From: nrp@csug3.cs.reading.ac.uk ("Scented fads" Neilski)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.prisoner
Subject: Re: KTEH Prisoner running order
Date: 9 Nov 92 09:35:21 GMT
Reply-To: nrp@csug.cs.reading.ac.uk
Organization: University of Reading

Here's something posted in February.

From: thmartin@police.rutgers.edu (Number Three)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.prisoner
Subject: What is the proper order?
Date: 6 Feb 92 22:33:00 GMT
Organization: That would be telling.

cas@gandalf.neuro.tuwien.ac.at (Biddeford Poole) writes:
> A couple of weeks ago someone posted an article with different
> versions of the order of the episodes ("official" list, first airing, McG's
> order, ...). Unfortunately the article expired before I could archive
> it. Could the original poster - or someone who archived that article -
> please mail it to me.

Here's a table of a couple orders:

KTEH  6o1  ITC 1st  McG
 *1*              || 1  Arrival
  2    3 ||  8  " || 3  Dance of the Dead
  5    2 ||  4  " || 2  Free for All
  3    4 || 11  9 || 4  Checkmate
  4    5 ||  2  " || 5  The Chimes of Big Ben
  6    9 ||  7  " || -  Many Happy Returns
  7    8 ||  5  " || -  The Schizoid Man
  8    7 ||  6  " || -  The General
  9    6 ||  3  " || -  A. B. and C.
 10   14 || 12 14 || -  Living in Harmony
 11   10 || 10 11 || -  It's Your Funeral
 12   13 ||  9 13 || -  Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
 13   11 || 13 12 || -  A Change of Mind
 14   12 || 14 10 || -  Hammer into Anvil
 15               || -  The Girl Who Was Death
*16*              || 6  Once Upon a Time
*17*              || 7  Fall Out

KTEH:  Arranged by KTEH channel 54 (San Jose); reportedly approved by McGoohan
6o1:   Endorsed by Six of One, the Prisoner appreciation society
ITC:   "Official" ITC sequence
1st:   Original airing sequence
McG:   Patrick McGoohan's "original seven" episodes which "really count"
(Titles listed in my order.)

"Arrival" is indisputably the first episode.
"Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out" are indisputably the last pair.
"Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" flashbacks to "Arrival" and "Free For All".

The show had many production problems.  When "the Prisoner" first aired on
British television, several episodes were still being produced on the date
they were supposed to air, so other episodes that were finished were
scheduled in their place (so the order ITC later released the series in is
considered the "official" one).

Four of the script writers thought they were writing the second episode; in
two of them, "Dance of the Dead" and "Checkmate", Number Six says he is
new, although these were eventually shown about halfway through the series.

The Number Two from "The General" returns in "A. B. and C.", and in the
opening he says "I am Number Two" instead of "the new Number Two".  Also,
the Tally Ho bears the headline "Is No. 2 Fit For Further Term?"  They seem
to belong together in sequence.

Examining dates and time periods, the date at beginning of "Schizoid Man"
is presumably February 10.  In "Many Happy Returns", he sails for 25 days
and arrives in London on March 18.  In "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling",
he has been away for a year.

If one arranges the episodes so the interrogation of Number Six gets
riskier and more intense as it progresses, up to Degree Absolute, then
episodes where Number Six's life is endangered like "A. B. and C." and
"Schizoid Man" probably belong later in the series.

The episodes can also be ordered to show the progression of Number Six
as a character, at first angry and trying every chance to escape, making
various mistakes and being fooled by simple ploys, later becoming more
sophisticated, finding out how the Village works and avoiding the more
obvious pitfalls.  Or one can order them on the themes, like escape and
betrayal, within the series.

The producers probably did not care very much about continuity or a
consistent dramatic sequence.  Thinking about the order of the series
and coming up with your own is an interesting way to appreciate the
series.


-- neilski

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