotional, more restrained character while Number Six has a tendency to be outraged and furious as well as superior and condescending. Drake is a regular smoker of cigarettes and cigars, while Number Six smokes only twice in The Prisoner, despite the ready availability of tobacco in the Village. (During the production of The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan smoked constantly, which suggests that Number Six's only occasional smoking is a deliberate characterisation.) Drake is seen frequently consuming alcoholic beverages (or at least appearing to do so in the course of his undercover work) while Number Six claims to rarely drink.
Drake seems to prefer business suits with ties while Number Six's clothing of choice is a dark button-down sweater beneath a dress-jacket. However, the choice of clothing available to Number Six is limited to what was available in The Village.
published Shattered Visage
, a four-issue comic book mini-series based on The Prisoner, drawn by Mister X
creator Dean Motter
and co-written with Mark Askwith
. Taking place twenty years after the TV series, a shipwrecked woman named Alice Drake is washed up on the shores of the Village. She comes across an older, bearded Number Six. Six is a gentle man of a fragmented psyche, mentally scarred and withdrawn, living a solitary life as the single inhabitant of the Village. He says that the other villagers were "free to go" while he was "free to stay" and describes his fear of societal conditioning and conformity. While Six is obviously traumatised and an isolationist, Alice nevertheless finds him kind as he puts her up in his old number six residence, takes her for a tour of the Village, catches fish and makes them dinner.
Later, Alice encounters Number Two (this is the Number Two portrayed by Leo McKern
in three episodes), who speaks of Six as a man of many talents and tremendous influence, who was punished as an individual for actions he was made to perform on behalf of all his countrymen. Two claims that Six was imprisoned, interrogated, and eventually broken for the secrets he contained. According to this version of events, what is seen onscreen in Fall Out
is a drug-enhanced psycho drama, in which Six was lauded for his individuality and thus granted a number of his preference—Number One. The paradox that Six was the only individual and therefore Number One, apparently broke Six's mind. Number Six never left the Village, choosing to remain.
In a later confrontation between Two and Six that leads to a fistfight, Two calls Six a coward, saying that Six lost twenty years ago and won't return to the outside world because then he'd have to face defeat. Two adds that Six's secrets are out of date and that Six is nothing. Their fight takes them inside an old mill as a pumelled Number Six declares that he is a free man and his life is his own. Two, choking Six around the neck with both hands, answers, "Then take it!" Both fall out the window of the mill, into the water below. Shortly afterwards, Number Six returns to his old place of residence in the Village, and begins to shave his beard.
At the end of the story, Number Six and Alice Drake have returned to London. Six is clean-shaven and tidily dressed. Alice asks Six who Number One was. Six asks in reply, "Does the presence of Number Two require the existence of Number One?" He assures her that the secrets the Village sought from him are safe. "None of us would be here if they weren't," he says with a confident smile.
The character name "Alice Drake" is a reference to John Drake, but the mini-series otherwise stays away from the "Is Number Six John Drake?" question.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the 1960s television series The Prisoner
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
, played by Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
. In the AMC remake, the character is played by Jim Caviezel, renamed "Six".
In several episodes, his attempts to escape his prison the Village
The Village (The Prisoner)
The Village is the fictional setting of the 1960s UK television series The Prisoner where the main character, Number Six, is held with other former spies and operatives...
would be foiled, either by Number Two
Number Two (The Prisoner)
Number Two was the title of the chief administrator of The Village in the 1967-68 British television series The Prisoner. More than 17 different actors appeared as holders of the office during the 17-episode series .The first...
, the place's chief administrator, who was frequently changed, or by Rover
Rover (The Prisoner)
Rover is a fictional entity from the 1967 British television program The Prisoner, and was an integral part of the way 'prisoners' were kept within The Village. It was depicted as a floating white ball that could coerce, and, if necessary, disable inhabitants of The Village, primarily Number Six...
, an enigmatic artificial guardian that resembles a weather balloon
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
.
Much of Number Six's background is kept a mystery during the series, and not even his true name is revealed. In the first episode, it is stated that he was born on 19 March 1928 (the same date as McGoohan's birthday), and that he held a position of some responsibility with the British government, possibly in some branch of British Intelligence, but the exact nature of his job is not known. Several episodes suggest that he was a spy or similar operative (code number ZM-73, as well as several other aliases). He is shown to be highly sagacious, if not a Genius
Genius
Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....
, with tremendous proficiency and expertise in subjects ranging from: Fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
, Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and Marksmanship; to Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, Languages and Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
.
I am not a number, I am a free man
A central theme in the series was Number Two's attempt to discover why Number Six resigned from his position.Many people as well as the series itself postulate that those in control of the Village are either testing Number Six, or actually want to know why he resigned. Even according to McGoohan during subsequent interviews, the answer is not clear. For if the Village is testing him, to see if he will tell his 'state secrets,' that is one thing. However, others suggest that the Village wanted to find why he resigned first, hoping that this revelation would unleash a torrent of other information. (At least one Number Two believes that it would: in "The Chimes of Big Ben", Number Two states, "If he will answer one simple question, the rest will follow: Why did he resign?")
In any event, following this encounter, Number Six appears to escape the Village. However, his ultimate fate is not revealed and in the closing credits as he enters his original house, the "undertakers'" car—seen in the opening credits when the occupant gets out and gasses the Prisoner through his door letter box—appears to drive by again. In interviews, McGoohan has repeatedly maintained that the Prisoner "hasn't got [his freedom]".
In several episodes, it is alluded that other residents in "The Village" are ex-spies, 'retired' without their consent. Number Six is known to have answered to at least two individuals known as simply as "The Colonel", as well as to another long-time superior named Fotheringay. These men are shown as being in league with the Village to one extent or another. It is also ambiguously (and menacingly) suggested that some people in the British government are in-concert with those who run the Village, regardless of whom they might be.
It is known that he was engaged to be married to Janet Portland, the daughter of his superior, Sir Charles Portland, prior to his capture by the Village, though this doesn't stop Number Six from developing close relationships (if not necessarily romantic ones) with various women during his imprisonment.
Medically, Number Six appears to be the picture of good health. However, the episode "Free For All" reveals that he was required to eliminate sugar from his diet "on medical advice" (although he intentionally drops sugar cubes in his tea in "The Chimes of Big Ben" as an act of defiance). [This act had been also done earlier in the series.] He claims rarely to drink in "Dance of the Dead
Dance of the Dead (The Prisoner)
Dance of the Dead is the eighth episode of the television series The Prisoner.-Synopsis:Number 6 learns that a mysterious Carnival is to be held in the Village. He makes an attempt to escape that night but he is stopped by Rover on the beach. He then collapses due to exhaustion...
", and is seen to smoke only twice—once a cigar, and once in a dream sequence. "The Schizoid Man
The Schizoid Man (The Prisoner)
The Schizoid Man is an episode of The Prisoner.-Plot:In an extremely complex plot of bluff and double bluff, Number 2 brings a lookalike of Number 6, referred to as "Number 12", to The Village. Number 12 is not a clone, but an "agent" of The Village who happens to bear a very strong resemblance to...
" establishes Number Six as an at-least-occasional cigar smoker, as Number Two brainwashes him into preferring Russian cigarettes as a means of undermining his identity.
During the episode "Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (The Prisoner)
"Once Upon a Time" is the title of the 16th episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan as Number Six...
", Number Six undergoes an intense form of brainwashing/interrogation called "Degree Absolute" in which his mind is reverted to that of a child and he is made to relive major events of his life. Given the nature of this interrogation and the motive behind it, it is not known for certain what elements of Number Six's life so portrayed are real and which are fiction. Among these events presented is the suggestion that as a young man Number Six was driving a vehicle and speeding which may (or may not) have resulted in a fatal accident. It is also suggested he attended some sort of private school and was once punished for not telling the headmaster about some of his friends' rule-breaking activities. Another scene from the episode suggests that he worked for an established British banking firm before someone (the episode implies it was someone connected with the bank) enrolled him to a top secret government job.
During "Once Upon a Time" it is also stated (with greater certainty) that Number Six flew a bomber in "the war"; exactly which war is not stated but evidently Number Six was shot down and captured by the Germans, which presumably means World War II, which is possible given his stated birthdate, if only just.
A few names are attached to Number Six in the series, but it's impossible to tell if any of them are real. In "Many Happy Returns
Many Happy Returns (Prisoner episode)
Many Happy Returns is the seventh episode of the television series The Prisoner.-Additional guest cast:* Group Captain - Brian Worth* Commander - Richard Caldicot* Gunther - Dennis Chinnery* Ernst - Jon Laurimore* Gypsy girl - Nike Arrighi...
" he identifies himself as "Peter Smith". Although it is possible that this is an alias, he does give it to a woman who has presented herself as the current owner of his car and tenant of his apartment. He in fact asks to examine the former's lease and the latter's log books, expressing surprise that both bear only her name. However, the house and car may have been acquired under one of Number Six's long-term false identities as a spy. In the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling is the thirteenth episode of the television series The Prisoner, produced while Patrick McGoohan was in America filming Ice Station Zebra. As a workaround to McGoohan's absence the writers contrived to have Number Six's mind implanted in the body of another man , who...
", it is learned that Number Six possesses numerous code names: Schmidt, Duval, and ZM-73.
The connection between Number Six and Number One—the entity presumably in charge of the Village—is left intentionally ambiguous and has been the subject of debate and analysis since the final episode of the series aired. In "Fall Out
Fall Out (The Prisoner)
"Fall Out" is the seventeenth and final episode of the allegorical British science fiction series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as the incarcerated Number Six...
", Number Six encounters a man who is supposedly Number One: upon removing two masks worn by him, a person who is identical to Number Six is revealed. This man quickly escapes and never appears again. Speculation as to the identity of this person ranges from a twin brother of Number Six, to John Drake, to a likely mind-straining hallucination. It may be of importance that Number Six's address number is N° 1.
Is the Prisoner John Drake?
Many fans of The Prisoner believe that Number Six is really John Drake, the character that McGoohan played in Danger ManDanger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
from 1960 to 1962 and then again from 1964 to 1966, but the actor always denied this. However, script editor, George Markstein
George Markstein
George Markstein was a German-born British journalist and subsequent writer of thrillers and teleplays. He was the script editor and co-writer of "Arrival," the first episode of the British cult classic series The Prisoner, and appeared briefly in its title sequence...
, who co-created the series with McGoohan, always claimed that Number Six is John Drake. According to Markstein, he conceived the Prisoner show-format as a revamp of Danger Man when McGoohan resigned. In Markstein's mind, The Prisoner was a sequel. Markstein's spy thriller concept was then melded with McGoohan's Kafka-esque
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
ideas, which McGoohan had been developing since he first saw Portmeirion
Portmeirion
Portmeirion is a popular tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village and is now owned by a charitable trust....
during the shooting of a Danger Man episode in 1959.
Official novels based on the series also make this connection, specifically those written by Thomas Disch and David McDaniel
David McDaniel
David Edward McDaniel was a US science fiction author, who also wrote spy fiction, including several novels based upon the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..- Biography :...
, although these are generally not considered canonical.
In fact, Number Six's real name is never given or learned, even in episodes when he has met old colleagues or friends in the village, or in episodes where he comes into contact with his former superiors, coworkers or people in his life, they never refer to him by name, and such episodes appear to go out of their way to avoid anyone actually speaking his name.
In addition to this, the character of Fotheringay is played by Richard Wattis
Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
, who played one of Drake's superiors on Danger Man. Also, Christopher Benjamin plays a secret service contact named Potter in both Danger Man and "The Girl Who Was Death
The Girl Who Was Death
"The Girl Who Was Death" is a television episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 18 January 1968...
" episode of The Prisoner. However, Wattis' character on Danger Man was named Hardy, not Fotheringay, and Christopher Benjamin appears in early episodes of The Prisoner as an assistant to several Number Twos without being identified as Potter. The significance of Wattis and Benjamin's appearances is uncertain, especially as Potter appears only in a story being improvised by Number Six.
While John Drake and Number Six look identical and have the same moral integrity, the same profession, the same skills, and the same mannerisms, some differences are noteworthy. Drake is a less emotional, more restrained character while Number Six has a tendency to be outraged and furious as well as superior and condescending. Drake is a regular smoker of cigarettes and cigars, while Number Six smokes only twice in The Prisoner, despite the ready availability of tobacco in the Village. (During the production of The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan smoked constantly, which suggests that Number Six's only occasional smoking is a deliberate characterisation.) Drake is seen frequently consuming alcoholic beverages (or at least appearing to do so in the course of his undercover work) while Number Six claims to rarely drink.
Drake seems to prefer business suits with ties while Number Six's clothing of choice is a dark button-down sweater beneath a dress-jacket. However, the choice of clothing available to Number Six is limited to what was available in The Village.
Shattered Visage
In the late 1980s, DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
published Shattered Visage
Shattered Visage (The Prisoner)
The Prisoner: Shattered Visage is a four-issue comic book mini-series based on The Prisoner, the 1967 television series starring Patrick McGoohan. The name is a reference to Percy Shelley's famous poem Ozymandias, which forms part of the introduction.The series was illustrated by Mister X creator...
, a four-issue comic book mini-series based on The Prisoner, drawn by Mister X
Mister X (Vortex)
Mister X was a series of comic books first published in 1983–90 by Toronto-based Vortex Comics. Created by album and book cover designer Dean Motter, it was developed for a year in close collaboration with comic artist and illustrator Paul Rivoche, whose series of poster illustrations stirred up...
creator Dean Motter
Dean Motter
Dean Motter is an illustrator, designer and writer who worked for many years in Toronto, Canada, New York City, and Atlanta. Motter is best known as the creator and designer of Mister X, one of the most influential "new-wave" comics of the 1980s....
and co-written with Mark Askwith
Mark Askwith
Mark Askwith is a Canadian producer, writer, interviewer , and a familiar name in the fields of science fiction and comics.-Early life:...
. Taking place twenty years after the TV series, a shipwrecked woman named Alice Drake is washed up on the shores of the Village. She comes across an older, bearded Number Six. Six is a gentle man of a fragmented psyche, mentally scarred and withdrawn, living a solitary life as the single inhabitant of the Village. He says that the other villagers were "free to go" while he was "free to stay" and describes his fear of societal conditioning and conformity. While Six is obviously traumatised and an isolationist, Alice nevertheless finds him kind as he puts her up in his old number six residence, takes her for a tour of the Village, catches fish and makes them dinner.
Later, Alice encounters Number Two (this is the Number Two portrayed by Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
in three episodes), who speaks of Six as a man of many talents and tremendous influence, who was punished as an individual for actions he was made to perform on behalf of all his countrymen. Two claims that Six was imprisoned, interrogated, and eventually broken for the secrets he contained. According to this version of events, what is seen onscreen in Fall Out
Fall Out (The Prisoner)
"Fall Out" is the seventeenth and final episode of the allegorical British science fiction series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as the incarcerated Number Six...
is a drug-enhanced psycho drama, in which Six was lauded for his individuality and thus granted a number of his preference—Number One. The paradox that Six was the only individual and therefore Number One, apparently broke Six's mind. Number Six never left the Village, choosing to remain.
In a later confrontation between Two and Six that leads to a fistfight, Two calls Six a coward, saying that Six lost twenty years ago and won't return to the outside world because then he'd have to face defeat. Two adds that Six's secrets are out of date and that Six is nothing. Their fight takes them inside an old mill as a pumelled Number Six declares that he is a free man and his life is his own. Two, choking Six around the neck with both hands, answers, "Then take it!" Both fall out the window of the mill, into the water below. Shortly afterwards, Number Six returns to his old place of residence in the Village, and begins to shave his beard.
At the end of the story, Number Six and Alice Drake have returned to London. Six is clean-shaven and tidily dressed. Alice asks Six who Number One was. Six asks in reply, "Does the presence of Number Two require the existence of Number One?" He assures her that the secrets the Village sought from him are safe. "None of us would be here if they weren't," he says with a confident smile.
The character name "Alice Drake" is a reference to John Drake, but the mini-series otherwise stays away from the "Is Number Six John Drake?" question.
In other works
- Number SixNumber Six (Battlestar Galactica)Number Six is a family of fictional characters from the reimagined science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. She is portrayed by Canadian actress and model Tricia Helfer. Of the twelve known Cylon models, she is the sixth of the "Significant Seven"...
(played by Tricia HelferTricia HelferTricia Janine Helfer is a Canadian actress and former model, best known for her roles as Number Six in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, "Carla" on Burn Notice, and FBI Special Agent Alex Rice on Dark Blue, as well as for hosting the first season of Canada's...
), who appears on the television series Battlestar GalacticaBattlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
, is a tribute to the character, according to Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion (Titan Books, 2005). - There is an episode of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
entitled "The Computer Wore Menace ShoesThe Computer Wore Menace Shoes“The Computer Wore Menace Shoes” is the sixth episode of The Simpsons twelfth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 3, 2000. In the episode, Homer buys a computer and creates his own website to spread gossip...
", parodying The Prisoner, with McGoohan reprising his role as Number Six and Homer SimpsonHomer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
as Number Five. - In the second volume of the Tales of the ShadowmenTales of the ShadowmenTales of the Shadowmen is an annual anthology of short stories edited by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier, published by . As of 2010, seven volumes have been released, with a eighth slated for late 2011...
anthology series, Xavier MauméjeanXavier MauméjeanXavier Mauméjean is a French writer born in 1963. He teaches philosophy at a college in Valenciennes, Northern France.-Books in French:* Les Mémoires de l'Homme-Eléphant, Le Masque * Gotham, Le Masque...
's short story "Be Seeing You!" has Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
being the original Number 6, based on his birthdate of 6 January. Due to that, the original Number 2 (Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
) sets the policy that the Village's most difficult inmates will always be given the title of Number 6. - In the Iron Maiden song "The Prisoner", a section of speech from the film is played at the beginning of the song.