The Prisoner/Arrival

Arrival
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate	October 1, 1967
Written by	George Markstein and David Tomblin
Directed by	Don Chaffey
— N/A	1x02 → The Chimes of Big Ben
The Prisoner — Season One

Arrival is the first episode of the first season of The Prisoner. An ex-spy known only as Number Six is kidnapped and kept hostage on an island, where he plots escape alongside a friend of a former colleague of his named Cobb.

Starring: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six)

Guest Stars: Virginia Maskell (The Woman), Guy Doleman (Number Two), Paul Eddington (Cobb), George Baker (The New Number Two)

with Angelo Muscat (The Butler), Barbara Yu Ling (Taxi Driver), Stephanie Randall (Maid), Jack Allen (Doctor), Fabia Drake (Welfare Worker), Denis Shaw (Shopkeeper), Oliver MacGreevy (Gardener/Electrician)

and Frederick Piper (Ex-Admiral), Patsy Smart (Waitress), Christopher Benjamin (Labour Exchange Manager), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), David Garfield (Hospital Attendant), Peter Brace (1st Guardian), Keith Peacock (2nd Guardian)

Uncredited: Fenella Fielding (Bright Morning Radio Announcer)

Plot Overview

After tendering his resignation and attempting to hastily pack for his vacation on a tropical island, a spy is suddenly gassed by a mysterious man wearing a top hat. He wakes up on a strange island with a hodgepodge of bizarre architecture that is seemingly uninhabited, until he reaches a cafe where he demands to use a phone. A waitress at the cafe points him towards a phone booth, but the operator refuses to connect him when he has no number to give her. The man finds his way to an information panel, like what one would find in a mall, and is suddenly interrupted by a woman who drives up and speaks to him in French. She offers to drive him anywhere locally, leading him to demand to be taken as a far away as possible.

The man finds himself back in town, next to a small store. Inside, he asks the proprietor for a map of the area so that he can figure out where he is, but the maps give no information other than he is in "your village." The man finds his way into a house marked with a number six. Inside the house, the man gets a phone call from Number Two, asking if he would come to breakfast at his home in the green dome. In Number Two's inner chambers, the man is offered eggs with bacon and tea, but he's only interested in answers. Number Two's main concerns are with the man's resignation, which they know from his letter of resignation but would like to check again. He refuses, because he doesn't trust the man but his attempts to leave are impossible. Number Two responds by showing him surveillance photography of him from a vacation in Singapore when he realized that something was amiss. Number Two offers to make his life very comfortable on the island as long as he cooperates with them. The man, of course, refuses.

As another gesture, Number Two takes the man up in a helicopter to see the town from an overhead perspective. The helicopter lands outside of the old peoples' home, where the two pick up a taxi to town hall. There, the man witnesses Rover envelope a villager, leaving nothing behind. Before this can completely register in his mind, he's guided into the citizen's information bureau, where he breaks a wooden toy on the desk of a man asking for him to fill out a questionnaire detailing his life. He storms out of the office, headed back into his own home. There, he kicks the maid out of his house and destroys the radio in a fit of rage, although it doesn't stop the music. The maid comes back briefly, and he questions her angrily about if anyone has escaped from the island, causing her to admit that she was hired to spy on him in exchange for freedom. She pleads with him to give some information so that they'll let her go, but he refuses.

The man makes his first escape attempt when the electrical repairman appears with a fixed radio. He makes his way into a garden of statues from which a member of the security force spies on him. The man, now clearly identified as "Number Six," makes his way past Rover and towards the beach, where he is chased by two men in a car. Number Six manages to subdue both of the men and steal their vehicle, only to be confronted again with the white balloon. He is pummeled by the balloon and wakes up in the hospital.

In the hospital, Number Six discovers Cobb, a colleague of his who is also incarcerated on the island. He attempts to get some information out of Cobb, but finds just as little information as he would from any other citizen of the village. Number Six goes in for an inspection by the doctor, at the behest of Number Two looking for more information. He is found completely fit but the doctor refuses to let him leave until the morning. After his brief examination, he discovers that Cobb has leapt out of a window to his death.

The next morning, Number Six is released and given a free ride home, but stops the tram suddenly at Number Two's home. There, he discovers a new man in the former Number Two's chair. The new Number Two is a far colder man who is less friendly to Number Six than his predecessor was. From his home, Number Six discovers a funeral march with a lone woman straggling behind. He follows her and asks if she would help him because of their common friendship with Cobb. Later, they meet and she tells him that they found an escape before Cobb was killed. She offers her aid in the form of a way to bypass the security system from a helicopter. While he gets into position, the woman is reassigned to following Number Six. Aware of her relationship with Number Two, Number Six waits for the woman to appear outside of the old peoples' home. She gives him the electropass and leaves, saying that she never intended to leave without Cobb. Number Six makes his way to the helicopter where Rover appears once again. The balloon follows him around the helicopter but doesn't attack, allowing him to get into the pilot seat. He pilots the helicopter towards the mountains, but the helicopter's controls are remotely linked to Number Two's office. Number Two pilots Number Six back to the beach and forces him to land. He decides to let Number Six keep the electropass and Cobb, not as dead as the woman or Number Six had previously thought, asks him to go easy on the woman. While Number Two goes to meet with his new masters, Number Six is driven away from the helicopter by Rover.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Number Six: Number Six has been kidnapped by the forces behind the island village after he resigned from the spy organization that he was with for years. These forces would like to confirm why he resigned, despite knowing what he wrote in his letter of resignation. He attempts to escape twice, once by foot and once by helicopter.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Alternate Version: There is a different version of this episode with changes in music and an ending in which Number Six is attacked by Rover. The alternate version was made available on the 2003 region 2 DVD.