The Prisoner – The Chimes of Big Ben

October 6, 1967 Season 1 Episode 2

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

Both sides are becoming identical. An International community, a perfect blueprint for world order….Number 2

The show has such a good premise. What does a super spy do when he/she retires? Most likely, they won’t be able to live their life in peace, but where do they go?

This was the 5th episode filmed, but it’s the second one aired. This explains the reason a few months have passed in time since he arrived. It’s one of my favorite episodes. The sugar cubes scene is very telling. They have it in his file how many cubes he uses in his tea. Just to mess with them, he changes the number he usually takes. Number 2 looks on in disbelief because Number 6 will not join quietly like some others did.

This episode really pushes the series into spy territory, playing with the idea that escape might be possible. Number Six encounters another prisoner who claims that she has outside contacts and a plan, and for the first time, the Village seems less sealed than it did in Arrival. She insists she knows a way to escape from the Village, and Number 6 builds a raft. After carefully planning their attempt, the two manage to leave the Village and drift out to sea. You think, hmmm, maybe he will break out of there…and he does, but then comes a twist.

The episode borrows the spy checklist… coded messages, double agents, and quiet deals, which suggests a more familiar path forward. You also see in what lengths the village will go to tame Number 6, and it’s out there. It also makes clear that intelligence work itself can be a trap. Trust becomes a liability, and the system Number Six once served is resembling the one now holding him.

It really drives home that escape is not just physical; it is psychological. It reinforces the idea that resistance is expected, managed, and often used against those who attempt it. It’s a great episode with who I think made the best Number 2, Leo McKern. He is one of the few who will return at the end. Be Seeing You!

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

18 thoughts on “The Prisoner – The Chimes of Big Ben”

  2. Pingback: The Prisoner – The Chimes of Big Ben – MobsterTiger

      2. No… my subconscious hasn’t taken me there yet…hmmm…but…Bailey asked me about my birthday in January and I told him…about the buttons on the show…so I do have a number 6 and number 2 buttons.

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      3. I dunno. I was immediately suspicious of the woman/swimmer.

        I think one of the great things about this show is how one piece can elicit so many reactions. For example, the swimmer bit and Rover. Rover is the ultimate evil, right? But Rover saves the woman, brings her back to safety. Rover is not seen as an intelligent creature, meaning it is nothing more than the orb. Yet Rover saves the woman, which seems totally out of character. Is Rover capable of thinking? It would seem so inasmuch as there is no other explanation for Rover turning itself into three in order to save the woman. It is not explained why Rover would save the woman, turn itself into three, and bring the woman back. Not at all in line with the minimalist thing we are introduced to that comes out of an opened faucet type of device and can only swarm around like a cattle dog or smother you.

        Another example of how one piece can elicit so many reactions. The sugar bit. Yes, it is clearly an act of defiance on the part of Number 6. But notice how throughout this episode Number 2 is constantly updating the files on Number 6? Is his marked reaction to Number 6’s sugar play a comment on the Village records being so far wrong? Or an oblique comment on Number 2 constantly updating the records?

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      4. On Rover…that is interesting. I don’t know if it’s a machine type thing or what. They push a button usually and out he comes…”Orange Alert” I think. I think they wanted her alive, like they do Number 6 but yea…I get what you are saying…Rover saved her. Or was it a show for Number 6?
        The village doesn’t like individual thinking. It’s almost like they don’t recognize it as legitimate or real… Yea it could be a comment on that…more and more bureaucracy.

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      5. I think the #2s are answerable to #1 and if the files aren’t accurate to the present moment, it can be used to replace #2 with someone who can do it.

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  4. Who knew sugar cubes could be leveraged as an act of resistance! I just posted a song that warns about being asked if you want “sugar in your tea…” But since your show is from the UK, every tea additive is on the table regardless!

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    1. Defiance…but the funny part was …that little act upset them and they had to change his files…needless to say…detailed records.
      Yes! I’m sure everything is laid out. I think I know the song but I could be wrong…I’ll check it out.

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  7. I watched it last night and realized something. I never got past E1 when I tried to watch it before, as E2 isn’t familiar at all. I thought it was way better than E1. It was quite clever in many ways. Only because I know the series continues, I knew the escape was only temporary. I have to wonder about the “umbrella” #2 carries around. I have a feeling it is more than an umbrella. I am also starting to see why it is fruitless to try and get away from those white balloons! Seeing another one generate underwater is frightening.

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