History Series / ThePrisoner1967

* LaterInstalmentWeirdness The series spend the first twelve of its seventeen episodes (in production order) confined almost exclusively to The Village. But the next four episodes to be produced all spent the majority of their runtimes (apparently) outside the Village, with increasingly [[BizarroEpisode bizarre]] in-universe reasons for doing so without having Number Six actually escape the Village:

** The 17th and final episode, "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]", returned to being set mainly in the Village, but was enough of a BizarroEpisode to count as "Later Instalment Weirdness" in its own right.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Even if the Prisoner isn't John Drake, the show is at least a spiritual successor to ''Series/DangerMan'', which actually featured a Village-like facility in an episode entitled "Colony Three" (and included scenes filmed in Portmeirion in its very first episode "View from the Villa").

* AllJustADream:
** The resolution of two of the later episodes, where the majority of the episode is revealed to be a simulated dream or a fictional story being improvised by a character. And then there's the episode where Number Two decides to invade Number Six's dreams....
** Possibly the final episode... or the entire series.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Nadia Rakowski in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]" says she is Estonian, but neither her first name nor her last name are plausibly Estonian (and members of non-Estonian ethnicities living in Estonia during the 60s would have been highly unlikely to self-identify as Estonians). Also, if she were East European with the Slav surname Rakowski she would use the feminine form Rakowska.

* BackwardsFiringGun: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]", Number 6 modifies some rifles so they'll fire backwards before some guards arrive and attempt to shoot him with them.
* BadassBoast
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", Number Six claims he can do even better than escape the Village: he'll come back, wipe it off the face of the earth, obliterate it, and Number Two with it.
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE8DanceOfTheDead Dance of the Dead]]", Number Two coldly and confidently asserts to him that ''"This'' is your world now. ''I'' am your world now."
** "I am not a number, I am a free man!"

* BatmanGrabsAGun: The Prisoner consistently avoids using firearms, to the extent that in the Western episode he plays the part of a sheriff who refuses to carry a gun. As things come to a head in the final episode, this line is crossed.
* BavarianFireDrill: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE9Checkmate Checkmate]]", Number Six impersonates a guard simply by acting imperious. The other prisoners, who have been conditioned to be subservient, buy it without question.
* BecomingTheMask:
** The real threat represented by the Village. Yes, the people running it might torture or brainwash you, but eventually, they may not need to: the prisoners and jailers appear interchangeable, and the setting idyllic, with some prisoners eventually liking the place and choosing to serve it. [[spoiler: Leo [=McKern's=] No. 2 is eventually revealed to be a former inmate.]]
** Leo [=McKern=] apparently got very, very into the role as No. 2 in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE16OnceUponATime Once Upon A Time]]", to the point where the on-screen stress No. 2 was enduring caused either a real heart attack or nervous breakdown for the actor (the accounts differ).
** This is probably why "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE9Checkmate Checkmate]]" represents Six's darkest hour. Not only did he fail utterly at his plan, [[spoiler: he did so because he proved he would be an incredibly effective jailer in his own right, having inadvertently convinced the other prisoners he already is one.]]

* BondOneLiner:
** Subverted. On the surface, Six is a DeadpanSnarker like Bond, but his "jokes" are always deadly serious.
** But PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]".

* BoxedCrook: Number Six is unknowingly used as one in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]."
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]":
** Number Forty-Eight looks into the camera a few times, most notably at the end when he acknowledges the audience after he escapes.
** Number Two directs a "Be seeing you" at the camera as he sinks out of sight.
** The on-screen acknowledgement of the Hotel Portmeirion at the start of the episode qualifies as this as it's unusual to pull the curtain back in this way.
** Alexis Kanner smiles at the camera as his credit appears.

* ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou:
** "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]" turns out to be a story Number Six is telling to a group of children, and the two villains in the story are played by the same actors as Number Two and his assistant.
** "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE14LivingInHarmony Living In Harmony]]" plays out as a Western with the same [[TheReveal Reveal]], but in this case it was AllJustADream.

* CowboyEpisode: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE14LivingInHarmony Living In Harmony]]" takes place in a Wild West setting. Number Six is a sheriff who turns in his badge and gun and tries to leave town, but finds himself kidnapped and dragged off to a new town, where the mayor tries to convince him to become ''their'' marshal instead.

* CurbStompBattle: Number 6 vs. Number 2 in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE10HammerIntoAnvil Hammer Into Anvil]]". Made all the more awesome in that he doesn't even touch him. It's sort of a Curb Stomp BatmanGambit.
* DaddysLittleVillain: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]" has Sonia, who's [[TheDragon Daddy's Little Dragon]] to boot!
* DancePartyEnding: [[spoiler:The final episode.]]

* DeathTrap: Number Six is put through a gauntlet of them in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]".

* {{Determinator}}: Number 6. He ''does not give up''. In "A. B. and C.," it's revealed that his dreams are an endless loop of his resignation... and nothing else. He doesn't even quit when he's asleep.

* DramaticUnmask: Inverted in the final episode.

* DrivingADesk:
** Used in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]", one of the few episodes with much car-driving in -- and lampshaded when something surreal happens that's very easy to achieve with back-projection but would have been much more difficult with live driving.
** Also done in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]" when the characters are supposedly driving through the mountains of Austria.

* {{Elseworld}}: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE14LivingInHarmony Living In Harmony]]" turns the show into a Western, down to the [[SpecialEditionTitle credits sequence]]. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a hallucination induced by the Village staff.]]
* EmotionalRegression: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE16OnceUponATime Once Upon A Time]]", as a last resort to wring out the reason for Number Six's resignation, Number Two makes Number Six undergo regressive therapy, forcibly reverting him first to infancy, then progressing through his childhood and adulthood, with limited communication.

* FakeUltimateMook: Number 2 in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE10HammerIntoAnvil Hammer Into Anvil]]". At the start of the episode, he seems to be the most dangerous, sadistic, tenacious, calm, hands-on Number 2 in the series so far. Number 6 easily and ''utterly'' [[BatmanGambit destroys]] [[ParanoiaGambit him.]]
* {{Fauxreigner}}: Number 58 in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE4FreeForAll Free For All]]".

* FreakyFridayFlip: Creator/PatrickMcGoohan was not available for "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]", so Number 6's mind was put into someone else's body (and tasked with finding the inventor of the mind-swap machine, or else he'd never get back to his own body...). Strictly speaking, this lacked most of the standard bits of the "swap" aspect, as Number 6's body was portrayed as lying sedated for the entire episode.
* FriendToAllChildren: Number 6 is seen babysitting children in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]". [[PetTheDog Awwww!]]
* GainaxEnding: After footsying around with metaphor and allegory for the entire series, the GrandFinale goes so allegorical that there's a fairly good case for calling this trope the [[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]] Ending or the Prisoner Ending instead. The debate over what actually happens at the end hasn't died down in nearly fifty years. [[spoiler: Two main camps seem to be as follows: 1) The Village was an allegory for 6's own mental conflict over his decision to resign, and thus the entirety of it takes place in his mind; his escape being a metaphor for solving the conflict; and 2) The Village wins by creating an ideal position for 6 as its leader; even though 6 escapes to his home, the door to his flat now closes in the same way doors do in The Village, essentially showing that "they" are still monitoring his every move.]]
* GambitRoulette: Many of the ploys designed by the Number Twos involve ''very'' convoluted chains of events to work. "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE11ItsYourFuneral It's Your Funeral]]" stands out for the circular logic required to justify Number 6 being involved in the story (a group planning to assassinate Number 2 wants 6 to learn about them, so he can warn Number 2 and not be believed, rather than just staying secret in the first place).
* {{Gaslighting}}: Used against Number Six on several occasions, particularly in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]" in which he is given the identity of a Village agent brought in to impersonate himself.

* GrandFinale: Where the Prisoner escapes, [[TheEndOrIsIt or does he]]?

* HeelFaceTurn: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]":
** Number Two, who turns against his masters and is labelled as one "who bites the hand that feeds him."
** The Butler, who already turned to serve Number Six in the previous episode and continues to serve him now. (At least so we assume; he doesn't seem at all surprised when the door to No. 6's flat in London opens on its own...
** Number Forty Eight, who was brought before the Village in judgment for his open cultural rebellion as a youthful offender. When Number Six encourages the young man to not "wear himself out," Forty Eight immediately sides with him.
** In the episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE6TheGeneral The General]]" [[spoiler:Number 12 - who controls Security that episode - immediately aids Number Six's efforts to stop the Instant-Learning program. No explanation for 12's turn is ever given.]]

* HeroBall: Although No. 6 is the show's OnlySaneMan ''most'' of the time, it's hard not to FacePalm while watching "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE7ManyHappyReturns Many Happy Returns]]" when he [[spoiler: ends up at Beachy Head with its famous lighthouse and ''doesn't recognise it'', falls asleep on a truck without even bothering to hide himself, and subsequently goes straight back to his own home, even though he already ''knows'' from previous episodes that his former friends are after him.]]
** Even the intro has a touch of this. Number Six clearly anticipated some kind of retribution for resigning, given he immediately went home to pack in preparation to leave... So it's strange he didn't pack BEFORE resigning, rather than having to stop off at the one place they'd be most likely to set a trap for him.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** Number Six's method of looking for potential allies in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE9Checkmate Checkmate]]" is the very thing that thwarts that episode's escape attempt.
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE12AChangeOfMind A Change of Mind]]", Number Six turns the villagers against Number Two with the same tactics Number Two used on him throughout the rest of the episode.
* HumanChess: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE9Checkmate Checkmate]]". Unlike other examples of this trope the players are volunteers, but one of them is taken to the hospital for '[[{{brainwashing}} treatment]]' when [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill he makes a move on his own initiative]]. Also [[MirroringFactions both sides are dressed identically]].
-->'''Number 6:''' Who's he?
-->'''Woman:''' He's the champion.
-->'''Number 6:''' Who was he?
-->'''Woman:''' [[UnPerson Hard to say.]] I've heard rumors.
-->'''Number 6:''' Such as?
-->'''Woman:''' That he's an ex-count. They say that his ancestors used to play using their retainers as chess pieces. They say they were beheaded as they were wiped from the board. Oh, don't worry; it's not allowed here.
** Later Number Six has a quiet word with the ex-count.
-->'''Number 6:''' So, why do you use people?
-->'''Count:''' Because I can. I would say it [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen satisfies the desire for power]]. [[GildedCage It's the only opportunity one gets here.]]
* HumanMail: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", part of Number Six's escape plan includes being shipped in a wooden box from Poland to London.
* IdenticalStranger: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]" screws with Number Six's sense of identity by secretly conditioning him to alter his reactions, then introducing an Identical Stranger who's been trained to react the way Six is supposed to.

* IndividualityIsIllegal: See "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE12AChangeOfMind A Change of Mind]]" in particular.
* InstantSedation: The KnockoutGas in the first episode (and opening title) and a doctor's hypodermic in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE12AChangeOfMind A Change of Mind]]", both used on Number 6.

* JudicialWig: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE8DanceOfTheDead Dance of the Dead]]" has the current Number Two don a woolen wig to preside at the bizarre trial of Number Six. The charges are bogus, but it's all done to compel Six to reveal why he resigned from the Intelligence Service. Or kill him, either will do for Two's purposes.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]", Number 6's memory of the Village is wiped completely. He gets it back by the end of the episode without much explanation.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Happens a few times. In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]", No. 2 appears to say "Be seeing you" to the camera - or is he talking to a guard? At the end of "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]", No. 6 turns to the camera and says "Goodnight children, everywhere." He's talking to No. 2 who is monitoring him, but he could be speaking to the audience as well.
* LeftHandedMirror: PlayedWith in the episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]". Number 2 creates an exact double of Number Six and uses him to confuse Number Six into thinking that he's the double. The Villagers use aversion therapy on Number Six to turn him from right-handed to left-handed. The double is right handed, which he uses to claim that he's the real Number Six.

* LighthousePoint: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]", a MadScientist with a Napoleon complex plans to launch a rocket against London from an isolated lighthouse. (Actually [[spoiler:the lighthouse itself is the rocket]]. I say, you've guessed! You're not the Duke of Wellington, are you?)

* {{Lobotomy}}:
** Used for mind games. Number 6 is made to believe he's been lobotomized in the episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE12AChangeOfMind A Change of Mind]]".
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE8DanceOfTheDead Dance of the Dead]]", Number 6's former colleague Dutton ends up lobotomized for real.

* LogicBomb: How the Prisoner defeats the General. [[spoiler: It turns out that the General is a room-sized computer which can answer any question. The Prisoner asks it "Why?". The General overheats and explodes trying to come up with an answer. This is probably the TropeCodifier for the "ask the AI an open-ended philosophical question" version of the trope.]]

* MindRape: Lots of episodes, probably most notably "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]", in which Number Six is brainwashed into believing that he is merely someone impersonating Number Six, and "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE16OnceUponATime Once Upon A Time]]", in which he is brainwashed into mentally regressing to childhood.

* NapoleonDelusion: Professor Schnipps in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]" dresses like Napoleon, and has all his underlings wear period-appropriate uniforms.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Happens to The Prisoner in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE4FreeForAll Free For All]]"
* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine:
** He's often invited to dinner or breakfast or lunch with Number Two, but he seldom accepts outright. Naturally, since they know nearly every detail about Number Six's life, it's always YourFavourite.
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]", they subconsciously change his favourite food to aid in attempting to make him think he's someone else.

* ParanoiaGambit: Number Six does this to Number Two in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE10HammerIntoAnvil Hammer Into Anvil]]".
* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The Village's administration insists -- loudly and repeatedly -- that its government is democratically elected. In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE4FreeForAll Free For All]]", we see such an election: the voting is rigged and the results are overturned almost immediately anyway.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Loads of them during the extended spy movie parody in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]" (mostly from the eponymous antagonist, since Number 6 isn't really the type).

* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** [=McGoohan=] was a staunch Catholic, and Six never resorts to a fight unless forced, never womanizes, and refuses to compromise his beliefs.
** "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]" came about because [=McGoohan=] needed time off to make ''Ice Station Zebra''.
** "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]" was adapted from an unproduced ''Danger Man'' episode in order to fill the quota of extra episodes beyond [=McGoohan=]'s desired seven.
** According to several books on the series, [=McGoohan=] was given only a few days to come up with the WhamEpisode finale, "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]". In order to complete the script on time, Kenneth Griffiths, cast as the Judge, was asked to write his own dialogue. On a related note, episode guest stars Griffiths and Alexis Kanner were recruited to appear despite having both played key roles in episodes only a few weeks previously.
* ARealManIsAKiller: Invoked in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE16OnceUponATime Once Upon A Time]]".

* TheReveal:
** ''Many'' in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]". We get to see 6's boss, daily life, code names, friends, and ''fiancee''. But they still manage to avoid revealing his real name, even when 6 meets his fiancee.
** It's been suggested that the answer to the big question was given within the first few minutes of each show if you [[spoiler:add one comma... "Who is Number 1?" "You are, Number 6."]]
** Also, take a look at the number on Number 6's door when he finally arrives home at the end of "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]". That's right... it's [[spoiler:No. 1. (To be specific, 1 ''Buckingham'' Place, if you please!)]]
* SalvagePirates: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE7ManyHappyReturns Many Happy Returns]]". Number 6 escapes the Village on a raft and encounters a [[strike:fishing]] gun-running boat whose crew steals his belongings. He ends up fighting them and eventually captures them.
* SaunaOfDeath: Number Six finds himself trapped in a Sauna Box Death Trap during "The Girl Who Was Death". It doesn't explode, though, he merely escapes.

* ShoutOut:
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]", Number Six receives his orders in a manner mimicking that of Jim Phelps in ''Series/MissionImpossible''. The episode also includes more than a few nods to ''Series/DangerMan'' since it was adapted from an unused script for the series. Additionally, the title and structure of the episode strongly evoke the novel ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday''.
** The ''Shattered Visage'' comic series is just loaded with these, with the references running from ''Series/DangerMan'' to the short-lived, little known medical series ''Series/{{Rafferty}}'', which starred [=McGoohan=].

* SleepLearning: A major focus of "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE6TheGeneral The General]]", though of course, the Village always attempts to subvert "learning" with "re-education"

** Some truly masterful MindScrew examples in the GrandFinale ranging from Carmen Miranda to "Dem Bones" to Music/TheBeatles' "All You Need Is Love".

* SpecialEditionTitle: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE14LivingInHarmony Living In Harmony]]" has a Western-genre variation on the usual opening-sequence, with Number Six riding into a town and turning in his sheriff's badge. "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]" replaces the usual opening with credits played over a helicopter sequence of the Village, accompanied by the rarely-used second half of the theme tune.

* SpottingTheThread:
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", Number Six is tipped that he hasn't really escaped when he notices that [[spoiler:the eponymous chimes sync with the time on a watch he was given in what was supposedly Poland, even though the two are in different time zones]].
** Then, in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]", Number Two turns the table on him: [[spoiler:if he were really Number Twelve, he'd have known that Number Twelve's wife had died a year before]].

* StorybookEpisode: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]".

** One episode, "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE4FreeForAll Free For All]]", is a clear TakeThat to voter apathy and political machinery sabotaging democracy. Number 2 promises great gains if Six is elected, but the exact same people respond to his speeches as Six's with equal enthusiasm (prodded on by the Butler). Six's "supporters" even have party posters of him made up before he's even aware of the election, and to add to the insult, they use the same picture from his resignation photo in the opening montage. [[spoiler: At the end of the episode, Six has fought off party brainwashing, but his decisive election win is annulled and he is no more free than before. Only his jailer's face has changed. Subtly, this is also the only episode he willingly wears a number pin, to show his support for his own campaign.]]

* TapOnTheHead:
** "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]": Number 6 knocks out two {{Mook}}s with a bop on the top of the head, one with his fist and one with a grenade used as a club.
** "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE16OnceUponATime Once Upon A Time]]": The Butler knocks Number 6 unconscious with a club to the back of the head to stop him from strangling Number 2. The precise definition is lampshaded in this case as 6 doesn't immediately go down but rather spasms a bit as one might do if they've received a sudden shock like a club to the head.
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: The phonograph record that gives Number Six his assignment in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]" seems to hear his smart aleck aside.

* ThrowThePin: There's a variation in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE15TheGirlWhoWasDeath The Girl Who Was Death]]" where Number Six tampers with the bad guys' old-timey WWI-era grenades (the ones with a baton-like handle used to hurl a can-shaped charge) so the explosives ended up in the handles.
* TrickedIntoEscaping:
** In the episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", another prisoner convinces Number Six to join her in an escape attempt. It turns out to be a ploy to make him [[FauxtasticVoyage think he's escaped]] so that he'll let his guard down and reveal why he resigned.
** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE7ManyHappyReturns Many Happy Returns]]" Number 6 wakes up one morning to find the Village entirely deserted of people. He creates a raft and floats to England, but is eventually tricked into returning to the Village and being re-captured. The whole thing was a plot to make him despair of ever escaping.
* TrippyFinaleSyndrome: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]" was ''massively'' controversial. [=McGoohan=] has gone on record stating that he did this specifically to piss people off. ExpandedUniverse states that, yes, it was an LSD trip.

* VirtualRealityInterrogation: In the episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]". Number 6 escapes the Village and is transported to London, where he meets a former superior. As he's about to explain why he resigned, he realizes that the situation has been faked to trick him and discovers he's still in the Village.

* WhoShotJFK: The episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE11ItsYourFuneral It's Your Funeral]]" contains many hidden and overt references - including a grassy knoll! - to the Kennedy Assassination (conspiracy theories had been rampant ever since the Warren Report in 1964 failed to answer certain doubts).

* ArcNumber: While "2" and "6" are obviously recurring numbers, the digit "7" never appear in any regard. [[note]] Save for an appearance on a gravestone in the episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE10HammerIntoAnvil Hammer Into Anvil]]", as part of the number "73". [[/note]]

* AbsenteeActor: "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]" was filmed while [=McGoohan=] was off shooting ''Film/IceStationZebra'', so a [[FreakyFridayFlip mind swap]] plotline was devised that allowed another actor to play No. 6 for the episode.

* ArmedWithCanon: Co-creators Patrick [=McGoohan=] and George Markstein disagreed over whether The Prisoner was an [[CaptainErsatz ersatz John Drake]] from ''Series/DangerMan'' or a completely new and independent character, with each creator bringing their own interpretations to their respective efforts. [[WordOfGod The record]] finds evidence supporting both sides, but George Markstein did quit after the 11th episode as a result of that and other tensions within the production.

* AuthorAvatar: There are many, ''many'' clues suggesting that No. 6 represents Patrick [=McGoohan=] himself. The date and time of No. 6's birth, given in the pilot, are [=McGoohan's=] own; the Village authorities' extensive knowledge of No. 6's personal life reflects the reluctant celebrity's own frustration with living in a fishbowl, and their obsession with why he resigned reflects [=McGoohan's=] frustration with those who thought he owed them an explanation for why he quit being John Drake.

* FreakyFridayFlip: Patrick [=McGoohan=] was not available for "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]", so Number 6's mind was put into someone else's body (and tasked with finding the inventor of the mind-swap machine, or else he'd never get back to his own body...). Strictly speaking, this lacked most of the standard bits of the "swap" aspect, as Number 6's body was portrayed as lying sedated for the entire episode.

* FreakyFridayFlip: Patrick McGoohan was not available for "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE13DoNotForsakeMeOhMyDarling Do Not Forsake Me Oh my Darling]]", so Number 6's mind was put into someone else's body (and tasked with finding the inventor of the mind-swap machine, or else he'd never get back to his own body...). Strictly speaking, this lacked most of the standard bits of the "swap" aspect, as Number 6's body was portrayed as lying sedated for the entire episode.

* YourFavourite: Happens quite often, since the overlords at The Village know nearly everything about the Prisoner and can accommodate him almost immediately. They know how he takes his tea, what foods he likes, and so on, and regularly give him exactly that. In one episode, they change his favourite food to mess with his mind. (And in another, he takes his tea differently to mess with Number Two.)

'''No.2''': YouAreNumberSix.\\

* HumanMail: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", part of Number Six's escape plan includes being shipped in a wooden box from Lithuania to London.

** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", Number Six is tipped that he hasn't really escaped when he notices that [[spoiler:the eponymous chimes sync with the time on a watch he was given in what was supposedly Lithuania, even though the two are in different time zones]].

* HumanMail: In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", part of Number Six's escape plan includes being shipped in a wooden box from Poland to London.

** In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]", Number Six is tipped that he hasn't really escaped when he notices that [[spoiler:the eponymous chimes sync with the time on a watch he was given in what was supposedly Poland, even though the two are in different time zones]].

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: We never learn the location of The Village. The times we do get a location, they're contradictory; in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE7ManyHappyReturns Many Happy Returns]]", the Prisoner builds a raft and drifts out to sea; the Village is apparently an island somewhere near Portugal according to his calculations. In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]" they say it's somewhere off the coast of Poland. In "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]" it is apparently possible to drive straight to London from the Village.

The series deals with the conflict between individuality and authority, told through an unnamed man's attempts to escape from a surreal {{Dystopia}}n penal colony. Although that goal is continually thwarted, the Village's warders become just as frustrated as the Prisoner as they deal with a man who will not bend, will not break and ''never'' gives up the fight. Almost uniquely (for a series of that era not based upon a novel), it had a distinct StoryArc. The episodes had no clear progression, but the series did have a distinct beginning, middle and end, capped off by the GrandFinale "Fall Out".

The show is known for its obscure, confusing, yet intricate subtexts and plot twists, which culminated in the most notorious (and most beloved) GainaxEnding in British television history. Patrick [=McGoohan=] had almost complete creative control, a budget 40% larger than that of most other series, and ''no idea'' where the show was going from episode to episode. After what was broadcast as episode 11, the script editor, George Markstein, quit the series and was not replaced. Scripts and story ideas from that point on came from random people and places: a Western-themed episode was suggested by a video editor, and the infamous episode "The Girl Who Was Death" was an unused script from ''Series/DangerMan'' (featuring characters, props and locations from said series). Finally, the series' infamous ending (reportedly written over the course of a weekend after ITC head Lew Grade abruptly cancelled the series, with one of the guest stars asked to write his own dialogue) takes a turn for the surreal, fuelled by [=McGoohan=]'s wish to have "controversy, arguments, fights, discussions, people in anger waving fists in my face saying, ''how dare you?''". Let's just say that had Wiki/TVTropes been created by an earlier generation of nerds, GainaxEnding would have been called the "Prisoner Ending" and leave it at that.

Another one of the primary topics of fan debate is ''what order the episodes are meant to be in.'' There are five principal orders out there, and to be honest the original broadcast order is the one that makes the least sense. The only episodes that everyone agrees on is the introductory episode "Arrival" and the two-part finale, "Once Upon a Time"/"Fall Out" (which were filmed nearly a ''year'' apart). Everything in-between is up for debate.

* AbsenteeActor: "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" was filmed while [=McGoohan=] was off shooting ''Film/IceStationZebra'', so a [[FreakyFridayFlip mind swap]] plotline was devised that allowed another actor to play No. 6 for the episode.

* AnachronicOrder: More details [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Prisoner_episodes on the Other Wiki]], which even helpfully lets you rearrange them in five different orders. "Arrival" is definitely ThePilot and "Once Upon A Time/Fall Out" is definitely the two-part GrandFinale . Other than that, no one can really say beyond a reasonable doubt what order the episodes should be watched in.[[note]]some fans will even argue that since every episode except "Fall Out" begins with Number Six being abducted and confronting that episode's Number Two for the first time, every individual episode is actually in a different AlternateUniverse[[/note]] That said, there is ''some'' consensus on the rough position of many episodes:
** "The General" and "A, B and C" star the same Number 2 and work as a ''very'' loose two-parter.
** "Dance of the Dead", "Checkmate", "Free For All" and "The Chimes of Big Ben" are usually considered to be the earliest episodes - they establish basic aspects of the Village, Six occasionally comments that he's new there, and he's still trying to physically escape the Village as though it were a mundane prison.
** Most of the less openly MindScrew episodes are usually grouped in the centre. "Many Happy Returns" is often placed as the WhamEpisode where Six stops trying to escape the Village (because it seems there's nowhere he can run to) and goes on the offensive with his own mindgames instead.
** The weirdest ones ("Living In Harmony", "The Girl Who Was Death", "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling") are usually grouped at the end, as the Village plays desperate mindgames and ramps up the psychological weirdness coming into the GainaxEnding.

* ArcNumber: While "2" and "6" are obviously recurring numbers, the digit "7" never appear in any regard. [[note]] Save for an appearance on a gravestone in the episode Hammer Into Anvil, as part of the number "73". [[/note]]

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Nadia Rakowski in "The Chimes of Big Ben" says she is Estonian, but neither her first name nor her last name are plausibly Estonian (and members of non-Estonian ethnicities living in Estonia during the 60s would have been highly unlikely to self-identify as Estonians). Also, if she were East European with the Slav surname Rakowski she would use the feminine form Rakowska.

* BackwardsFiringGun: In "The Girl Who Was Death", Number 6 modifies some rifles so they'll fire backwards before some guards arrive and attempt to shoot him with them.

** In "The Chimes of Big Ben," Number Six claims he can do even better than escape the Village: he'll come back, wipe it off the face of the earth, obliterate it, and Number Two with it.
** In "Dance of the Dead," Number Two coldly and confidently asserts to him that ''"This'' is your world now. ''I'' am your world now."

* BavarianFireDrill: In "Checkmate," Number Six impersonates a guard simply by acting imperious. The other prisoners, who have been conditioned to be subservient, buy it without question.

** Leo [=McKern=] apparently got very, very into the role as No. 2 in "Once Upon a Time", to the point where the on-screen stress No. 2 was enduring caused either a real heart attack or nervous breakdown for the actor (the accounts differ).
** This is probably why "Checkmate" represents Six's darkest hour. Not only did he fail utterly at his plan, [[spoiler: he did so because he proved he would be an incredibly effective jailer in his own right, having inadvertently convinced the other prisoners he already is one.]]

** But PlayedForLaughs in "The Girl who was Death".

* BoxedCrook: Number Six is unknowingly used as one in "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling."
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In "Fall Out":

** "The Girl Who Was Death" turns out to be a story Number Six is telling to a group of children, and the two villains in the story are played by the same actors as Number Two and his assistant.
** "Living in Harmony" plays out as a Western with the same [[TheReveal Reveal]], but in this case it was AllJustADream.

* CouchGag: A rare serious example. Most episodes' introductions feature the back-and-forth quotation at the top of this page, but have redubbed No. 2's lines with the voice of the new No. 2 from the current episode, often featuring a brief shot of them.[[note]]To be specific: "The Chimes of Big Ben", "A. B. and C.", "The General", "Dance of the Dead", "Checkmate" and "Once Upon a Time" have the new No. 2 read the lines. "Free for All", "The Schizoid Man", "Hammer into Anvil", "It's Your Funeral" and "A Change of Mind" have a standard voiceover by Robert Rietti, but with a shot of that week's No. 2 inserted in the usual place. "Many Happy Returns" and "The Girl Who Was Death" use Rietti's generic voiceover with the shot of No. 2 omitted because the episode's plot hinges on No. 2's identity being a surprise. "Arrival", "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", "Living in Harmony" and "Fall Out" all omit the dialogue entirely due to each having a unique opening sequence.[[/note]]
* CowboyEpisode: "Living in Harmony" takes place in a Wild West setting. Number Six is a sheriff who turns in his badge and gun and tries to leave town, but finds himself kidnapped and dragged off to a new town, where the mayor tries to convince him to become ''their'' marshal instead.

* CurbStompBattle: Number 6 vs. Number 2 in "Hammer Into Anvil". Made all the more awesome in that he doesn't even touch him. It's sort of a Curb Stomp BatmanGambit.
* DaddysLittleVillain: "The Girl Who Was Death" has Sonia, who's [[TheDragon Daddy's Little Dragon]] to boot!

* DeathTrap: Number Six is put through a gauntlet of them in "The Girl Who Was Death."

** The spy hero has resigned from fighting the Cold War over "a matter of conscience", and we're given the strong possibility that the dystopian Village is run by his own "side", the NATO countries. There's also a strong undercurrent (spelled out by the Number Two in "The Chimes of Big Ben") that the two "sides" have become mutually indistinguishable in their methods, rendering the entire Cold War moot. See TakeThat below for a bit more context.

** Used in "The Girl Who Was Death", one of the few episodes with much car-driving in -- and lampshaded when something surreal happens that's very easy to achieve with back-projection but would have been much more difficult with live driving.
** Also done in "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" when the characters are supposedly driving through the mountains of Austria.

* {{Elseworld}}: "Living In Harmony" turns the show into a Western, down to the [[SpecialEditionTitle credits sequence]]. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a hallucination induced by the Village staff.]]
* EmotionalRegression: In "Once Upon a Time," as a last resort to wring out the reason for Number Six's resignation, Number Two makes Number Six undergo regressive therapy, forcibly reverting him first to infancy, then progressing through his childhood and adulthood, with limited communication.

* FakeUltimateMook: Number 2 in "Hammer Into Anvil". At the start of the episode, he seems to be the most dangerous, sadistic, tenacious, calm, hands-on Number 2 in the series so far. Number 6 easily and ''utterly'' [[BatmanGambit destroys]] [[ParanoiaGambit him.]]
* {{Fauxreigner}}: Number 58 in "Free For All".

* {{Filler}}: [=McGoohan=] has gone on record stating that only seven episodes in the series are essential to the main story arc: "Arrival", "Free for All", "Dance of the Dead", "'Checkmate", "'The Chimes of Big Ben", "Once Upon A Time", and "Fall Out". The rest were only filmed to satisfy the required episode count.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Although given the haphazard way the series finale was devised suggests this was not intentional, many have noted that if read with a different inflection than that heard on screen, one exchange between No. 6 and No. 2 in the opening sequence [[spoiler: "Who is Number One"; "You are Number Six"]] can be seen as foreshadowing one of the [[spoiler: big reveals in "Fall Out"]].
* FreakyFridayFlip: Patrick McGoohan was not available for "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", so Number 6's mind was put into someone else's body (and tasked with finding the inventor of the mind-swap machine, or else he'd never get back to his own body...). Strictly speaking, this lacked most of the standard bits of the "swap" aspect, as Number 6's body was portrayed as lying sedated for the entire episode.
* FriendToAllChildren: Number 6 is seen babysitting children in "The Girl Who Was Death". [[PetTheDog Awwww!]]
* GainaxEnding: After footsying around with metaphor and allegory for the entire series, the GrandFinale goes so allegorical that there's a fairly good case for calling this trope the Fall Out Ending or the Prisoner Ending instead. The debate over what actually happens at the end hasn't died down in nearly fifty years. [[spoiler: Two main camps seem to be as follows: 1) The Village was an allegory for 6's own mental conflict over his decision to resign, and thus the entirety of it takes place in his mind; his escape being a metaphor for solving the conflict; and 2) The Village wins by creating an ideal position for 6 as its leader; even though 6 escapes to his home, the door to his flat now closes in the same way doors do in The Village, essentially showing that "they" are still monitoring his every move.]]
* GambitRoulette: Many of the ploys designed by the Number Twos involve ''very'' convoluted chains of events to work. "It's Your Funeral" stands out for the circular logic required to justify Number 6 being involved in the story (a group planning to assassinate Number 2 wants 6 to learn about them, so he can warn Number 2 and not be believed, rather than just staying secret in the first place).
* {{Gaslighting}}: Used against Number Six on several occasions, particularly in "The Schizoid Man" in which he is given the identity of a Village agent brought in to impersonate himself.

* HeelFaceTurn: In "Fall Out":

** In the episode "The General" [[spoiler:Number 12 - who controls Security that episode - immediately aids Number Six's efforts to stop the Instant-Learning program. No explanation for 12's turn is ever given.]]

* HeroBall: Although No. 6 is the show's OnlySaneMan ''most'' of the time, it's hard not to FacePalm while watching "Many Happy Returns" when he [[spoiler: ends up at Beachy Head with its famous lighthouse and ''doesn't recognise it'', falls asleep on a truck without even bothering to hide himself, and subsequently goes straight back to his own home, even though he already ''knows'' from previous episodes that his former friends are after him.]]

** Number Six's method of looking for potential allies in "Checkmate" is the very thing that thwarts that episode's escape attempt.
** In "A Change of Mind," Number Six turns the villagers against Number Two with the same tactics Number Two used on him throughout the rest of the episode.
* HumanChess: "Checkmate". Unlike other examples of this trope the players are volunteers, but one of them is taken to the hospital for '[[{{brainwashing}} treatment]]' when [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill he makes a move on his own initiative]]. Also [[MirroringFactions both sides are dressed identically]].

* HumanMail: In "The Chimes of Big Ben", part of Number Six's escape plan includes being shipped in a wooden box from Poland to London.
* IdenticalStranger: "The Schizoid Man" screws with Number Six's sense of identity by secretly conditioning him to alter his reactions, then introducing an Identical Stranger who's been trained to react the way Six is supposed to.

* IndividualityIsIllegal: See "A Change of Mind" in particular.
* InstantSedation: The KnockoutGas in the first episode (and opening title) and a doctor's hypodermic in "A Change of Mind", both used on Number 6.

* JudicialWig: "Dance of the Dead" has the current Number Two don a woolen wig to preside at the bizarre trial of Number Six. The charges are bogus, but it's all done to compel Six to reveal why he resigned from the Intelligence Service. Or kill him, either will do for Two's purposes.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: In "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", Number 6's memory of the Village is wiped completely. He gets it back by the end of the episode without much explanation.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Happens a few times. In "Fall Out", No. 2 appears to say "Be seeing you" to the camera - or is he talking to a guard? At the end of "The Girl who was Death", No. 6 turns to the camera and says "Goodnight children, everywhere." He's talking to No. 2 who is monitoring him, but he could be speaking to the audience as well.
* LeftHandedMirror: PlayedWith in the episode "The Schizoid Man". Number 2 creates an exact double of Number Six and uses him to confuse Number Six into thinking that he's the double. The Villagers use aversion therapy on Number Six to turn him from right-handed to left-handed. The double is right handed, which he uses to claim that he's the real Number Six.

** In "Hammer Into Anvil" and "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling".
** "Pop Goes the Weasel" is used throughout the series. The episode "Once Upon a Time" establishes "POP" as an acronym for [[spoiler: protect other people]] and originally "POP" was to be a featured element of the show's closing credits, but this was never broadcast (you still see it in the early edit versions of some episodes that have been released on DVD).

* LighthousePoint: In "The Girl Who Was Death", a MadScientist with a Napoleon complex plans to launch a rocket against London from an isolated lighthouse. (Actually [[spoiler:the lighthouse itself is the rocket]]. I say, you've guessed! You're not the Duke of Wellington, are you?)

** Used for mind games. Number 6 is made to believe he's been lobotomized in the episode "A Change of Mind".
** In "Dance of the Dead", Number 6's former colleague Dutton ends up lobotomized for real.

* LonersAreFreaks: Subverted since in the Village, the fact that Number 6 is a stubborn loner is his greatest strength. Doubly subverted in the episode "Checkmate".

** Many of the Village minders don't actually give a flying fuck about the answer -- what's important is that Number 6 surrenders by telling them. In the very first episode the first No. 2 encountered states outright that they know why he resigned, and proceeds to characterize the interrogation of No. 6 as "a double check". No. 6 also [[spoiler: outright states why he resigned, at least in broad strokes,]] in "Once Upon a Time". ([[spoiler: "For peace of mind ... Too many people know too much."]] Which is actually a reasonable reason for resigning.)
** Others, like the Number 2 in "A, B and C", set off the plot of the episode in question because they think they'll learn the true reason Number 6 resigned. They never do.
* MindProbe: There are ''several'' different machines that can at least partially tap into Number Six's mind and tell what he's thinking (or force him to think what they want him to think), but they can't seem to dig out the one specific response they need of him. It's stated in various episodes - especially "Dance of the Dead" - that use of such mind probes effectively lobotomizes the person affected. The Number Twos keep pointing out that the ones running the Village think Number Six can be useful to them... they just want him to break.
* MindRape: Lots of episodes, probably most notably "The Schizoid Man," in which Number Six is brainwashed into believing that he is merely someone impersonating Number Six, and "Once Upon a Time," in which he is brainwashed into mentally regressing to childhood.

* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: The three episodes featuring female Number Twos ("Dance of the Dead", [[spoiler:"Many Happy Returns"]], and [[spoiler:"Free For All"]]) are among those in which Number Six ends up most defeated and the closest to being mentally broken.
* NapoleonDelusion: Professor Schnipps in "The Girl Who Was Death" dresses like Napoleon, and has all his underlings wear period-appropriate uniforms.

** "Living In Harmony" - the episode where the Villagers turn on anybody who's "Unmutual"? No, it's the Western episode.
** "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" - an episode named after the song from ''Film/HighNoon''? It must be the Western episode, right? Nope, it's the mind swap episode.
** "A Change of Mind" - the episode where Six's mind is swapped into a different body? Nope, it's the one where he's ostracised for being "Unmutual".
** The episode revealed to be a story Six is telling to some children? "The Girl Who Was Death", not "Once Upon A Time".

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Happens to The Prisoner in "Free For All"

** In "The Schizoid Man", they subconsciously change his favourite food to aid in attempting to make him think he's someone else.

** In the episode "Many Happy Returns", [[spoiler:Number 6 called himself "Peter Smith", but this could be an assumed/false name. It's also an obvious variation on his German code name, "Schmidt".]]
** In "The Girl Who Was Death", a line of dialogue by a boxing referee is often misheard as announcing [=McGoohan=]'s character by the name "Mr. Drake". However, officially published scripts and closed captioning reveal the scripted line is "Mr. X."
** "Once Upon a Time" includes a line of dialogue (confirmed by examination of the script) in which No. 2 (pretending to be a teacher) says to 6 "Meet me in the morning break." A common mishearing of the line is "Meet me in the morning Drake."

* ParanoiaGambit: Number Six does this to Number Two in "Hammer Into Anvil."
* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The Village's administration insists -- loudly and repeatedly -- that its government is democratically elected. In "Free for All," we see such an election: the voting is rigged and the results are overturned almost immediately anyway.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Loads of them during the extended spy movie parody in "The Girl Who Was Death" (mostly from the eponymous antagonist, since Number 6 isn't really the type).
* PurelyAestheticGender: Outside of "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" (produced when [=McGoohan=] largely wasn't there), "Dance of the Dead" (wherein a female character falls in love with No. 6), and "The Chimes of Big Ben" (where it is hoped No. 6 would fall for a female prisoner with similar desire to escape), the characters' genders make no real difference to the plot.

** "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" came about because [=McGoohan=] needed time off to make ''Ice Station Zebra''.
** "The Girl Who Was Death" was adapted from an unproduced ''Danger Man'' episode in order to fill the quota of extra episodes beyond [=McGoohan=]'s desired seven.
** According to several books on the series, [=McGoohan=] was given only a few days to come up with the WhamEpisode finale, "Fall Out." In order to complete the script on time, Kenneth Griffiths, cast as the Judge, was asked to write his own dialogue. On a related note, episode guest stars Griffiths and Alexis Kanner were recruited to appear despite having both played key roles in episodes only a few weeks previously.
* ARealManIsAKiller: Invoked in "Once Upon a Time."

* {{Retool}}: According to various histories of the series, had a second season been commissioned, No. 6 would have found himself acting as an unwitting agent of The Village and being sent on missions, a major retool of the format. The episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" is in some ways a backdoor pilot for the new format, complete with pre-credits teaser. It could be argued that [=McGoohan's=] opinion of the idea is evident in that he chose this episode to be the one shot while he was filming ''Ice Station Zebra'', requiring another actor to play No. 6!

** ''Many'' in "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling". We get to see 6's boss, daily life, code names, friends, and ''fiancee''. But they still manage to avoid revealing his real name, even when 6 meets his fiancee.

** Also, take a look at the number on Number 6's door when he finally arrives home at the end of "Fall Out". That's right... it's [[spoiler:No. 1. (To be specific, 1 ''Buckingham'' Place, if you please!)]]
* SalvagePirates: "Many Happy Returns". Number 6 escapes the Village on a raft and encounters a [[strike:fishing]] gun-running boat whose crew steals his belongings. He ends up fighting them and eventually captures them.

** In "The Girl Who Was Death," Number Six receives his orders in a manner mimicking that of Jim Phelps in ''Series/MissionImpossible''. The episode also includes more than a few nods to ''Series/DangerMan'' since it was adapted from an unused script for the series. Additionally, the title and structure of the episode strongly evoke the novel ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday''.

* SleepLearning: A major focus of "The General," though of course, the Village always attempts to subvert "learning" with "re-education"

* SpecialEditionTitle: "Living In Harmony" has a Western-genre variation on the usual opening-sequence, with Number Six riding into a town and turning in his sheriff's badge. "Fall Out" replaces the usual opening with credits played over a helicopter sequence of the Village, accompanied by the rarely-used second half of the theme tune.

** In "The Chimes of Big Ben," Number Six is tipped that he hasn't really escaped when he notices that [[spoiler:the eponymous chimes sync with the time on a watch he was given in what was supposedly Poland, even though the two are in different time zones]].
** Then, in "The Schizoid Man," Number Two turns the table on him: [[spoiler:if he were really Number Twelve, he'd have known that Number Twelve's wife had died a year before]].

* StorybookEpisode: "The Girl Who Was Death".

** One episode, "Free For All", is a clear TakeThat to voter apathy and political machinery sabotaging democracy. Number 2 promises great gains if Six is elected, but the exact same people respond to his speeches as Six's with equal enthusiasm (prodded on by the Butler). Six's "supporters" even have party posters of him made up before he's even aware of the election, and to add to the insult, they use the same picture from his resignation photo in the opening montage. [[spoiler: At the end of the episode, Six has fought off party brainwashing, but his decisive election win is annulled and he is no more free than before. Only his jailer's face has changed. Subtly, this is also the only episode he willingly wears a number pin, to show his support for his own campaign.]]

** "The Girl Who Was Death": Number 6 knocks out two {{Mook}}s with a bop on the top of the head, one with his fist and one with a grenade used as a club.
** "Once Upon A Time": The Butler knocks Number 6 unconscious with a club to the back of the head to stop him from strangling Number 2. The precise definition is lampshaded in this case as 6 doesn't immediately go down but rather spasms a bit as one might do if they've received a sudden shock like a club to the head.
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: The phonograph record that gives Number Six his assignment in "The Girl Who Was Death" seems to hear his smart aleck aside.

* ThrowThePin: There's a variation in "The Girl Who Was Death" where Number Six tampers with the bad guys' old-timey WWI-era grenades (the ones with a baton-like handle used to hurl a can-shaped charge) so the explosives ended up in the handles.

** In the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben", another prisoner convinces Number Six to join her in an escape attempt. It turns out to be a ploy to make him [[FauxtasticVoyage think he's escaped]] so that he'll let his guard down and reveal why he resigned.
** In "Many Happy Returns" Number 6 wakes up one morning to find the Village entirely deserted of people. He creates a raft and floats to England, but is eventually tricked into returning to the Village and being re-captured. The whole thing was a plot to make him despair of ever escaping.
* TrippyFinaleSyndrome: "Fall Out" was ''massively'' controversial. [=McGoohan=] has gone on record stating that he did this specifically to piss people off. ExpandedUniverse states that, yes, it was an LSD trip.

* VirtualRealityInterrogation: In the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben". Number 6 escapes the Village and is transported to London, where he meets a former superior. As he's about to explain why he resigned, he realizes that the situation has been faked to trick him and discovers he's still in the Village.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Rover was initially meant to be a single entity, and had what was intended to be an on-camera "death". Though they'd already filmed a scene with him in "Once Upon a Time", the intent was always to reshoot it. When the show got cancelled, they no longer had the budget to do so, and so it lends the appearance of Rover being a type of weapon that inexplicably disappeared for several episodes.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: We never learn the location of The Village. The times we do get a location, they're contradictory; in "Many Happy Returns," the Prisoner builds a raft and drifts out to sea; the Village is apparently an island somewhere near Portugal according to his calculations. In "The Chimes of Big Ben" they say it's somewhere off the coast of Poland. In "Fall Out" you can drive straight to London from the Village in like an hour.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: In the second episode Number Two says it hardly matters which side of the Cold War runs the village, since both sides are becoming identical.

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness The series spend the first twelve of its seventeen episodes (in production order) confined almost exclusively to The Village. But the next four episodes to be produced all spent the majority of their runtimes (apparently) outside the Village, with increasingly [[BizarroEpisode bizarre]] in-universe reasons for doing so without having Number Six actually escape the Village:

** The 17th and final episode, "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]", returned to being set mainly in the Village, but was enough of a BizarroEpisode to count as "Later Installment Weirdness" in its own right.

* LaterInstalmentWeirdness The series spend the first twelve of its seventeen episodes (in production order) confined almost exclusively to The Village. But the next four episodes to be produced all spent the majority of their runtimes (apparently) outside the Village, with increasingly [[BizarroEpisode bizarre]] in-universe reasons for doing so without having Number Six actually escape the Village:

** The 17th and final episode, "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]", returned to being set mainly in the Village, but was enough of a BizarroEpisode to count as "Later Instalment Weirdness" in its own right.

* HumanChess: "Checkmate". Unlike other examples of this trope the players are volunteers, but one of them is taken to the hospital for '[[{{brainwashing}} treatment]]' when [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill he makes a move on his own initiative]]. Also [[NotSoDifferent both sides are dressed identically]].

* NotSoDifferent: In the second episode Number Two says it hardly matters which side of the Cold War runs the village, since both sides are becoming identical.

* GirlOfTheWeek: Usually one per episode, although they're all very different from each other. (Two of them are Number 2, some are evil scientists or moles, some die, some are hallucinations.) Number 6 has no romantic interest in them whatsoever, though. [[spoiler: As it turns out, he's already engaged.]] That doesn't stop several of them from expressing "interest" in No. 6, however (that said, in a case of creator-driven ExecutiveMeddling, [=McGoohan=] continually removed any hint of romance between females and No. 6 from the scripts, allowing only a couple of story-related exceptions to slip through).

* {{Gaslighting}}: Used against Number Six on several occasions, particularly in "The Schizoid Man" in which he is given the identity of a Village agent brought in to impersonate himself. Number Six uses the tactic against Number Two in "Hammer Into Anvil", where he does random suspicious-looking things to [[ParanoiaGambit drive Number Two to distraction]].

** Many of the elements of the show (as well as [=McGoohan=]'s previous show, ''Danger Man'') were deliberately designed as counterpoints to the growing popularity of the Franchise/JamesBond franchise: Bond's an expert gunsman (Six has moments of being a TechnicalPacifist), Bond is a walking example of ReallyGetsAround (Six is a CelibateHero), and Bond and Six are deeply, deeply divided over PatrioticFervour. Both characters are also superspies with pithy humour, and both feature over the top gadgets that suffered heavily from {{Zeerust}}. To hammer it home, [=McGoohan=] was one of the original picks to play Bond, but turned it down because he disagreed with the philosophy behind the character. Though it would have made him far richer, he reportedly never regretted the decision.

* '''Number 2''': A succession of leaders who live in the Green Dome. They all try in their turn to break Number 6. In general, each episode has a unique Number 2; a couple episodes have more than one, and a couple of Number 2s (played by Leo [=McKern=] and Colin Gordon) appeared in more than one episode.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prisoner6.jpg]]

* LaterInstalmentWeirdness The series spend the first twelve of its seventeen episodes (in production order) confined almost exclusively to The Village. But the next four episodes to be produced all spent the majority of their runtimes (apparently) outside the Village, with increasingly [[BizzaroEpisode bizarre]] in-universe reasons for doing so without having Number Six actually escape the Village:

* The series spend the first twelve of its seventeen episodes (in production order) confined almost exclusively to The Village. But the next four episodes to be produced all spent the majority of their runtimes (apparently) outside the Village, with increasingly [[BizzaroEpisode bizarre]] in-universe reasons for doing so without having Number Six actually escape the Village:

''The Prisoner'' is a celebrated 1967 British ScienceFiction drama with SpyDrama elements, filmed in UsefulNotes/{{Portmeirion}}, produced by and starring Patrick [=McGoohan=], and co-created by George Markstein.

The show is known for its obscure, confusing, yet intricate subtexts and plot twists, which culminated in the most notorious (and most beloved) GainaxEnding in British television history. Patrick [=McGoohan=] had almost complete creative control, a budget 40% larger than that of most other series, and ''no idea'' where the show was going from episode to episode. After what was broadcast as episode 11, the script editor, George Markstein, quit the series and was not replaced. Scripts and story ideas from that point on came from random people and places: a Western-themed episode was suggested by a video editor, and the infamous episode "The Girl Who Was Death" was an unused script from ''Series/DangerMan'' (featuring characters, props and locations from said series). Finally, the series' infamous ending (reportedly written over the course of a weekend after ITC head Lew Grade abruptly cancelled the series, with one of the guest stars asked to write his own dialogue) takes a turn for the surreal, fueled by [=McGoohan=]'s wish to have "controversy, arguments, fights, discussions, people in anger waving fists in my face saying, ''how dare you?''". Let's just say that had Wiki/TVTropes been created by an earlier generation of nerds, GainaxEnding would have been called the "Prisoner Ending" and leave it at that.

** He's often invited to dinner or breakfast or lunch with Number Two, but he seldom accepts outright. Naturally, since they know nearly every detail about Number Six's life, it's always YourFavorite.

* YourFavorite: Happens quite often, since the overlords at The Village know nearly everything about the Prisoner and can accommodate him almost immediately. They know how he takes his tea, what foods he likes, and so on, and regularly give him exactly that. In one episode, they change his favourite food to mess with his mind. (And in another, he takes his tea differently to mess with Number Two.)

** Many of the elements of the show (as well as [=McGoohan=]'s previous show, ''Danger Man'') were deliberately designed as counterpoints to the growing popularity of the Franchise/JamesBond franchise: Bond's an expert gunsman (Six has moments of being a TechnicalPacifist), Bond is a walking example of ReallyGetsAround (Six is a CelibateHero), and Bond and Six are deeply, deeply divided over PatrioticFervor. Both characters are also superspies with pithy humor, and both feature over the top gadgets that suffered heavily from {{Zeerust}}. To hammer it home, [=McGoohan=] was one of the original picks to play Bond, but turned it down because he disagreed with the philosophy behind the character. Though it would have made him far richer, he reportedly never regretted the decision.