# What was the cult TV series "The Prisoner" all about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 4, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263 "2004-08-04T11:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/1 "2004-08-04T11:21:33Z")
[What was the cult TV series “The Prisoner” all about?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_022c.html) I always thought that at the end after he’s been back to his flat he then leaves it and gets in his car. When he drives away what we’re seeing is the opening sequence, meaning that his escaping the village is what got him in there in the first place. The end is the beginning and the beginning is the end, one big circle type thing. Or am I wrong? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/2 "2004-08-05T22:35:18Z")
The best way to understand the ending is: it’s what Patrick McGoohan pasted together at the last minute to fulfill his contractual agreement. If I remember right, he wrote the entire script of the last episode within a 48-hour period. There isn’t necessarily a whole lot of thought behind it. But if we insist on looking for meaning here, certainly some people have offered an interpretation like yours. Or then again perhaps it means… [ul] [li]He has escaped the Village, for now, but the threat remains that he’ll be imprisoned again.[/li][li]He’s escaped and returned to London, but really London (or the wider world in general) is just as much a prison as the one he left.[/li][li]He’s leaving London and finally going on that vacation he was planning before all the trouble started.[/li][/ul] Who knows what’s really going on. Questions are a burden to others. Answers a prison for oneself. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/3 "2004-08-07T20:18:47Z")
SPOILERS: Loved the fact that every episode told us who #1 really was. When The Prisoner (aka Number 6) asked, “Who is Number 1?” we all thought Number 2 said, “You are Number Six,” when he/she was really saying, “You are, Number Six.” RE: the OP, the end with McGoohan driving away is not the exact same as the opening–different car, iirc. I wonder if I asked my computer “Why?” would it explode… Be seeing you… Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/4 "2004-08-07T20:34:12Z")
And did Cecil actually do a piece on **The Prisoner** , or is this accidentally misplaced? Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/5 "2004-08-12T22:21:39Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > Loved the fact that every episode told us who #1 really was. When The Prisoner (aka Number 6) asked, “Who is Number 1?” we all thought Number 2 said, “You are Number Six,” when he/she was really saying, “You are, Number Six.” True, but this might be post-hoc cleverness. The identity of #1 wasn’t known to anyone until McGoohan wrote the final episode. He might not even have known himself. > [@](#): > > RE: the OP, the end with McGoohan driving away is not the exact same as the opening–different car, iirc. Well now, it’s _supposed_ to be his car, the very same car he had from the beginning: [KAR-120C,](http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/lotus1.htm) a Lotus Seven. As was the case for Lassie though, there were several stand-ins for the same car (dog). That’s a production detail though, not a real part of the story. > [@](#): > > I wonder if I asked my computer “Why?” would it explode… That did seem to be a bit of an overreaction on the computer’s part. (Episode: _The General_.) Must have been one of those oldie computers with the “Halt, Catch Fire” instruction. > [@](#): > > And did Cecil actually do a piece on The Prisoner, or is this accidentally misplaced? Cecil’s article is linked to in the OP, right? Unless this website is just fabricating things. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/6 "2004-08-13T00:49:11Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > SPOILERS: > > I wonder if I asked my computer “Why?” would it explode… Not unless your computer understands “Why?” in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/7 "2004-08-13T03:05:29Z")
^^^Actually, I only have a slow-ass Webtv, so even if it did understand “Why,” it would take it about 33 years to process it and explode! I somehow missed the link to the column in the OP. Great show. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263/8 "2004-08-13T11:13:34Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > Loved the fact that every episode told us who #1 really was. When The Prisoner (aka Number 6) asked, “Who is Number 1?” we all thought Number 2 said, “You are Number Six,” when he/she was really saying, “You are, Number Six.” I can’t believe I had never thought of that. :smack: Good spot.