Starring: Patrick McGoohan, Angelo Muscat, Peter Swanwick
A. B. and C. - S1-E3
Corrected entry: When he breaks into the secret lab, Number 6 finds the syringe and substitutes plain tap water for the drug to be used on him. But even a small injection of unpurified, non-saline water can cause severe pain and is potentially lethal: it can cause oxygen bubbles to form in the bloodstream, and if this air embolism reaches the heart, cardiac arrest can result. Certainly not a risk Number 6 would take. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_embolism.)
Continuity mistake: Number 6 chooses a rather thin tree to cut down and fashion into his canoe. Somehow, when he's finished hewing out the wood to form the boat, it's considerably wider than the tree he started with.
Number 6: Unlike me, many of you have accepted the situation of your imprisonment, and will die here like rotten cabbages.
Free for All - S1-E4
Trivia: This episode's writing credit reads "Paddy Fitz." This was one of many pseudonyms Patrick McGoohan used in writing, directing and producing most of the series himself. "Fitz" was borrowed from his mother's maiden name, Fitzpatrick.
Question: Five questions: 1) WHO kidnapped Number Six? 2) WHY was Number Six kidnapped and placed in The Village? 3) What was Number Sixs' name? 4) Where was The Village located? 5) Who was in charge of The Village?
Chosen answer: 1) It's never made entirely clear, but it seems that the government, Six's employers, are involved. 2) Because they wanted to know why he resigned. 3) It's never revealed, although many fans assume that Six is really John Drake, McGoohan's character from the prior show Danger Man. McGoohan has, however, denied that this was the intent and there are some notable differences between the characters. 4) It's never revealed, although, as, in the final episode, Six and his companions are able to drive to London, it must logically be located within the British Isles. 5) No details are ever given as to who has ultimate authority over the Village.
Answer: Hope I am not going on too much, but I was watching bits of "The Prisoner" on YouTube, and have some information in response to question three "What was Number Six's name?" In the opening sequence of "The Prisoner" Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six walks into an office and throws a resignation letter on the table. He then drives to his house and hurriedly packs a suitcase. You can see him throw a UK passport into the suitcase. Seconds later, knockout gas is pumped into his house. He falls unconscious, then revives in "The Village." If he has a UK passport this must give his name, so it can be inferred that his name might be known to, or available to, anybody who really wants to know. After all, it seems plausible that the people or organisation who ordered his removal to "The Village" would have made at least a rudimentary search of his house and found the passport. Subsequently, in "Arrival" the first episode of the series, Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six meets "Number Two" who shows him a series of photographs illustrating his life from his schooldays up till his resignation. I find it inconceivable that Number Two could have acquired such a comprehensive amount of information about Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six, and not known his name. Yet Number Two never once mentions his name. Occasionally, in later episodes, characters mention that they knew Number Six in the time before they were transported to "The Village." But, during all seventeen episodes of the series, neither Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number Six, nor anybody else, ever mentions his name. From all this, it is clear that it was deliberately intended that viewers of "The Prisoner" would never know his real name.
Answer: Patrick McGoohan was often asked these, and many other questions about The Prisoner. He always refused to answer. He said the programme contained the answers. But you might want to try reading "I Am (Not) A Number, Decoding The Prisoner" written by Alex Cox and published in the UK in 2017. I regret that I, personally, was not wholly convinced by everything in this book. However, Alex Cox makes a dedicated and conscientious effort to deal with some questions asked about this very enigmatic television series. Alex Cox argues that Patrick McGoohan intended that the 17 episodes of The Prisoner should be watched in the order in which they were filmed, as these fill in details along the way. Even so, many questions about The Prisoner may always remain unanswered. One obvious paradox is that Patrick McGoohan/The Prisoner/Number 6 always says "I am not a number", and it is quite clear that much of his life before he arrived in "The Village" is well known to everybody, but he never, not even once, ever mentions his real name.
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Correction: In order to produce a dangerous embolism, between 300 and 500 ml of air needs to be injected. That is way beyond the capacity of the small syringe we see. And Number 6 would be confident that, like all medical professionals, the lab technician would expel any air from the syringe before the injection. It's a bog standard medical procedure.