Cult TV Episode Guides

My Ranking of episodes continues 

18. Sub-Smash
This is dramatic but a bit of a departure from SHADO'S ongoing battle with the Aliens which is why I've put it down in this position.
Skydiver submarine sinks to the sea bed after clashing with an alien underwater craft and it's a race to get everyone out before the air runs out. Straker is aboard and suffers from claustrophobia. So plenty of drama as Alec Freeman organises the rescue, but as I said a diversion from the norm. It's okay nothing more.

17. Flight Path
From here on there certainly are no duff episodes, all good stuff, and this one is good but maybe a bit illogical.
George Cole stars as a Moonbase operative, Roper, who is forced to give the Aliens information on how they can dodge SHADO defences and fly just above ground level on the moon to attack. Roper's wife is threatened to make him cooperate with a SHADO technician in HQ under alien influence. Not sure why the Aliens couldn't get the " Flight Path" themselves and the idea that Roper on the lunar surface with a mortar is the best hope is a bit naff, but dramatic.

16. Identified
A good opening episode which does everything you'd want from a first episode.
Characters introduced, hardware introduced, good sets for Moonbase and SHADO HQ, and a lot of information divulged about the Aliens motivations. The medical examination of the captured alien was really good, creepy, and the demise was unexpected and explained with the general knowledge gained about the Aliens and their weaknesses and desperation to survive. A powerful pilot episode.

15. Destruction
Good cast in this one, Stephanie Beacham and Philip Madoc and Edwin Richfield who played Captain Hart in Dr Who The Sea Devils playing a Naval Officer here too.
The aliens plan to attack a Naval vessel dumping toxic gas at sea, thus releasing poison and destroying mankind.
This goes against the assumed mission of the aliens and therefore is marked lower for that.
Wanda Ventham as Colonel Virginia Lake gets plenty to do, Paul Foster and Beacham's scenes together are entertaining.

14. ESP
A bit far fetched, but enjoyable romp as the aliens increase the ESP power of a John Croxley in order to assassinate Straker.
We get a little bit more of the alien's motives when they communicate through Croxley and nice model work as a UFO smashes into Croxley's house. John Stratton excels as Croxley, a man pushed into a nervous breakdown. Stratton was Shockeye in Dr Who The Two Doctors.

13. The Sound Of Silence
Into the top half now, and I know which episodes are my top three, positions 4 to 13 are tricky. There's lots of great episodes, but I'll put this episode as 13th because it does run out of steam with 15 minutes to go.
Show jumper Russell Stone is kidnapped by aliens and is packed away in a lake bed landed UFO ready for the return journey, as part of the alien's organ harvesting programme.
SHADO are in the area trying to locate the UFO and are drawn into searching for Stone and work out where he is and in a great scene drop depth charges into the lake.
A fair bit of gore in this as a hippy and his dog are mutilated by the alien skulking about in the woods. More than a touch of Hammer Horror here.

12 Computer Affair
Simple but effective story as a UFO crashes in a Canadian forest and SHADO sends in a team to get the aliens. Nice scenes as SHADO vehicles enter the forest and are fired upon by laser beams from the landed UFO. There's a gunfight among the trees and an alien is captured. Usual Moonbase controller Gay Ellis is centre stage on Earth going in with the team to get the aliens, as she has been re- assigned after her error led to the loss of an interceptor craft after a moon attack. SHADO computer suggests her feelings of love for Mark Bradley led to her making her mistake.
This thread of the story is less effective, but overall an enjoyable episode which also includes Freeman resigning from SHADO, for all of 10 seconds, due to Straker’s actions.

11. Survival
Most of this episode takes place on the lunar surface as Paul Foster is presumed dead after his moon vehicle is destroyed by a UFO crashing. Foster though wasn't in it and he is stranded on the moon with a dud radio and an alien for company.
The two of them work together to try and make their way to Moonbase while their oxygen runs out.
A bit of nonsense spoken by Straker about racism being a thing of the past dates this a bit, but there's some lovely lunar surface scenes as Foster and his team track the aliens before the mishap that led to him being stranded.

10. Court Martial
Into the top ten and this episode makes it despite having no Sci Fi trappings at all.
It's all about espionage as Foster is accused of selling SHADO secrets to the press, is put on trial and sentenced to death. What makes this work is the tension as time ticks away until Foster's execution and Straker tries to prove his innocence despite the evidence against him. Great performance by Vladek Sheybal as the prosecutor Jackson who we've already seen as SHADO psychiatrist and in latter episodes comes into his own as SHADO science guru and doctor.
There's some amusing scenes between Straker and General Henderson and ends with Straker throwing Henderson's line about being a pig headed lout back at him.

9. The Cat With Ten Lives
An astonishing revelation here or conjecture by Dr Jackson after examining an alien corpse after a Moonbase attack. The body is human! Are the aliens actually formless, have no physical bodies at all, just intellect using humans to come to Earth and collect organs for transplant. The trouble with that is why would they need used organs to keep old bodies going when they can just take over a new body.
Jackson's theory seems to be justified as a siamese cat influences SHADO pilot Regan and forces him to pilot a Moonbase Interceptor into a collision course with the base. The cat was found in the road by Regan and his wife just prior to she being captured by aliens and put on board a nearby UFO. The cat is the star of this episode, as it roams SHADO HQ on its alien driven purpose. All great fun, with Alexis Kanner, number 48 in the finale of The Prisoner as Regan.

8. The Square Triangle
Always like seeing Patrick Mower, and here he plays Cass a guy plotting to murder the husband of his lover Liz.
Cass and Liz have lured the husband to a country cottage but unfortunately for them kill an alien instead. SHADO are in the area tracking the aliens down and find Cass and Liz after they've shot the alien. Liz and Cass have to be taken back to SHADO HQ to receive the amnesia treatment, but Foster pieces together the murder plot giving Straker a thorny problem. Does he let them go or report them? Problem is there's no evidence as Liz and Cass now have genuine amnesia. A chilling end to a above average episode.

7. The Man Who Came Back
Derren Nesbitt as Craig Collins a SHADO astronaut who is missing presumed dead after a UFO attack, but is found alive on an island in the Pacific.
SID the in orbit SHADO satellite is damaged and Collins and Foster prepare to launch in a rocket to repair it. But Collins accidentally apparently injures Foster and that means Straker has to join Collins in the rocket.
But Collins seems different since he returned surprisingly from his ordeal. Collins' behaviour has alarmed Col. Grey and Dr Jackson who says Collins medical has brought to light something odd.
A top class episode, wonderful performance by Nesbitt, and this episode, the first one made in the 2nd recording block shows no sign of the slower pace or padding of earlier ones. As we get towards the end of the production run, the series gets better and better.

6. The Psychobombs
Three members of the public come under alien influence and imbued with superhuman strength in order to assassinate Straker and destroy SHADO bases. Another way out theory by Dr Jackson, this time postulating that the aliens have turned the unfortunate three people into human bombs capable of drawing on the forces of the universe.
Good cast, creepy scenes as the trio go about their deadly business including a gory moment when Linda Simmons, played by Deborah Grant, a.k.a. Mrs Bergerac and Lucy's mother in Not Going Out, and Glen Mason, played by Mike Pratt a.k.a. Randall of Randall and Hopkirk , burn the fingerprints off of the hand of SHADO'S Captain Lauritzen.

5. Kill Straker
Second best IMO of the first batch of episodes made at Borehamwood sees Paul Foster and another SHADO operative entering Earth orbit when their ship is captured by a UFO. Foster and Gray are are brainwashed into killing Straker and go about trying on their return to the moon.
Great ending as Straker is faced with the fact that Foster is finished as a SHADO man as the brainwashing can't be reversed and he must be terminated.

4. The Long Sleep
Final episode produced and a dramatic tale over two time periods.
Ten years previous Straker was in a car that ran down a girl who muttered something about seeing a UFO. The girl went into a coma for ten years, but now the case is reopened as the girl awakes.
In a flashback we see what happened 10 years ago to Catherine Fraser who encountered aliens in a deserted country farmhouse who were burying a bomb.
Catherine and her boyfriend Tim were stoned on LSD and stole a vital component of the bomb and lost it.
It's beautifully filmed with the flashback scenes in sepia brown, and the LSD scenes in purple, I think, I'm colour blind!
A very sad end to this tale, leaving the series open ended.

TOP THREE
3. A Question Of Priorities
Probably the best remembered episode as Straker has to decide what is more important, his son's life or tracking an alien who wants to help.
Straker's son is run down by a car, but the SHADO plane bringing a life saving drug from the U.S. is diverted by Alec Freeman to Ireland to catch the alien who has broken into a house belonging to a blind old lady.
Freeman didn't realise the plane was being used to transport the drug and Straker decides NOT to countermand the order.
Very dramatic and an ending not to be missed.

2. Mindbender
A truly bizarre tale as Straker ends up watching episodes of UFO!!,
A crystalline rock is discovered on the moon after a UFO destroys itself, and astronaut Conroy who found it when gets back inside Moonbase starts hallucinating that he's in the Wild West fighting Mexican bandits.
Back on Earth, Beaver James who also has touched the rock suddenly sees everyone in SHADO HQ as aliens and goes on a killing spree. The rock is obviously responsible, a trap planted by the aliens, but that doesn't dilute the fun, especially as Straker touches it and believes he is an actor in a Sci Fi series called UFO !
Behind the scenes revelations as to how the series was made as the hallucinating Straker wonders through the sets as characters learn their lines, and meets Paul Foster, and General Henderson, using their real names. Straker ends up watching outtakes of previous episodes, including the episode where his son dies.
A wonderful wacky episode which blurs fiction and reality.

1. Timelash
And number 1 is the incredible Timelash, where time around the SHADO HQ is frozen, everyone fixed like statues, except Straker and Virginia Lake who have to reverse the time freeze before the aliens arrive. SHADO operative Turner is a traitor who has helped the aliens by incorporating an alien device into one of SHADO'S own to freeze time in return for power, and the aliens have given him mastery over time, and has to hold off Straker and Lake in the millionth of a second that has been frozen, waiting for the aliens to land.
Amazing fx for 1970 as Straker and Lake wonder through the studio lot above SHADO HQ, we see a bird in flight frozen in midair, and other creepy scenes frozen. A masterpiece and deserving of number 1 place.

9 hours ago, HawkMan said:

 

 

Steve Austin... Astronaut... A man barely alive... Gentlemen, we can rebuild him...

9 hours ago, HawkMan said:

 

 

I want one.

     THE PRISONER  

This will have SPOILERS abound BEWARE. I will go through all episodes in detail,  so if anyone wants to read a few to see if they like it then watch it  great,  that's the idea. Or read the whole lot, here goes.

1..ARRIVAL

Number 2 this episode, Guy Doleman and George Baker.

An unidentified British intelligence agent abruptly resigns from his job, storming its London office to turn in his identification papers. He returns home in his Lotus Seven and hastily packs a bag to go on holiday, unaware that an undertaker has followed him home in a hearse and releasing a sleeping gas into his home via the keyhole. The man discovers the gas too late and collapses in his study. Later, the man wakes up in what appears to be his study, but finds it is a mockup located in "The Village". He asks the colourfully-clad residents of the Village what country he is in, but they cannot provide a satisfactory answer. He discovers the Village is surrounded by mountains save for its beachline that opens onto the ocean with no sign of land nearby. Frustrated, he returns to the mockup study to find it is attached to a modern flat. There, he receives a phone call and told that Number 2 wants to meet him at the Green Dome.

At the Green Dome, where several technicians monitor all aspects of the Village, Number Two tells the man they only wish to know why he resigned and to whom he is loyal, as the intelligence he has gathered over his career is too valuable to simply let "walk away". Number Two strongly suggests they rather have his cooperation, but are prepare to use other means as needed. Number Two takes the man on a tour of the Village to show numerous security systems they have in place to keep those here in line, including Rover, a mysterious floating sphere that attacks those that flee. Later that night, the man attempts escape by sea but Rover catches him and renders him unconscious.

The man wakes in the Village's hospital, and finds a former colleague, Cobb, in the next bed over. The man learns Cobb is also incarcerated in the Village, but before he can learn more, the hospital staff take him away for examination. On his return, he is told Cobb committed suicide by jumping out of the window. The man is released, and he goes to accost Number 2, finding that a different man is now there. The new Number 2 says they may change that position from time to time for unexplained reasons, and then explains that no-one in the Village uses their names, but are instead assigned a number, and the man is now Number 6. Number 6 refuses to use this title (or wear his 6 button badge) as he adjusts to life in the Village.

Number 6 attends Cobb's funeral and observes a woman watching from afar, and proceeds to follow her around the Village before he talks to her directly. The woman, Number9, claims to have been working with Cobb on an escape plan, and suggests that Number 6 can still use the same plan. She gives him an electropass that can keep Rover at bay, giving him time to escape via a helicopter. Number 6 has doubts about her motives as he had seen her talking to Number Two, but accepts the pass. That night, Number 6 uses the pass and acquires a helicopter, but as he flies off, one of the technicians remotely takes over the helicopter and returns it to the Village. Number 6 is escorted back to his home in the Village. Number 2 is watching these events with Cobb, who had faked his death to engage Number 6. With his assignment complete, Cobb prepares to move on to his next duty, but warns Number 2 that Number 6 will be "a tough nut to crack".

2. Checkmate
(sorry for the bold print, mistake on my part)

Number 2 this episode,  Peter Wyngarde.

Number 6 is persuaded to participate, as the white queen's pawn, in an oversized game of chess using people as pieces. A rebellious rook (Number Fifty-eight) is taken to the Hospital for "evaluation". After the game is completed, Number Six talks with the Chess Master (Number Fourteen), who comments that one can tell who is a prisoner and who a guardian "by their disposition. By the moves they make." Number Six is later invited to visit the Hospital to observe the fate of Number Fifty-eight, and sees him subjected to Pavlovian mind control treatment. The woman playing the queen (Number Eight), who had fraternized with Number Six during the game, is subjected to hypnosis to make her fall in love with him and report his whereabouts should he attempt to escape again. Number Six shuns her, but seeks an alliance with Number Fifty-eight (the rook) and other villagers that he now believes he can identify as prisoners, not guardians. They attempt an escape by making a 2-way radio out of various pilfered electronic parts and then hailing a passing ship with a Mayday distress call, pretending to be a crashing airliner. Number Six discovers, however, that again he has been a pawn — Number Fifty-eight had mistaken the strong-minded Number Six for a guardian. Believing that the escape attempt was a test of his loyalty, he reported it all to Number 2.

3. FREE FOR ALL
Number 2 this episode,  Eric Portman.

Number 6 is persuaded to run for election to the post of Number 2 when it is suggested to him by the new incumbent that, should he win, he will finally meet Number 1. Number 58, a newly arrived young woman who speaks only an unidentified Slavic-sounding foreign language is assigned to Number 6 as his assistant.

Both men campaign for the office, with Number 6 subversively offering freedom if he is elected. Number 6 participates ambivalently, but abruptly makes a break for freedom himself in the midst of the campaign by escaping in a motorboat. He is retrieved on the water by Rover while he robotically mouths campaign platitudes. Number 6 and Number 2 drink and commiserate in a cave where illegal liquor is distilled and Number 2 confesses that he detests The Village. ("To hell with the Village!") Number 6 is again repeatedly drugged and coerced into accepting the campaign, and wins the election when virtually all the robotic "citizens" vote for him. As he and Number 58 go to the Dome to take command of the Village, she agitates him by playing with the buttons on the control panel before brutally slapping him and stunning him with bright lighting. As Number 6 becomes somewhat more lucid and attempts to broadcast to the Villagers that they are free to go, he is beaten by a group of mechanics in coveralls, and Number 58, now speaking perfect English, reveals herself as the real incoming Number 2, while the previous Number 2 prepares to head out. She asks her departing predecessor to give her regards to "the homeland".

4. DANCE OF THE DEAD

Number 2 this episode,  Mary Morris.

The scientist Number Forty attempts to extract information from Number Six by having Number Six's former colleague Roland Walter Dutton (Number Forty-Two) call him while he is under a sort of electronic hypnosis. Number Six resists and is suspicious of what is happening; Number Two orders the plan to be abandoned.

Number Six wakes up with no memory of the previous night's actions. He makes the acquaintance of a black cat, which later turns out to be a spy for Number Two. Number Two suggests that he get a girlfriend; he tries talking to his Observer, Number 240. He learns that a mysterious Carnival is to be held in the Village.

That night he makes another escape attempt, but is blocked by Rover on the beach. He spends the night on the beach and, upon awakening, discovers a dead man's body washed ashore. On the man's person is a radio. When Number Six tries to reach a high point to listen to it, at first he gets only static and a muffled, seemingly foreign, language channel. Then suddenly there is a mysterious broadcast:

"Nowhere is there more beauty than here. Tonight, when the moon rises, the whole world will turn to silver. Do you understand? It is important that you understand.

"I have a message for you. You must listen. The appointment cannot be fulfilled. Other things must be done tonight. If our torment is to end, if liberty is to be restored, we must grasp the nettle, even though it makes our hands bleed. Only through pain can tomorrow be assured."

Later, Number Six puts a lifering on the corpse and sends it out to sea with a note. Hiding in a cave, Number Six meets Dutton, who has been broken. Remembering his acquaintance with him, Number Six addresses him by name. Dutton says he has told his captors all he knows, but they believe he is withholding further secrets, and they will soon be employing harsher methods to extract the information from him.

The Carnival becomes a costumed ball and dance in which everyone has an elaborate identity except Number Six, who is simply given his own dinner jacket. He leaves the party to investigate and finds out that Dutton is to be executed. Later, he enters a morgue and finds that the body floated out to sea has been discovered. Number Two explains that the corpse will be altered to resemble Number Six, so that the outside world will assume he has died at sea.

The soiree ends, however, in a kangaroo court with Number Six on trial for the possession of the radio. After arguments for the prosecution (by Number 240) and defense (by Number Two), Number Six asks for Roland Walter Dutton to be called as a character witness. When Dutton is produced he is dressed in a jester's costume and is clearly a mindless simpleton. The trial ends with Number Six being sentenced to death. He is pursued through the corridors of the town hall by enraged Villagers, but escapes into a back room. There he finds and damages a teletype machine that may be a communication between the village and Number One. There Number Two informs him that "they don't know you're already dead". Number Six swears that he will never give in to the Village. As the damaged teletype resumes operating, Number Two wryly observes, "Then how very uncomfortable for you, old chap!"

 

5. THE CHIMES OF BIG BEN
Number 2 this episode,  Leo McKern

The episode opens with the relentlessly cheerful voice of the radio announcer encouraging every Villager to participate in an upcoming crafts show. Number Six is playing chess near the beach when Number 2 joins him. During their conversation, a helicopter lands and an unconscious woman is taken out on a stretcher.
Later, Number 6 is invited to The Green Dome where he and Number 2 watch the woman wake up on the main viewing screen. Number 2 says that she is the new Number 8 that she will be Number 6's new neighbour.
When Number 6 returns to his cottage, Number Eight emerges, confused, and asks for directions to The Green Dome. When she returns later, she reveals to him that her name is Nadia, but she is suspicious that he is a Village spy. The day after, Nadia tries to escape by swimming out to sea but is brought back by Rover and interrogated in the hospital. In response, Number 6 makes a deal, agreeing to participate more in Village life — for instance, by entering the craft show — if this puts an end to her torture.
Number 6 and Nadia become closer and eventually plan to escape. She tells him that she knows the location of The Village: On the Baltic coast of Lithuania about 30 miles (48 km) from the Polish border.
At the craft show (where every entry except Number 6's is a depiction of Number 2 in some medium), Number 6 presents his work, a multi-piece abstract sculpture called "Escape". He is then awarded first prize and uses the "work units" he has won to purchase a tapestry, the entry of one of the other prize winners. At night, he and Nadia escape in his exhibit, which is really a carved boat, using the tapestry as a sail.

When they reach land, they meet Nadia's contact. Number 6 borrows the contact's watch since his own has stopped. Number 6 and Nadia then hide in a packing case as they travel to London.

They end up in Number 6's old office and meet his former bosses. When they suspect him of being a double agent, Number 6 agrees to tell them why he resigned if Nadia is given protection.
However, as he is about to talk, Number 6 hears the familiar chimes of Big Ben. He looks at his watch and finds that it shows the same time — not the one hour's difference of the time in Poland. Realizing that he has been tricked, he begins a search of the office and discovers a tape recorder recreating the background sounds of London. He exits the building, finding himself back in The Village, with Nadia standing with Number 2 — thus revealing she was an operative all along.

6. THE SCHIZOID MAN

BEWARE !! TOTAL MIND BOGGLING BRILLIANCE.

Number 2 this episode, Anton Rodgers (left)

In his cottage Number 6 is with Alison (24), she is vaguely telepathic and is going to try entering The Village Festival with her talent. Number 6 has a pack of Zener cards, star ,three wavy lines , square , circle, triangle printed on them. Number 6 stares at each card and Alison with her back turned has to guess the shape. She scores 85 out of 100 correct. There is some empathy between them. She is also a keen photographer and while taking Number 6's photo she accidentally knocks a soda syphon onto 6's fingernail causing a bruise. She takes another photo of 6   hand up to face looking pensive. The instamatic camera processes the photo, she hands it to 6, the bruise clearly visible, another photo taken that she keeps.

Meanwhile Number 2 in the surveillance Centre , The Control Room, tells his Haitian assistant and white coated Doctor the experiment can begin.

That night while he is asleep Number 6 is put into deep hypnosis by white coated medics. They hold scalpels to begin the most daring attempt yet to break Number 6. Number 6 is removed from his bed unconscious , the bedside clock calendar reads Feb 10.

Number 6 is placed in another bed in another cottage, he now has a BEARD, many days have passed, the calendar clock STILL READS FEB 10 ! Later that morning 6 awakes, looks at clock, it's the next day, or so he thinks. Suddenly he notices he's in a different cottage, he leaps out of bed, puzzled, frantic he feels his face, NO BEARD BUT A MOUSTACHE !, AND BLACK HAIR.
What has happened? The phone rings it's Number 2 greeting his old friend Number 12, welcoming him to The Village.
In the Green Dome 2 has breakfast ready for his friend , he tells 6 that they have a prisoner in The Village called 6 and he wants him broken and Number 12 , who is how 2 addresses 6, is the best man for the job given he is an almost perfect double, except for the black hair and moustache!

The confusion continues when 2 takes 6 (12) to 6's cottage ready to face 12(6). 6 has had his hair dyed back to normal brown and moustache removed.
So, 6 is being treated as another person,12, and tasked with breaking 6.
2 tells our hero that the password to identify himself is Gemini. 2 leaves, the double enters, the two are identical.
The double claims to be the real 6 as does the real 6. The double offers 6 a cigar, but 6 takes it with his left hand despite being right handed, and then almost chokes when trying to smoke it , because it looks like his brand but he can no longer smoke it. The double says this proves he's a phoney and he is the real Number 6.
The two head off to the gymnasium to try to prove who is the real Number 6.
Unfortunately the double, going by the number 6, is proving masterful. He wins at boxing and fencing easily, helped by the fact the real 6 boxes and fences left handed.
In the Green Dome, 2's assistant says in Haiti they'd say 12 has stolen 6's soul.

Out of gymnasium Number 2's heavies jump the DOUBLE and drag him off.
In the Green Dome the double is interrogated and quite forcibly in order to make him admit he's a double sent to break 6 (think about it).
The real 6 tells 2 while the double is unconscious after his beating, that he admires his boy's dedication to duty, allowing himself to be tortured to pretend to be the real 6 (still following this?).
Number 2 plays the bluff perfectly, telling the real 6, that we know he ( the double) is the real 6 but we'll break him yet.
2 suggests a thumb print test to determine who is 6. The double(12) has the real 6's print, according to the machine used but its been fixed to falsely show 12 has 6's print and 6 has a phoney one.
The real 6 realises he can break the stalemate and prove his identity thus bringing this scheme crashing....Alison and the Zener cards!

Alison turns up shocked to see two 6's , with her cards she begins the test, 6 then 12 concentrate on the shapes on the cards, Alison gives her verdict. The real 6 is the double!! This seems unbelievable, but Alison says the real 6 has a mole on his left wrist, the double shows his mole, 6's mole has gone...the scalpels at the start of he episode !
6 seems beaten, that night he starts flinching and shaking in his sleep. 2 and 12, the double, watch with glee,6 is almost broken.
In the middle of the night 6 wakes and notices the photo he still has taken by Alison...THE BRUISE! It's on the photo and on his finger!! HE IS THE REAL 6!

FLASHBACK ;
We now see what happened from Feb 10 to Feb 13, after 6 was removed from cottage. His mole removed by surgery, electric shock treatment to make him left handed, the cigars in his cottage doctored to make him choke on them. The Village clocks then returned to Feb 10. The Villagers,  brainwashed captives, accept this or not even notice.
6 notices the table lamp here in cottage 12 is shorting with sparks coming off it, sticks his right hand into it, electrocuting himself and returning himself to right handedness.

6 exits cottage fights with Number 2's heavies after giving the false password Gemini, and enters cottage 6 where the double is asleep. 12 wakes and pulls a nerve gas gun on 6, who fakes being mentally unstable and then pounces. The two fight,  6 pulls off the fake mole from 12's wrist,  the double says his real name is Curtis and the password is Schizoid Man. Outside the cottage Rover turns up , 6 gives the password, Curtis does as well, but too late, Rover suffocates him to death.
6 phones 2 gives the password Schizoid Man, and now assumes CURTIS 's identity.(holy mindf***)
6 pretending to be Curtis reports 6' s death, 2 de- activates Rover, and agrees Curtis can leave Village, after seeing Alison, to ascertain whatever information she has gleaned from her dealings with 6 as Number 1 will want to know. 6, as Curtis visits Alison, but Alison is a genuine empath and senses this is the real 6, because with her back turned she put a cigarette in her mouth, turned to see 6 holding lighter out to her, but says nothing. The next day 6, as Curtis, packs suitcase in cottage 6 where his gear is, and 2 drives him to helicopter take off pad. 2 notices Curtis (6) is edgy and says not to worry about the mission failure.  2 says he remembers Susan saying he's usually implacable and calm. At Helicopter Alison is waiting. 6 nervous as she approaches, but she doesn't give him away,  she says if she had another chance she wouldn't betray 6 again , SHE KNOWS THIS IS 6 !  2 approaches 6 who he thinks is Curtis, and wishes him goodbye and to give his regards to wife Susan. 6 agrees and gets in helicopter and is blindfolded. The helicopter takes off, 6 is escaping!! A few minutes later the helicopter lands where it started, 2 approaches, and says, " Susan died a year ago Number 6." 2 knew all the time or guessed and 6 failed the " Susan" test.

7. IT'S YOUR FUNERAL

Number 2 this episode Derren Nesbitt.

Number Six is awakened one morning by a young woman, Number Fifty, who tells him an assassination is being planned and asks him to help her prevent it. He does not believe her, thinking that she's working for Number Two. Number Two monitors the scene. Later that day, Number Six meets another prisoner who tells him about jammers, people within the Village who concoct false assassination plots, which Control is obliged to investigate. Number Six is told that Control has a list of these people and ignores their warnings.

The following morning, Number Two has a meeting with the Computer Attendant (Number Eight) and Number 100. The computer has plotted Number Six's daily routine. When Number Two learns that Number Six will be attending his weekly kosho workout that morning, he realises everything is going according to plan.

Kosho is a Village invention, a martial art on trampolines.

Number 100 is sent to the gym and replaces Number Six's watch with an identical one, which is broken. Number Six thinks his watch has stopped and takes it to the watchmaker (Number Fifty-four) to be mended.

While the watchmaker is in the back room mending his watch, Number Six notices a detonation device that can be operated by radio. As he leaves the shop, Number Six meets Number Fifty again and learns that she is the watchmaker's daughter. He also learns that the watchmaker is planning to assassinate Number Two. Number 100 assures Number Two that the watchmaker is too thoroughly indoctrinated and wants to assassinate Number Two and Number 6 will not dissuade him.

8. MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Number 2 this episode......?
 

Number 6 awakens to find The Village completely deserted. He sees this as an opportunity to escape. He takes numerous photos before assembling a raft and taking flight by sea for 25 days. He takes careful notes as to headings and times as best he can, but has an unfriendly encounter with gun-runners who are of no assistance. In fact they try to kill him by tossing him into the sea. He feigns death,  but swims onto the boat unseen, captures them, and pilots the boat to near a shoreline, He jumps off and swims to shore. He has landed at Beachy Head,  Southern England.   Wandering, he encounters a small band of Gypsies who speak no English.

He eludes what appears to be a police manhunt and stows away on a truck which takes him to  London. A Mrs Butterworth occupies his old townhouse and drives his Lotus 7. She is unperturbed when he approaches her, seems intrigued by his plight, and feeds and clothes him. He mentions that the next day is his birthday. Receiving Number Six's promises that he will return with her car,  Mrs. Butterworth says she might even bake him a birthday cake. He returns to the underground carpark/office where he presents himself to his old boss. His photo (and other) evidence of The Village meets with considerable skepticism. Former colleagues "The Colonel" and "Thorpe" are not entirely convinced that Number Six has not defected and now returned as a double agent, but after verifying all the details of his escape and evasion story, they seem to be more reassured.

With the assistance of some military officers and a map, they determine the general vicinity of the Village ("Coast of Morocco, southwest of Portugal and Spain." "Might be an island."). He leads a jet fighter pilot in a sweep of the area and spots the Village from the air,  the pilot nods and removes his flight helmet to reveal it isn't the expected RAF officer,  but a guy last scene at the RAF base delivering milk! A switch has been made  and 6 is unceremoniously ejected, parachutes in,  and finds The Village still totally deserted. 6 enters his cottage and is greeted iby the new Number Two: Mrs. Butterworth ! She offers him "Many happy returns!" and a birthday cake. Outside as if by magic or WHAT ? the Villagers are all back, he is a prisoner again.

Did we ever find out what motivated the big bouncy beach stalker?

This balloon had a vendetta. 

Patrick should have lured it onto a large sharp object. Something like the lightening rod another Patrick was impaled by in The Omen. Gruesome, but effective.

13 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Did we ever find out what motivated the big bouncy beach stalker?

This balloon had a vendetta. 

Patrick should have lured it onto a large sharp object. Something like the lightening rod another Patrick was impaled by in The Omen. Gruesome, but effective.

Within the narrative the balloon Rover was a device controlled by the Guardians and in episode 6 The Schizoid Man was deactivated after it mistakenly killed The Prisoner. Also the same episode was the only one it named as Rover. Put that episode up yesterday, WOW that was a complex one to post. I'd love to know what you or anyone actually thought of that story.

In real life the original prop was a mechanical vehicle,  like a go cart,  but on first take it went into the sea and vanished,  so Patrick desperate for this character "Rover " was looking skyward when he saw a weather balloon....the rest is history.

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

 I'd love to know what you or anyone actually thought of that story.

Afraid I can't make head nor tail of the whole caboodle. First saw repeat episodes some time in the 80s shown last thing at night. A relative told me she had seen the original run. Consternation was the principal takeaway. She'd kept watching till the end though.

I also saw an entertaining spoof on The Tube. Jools Holland as the protagonist. Got chased and barged over by the balloon. Fry and Laurie were involved.

Some dispute whether the Prisoner and Danger Man were one and the same. That character had a very dull yet oddly piquant name.

14 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Afraid I can't make head nor tail of the whole caboodle. First saw repeat episodes some time in the 80s shown last thing at night. A relative told me she had seen the original run. Consternation was the principal takeaway. She'd kept watching till the end though.

I also saw an entertaining spoof on The Tube. Jools Holland as the protagonist. Got chased and barged over by the balloon. Fry and Laurie were involved.

Some dispute whether the Prisoner and Danger Man were one and the same. That character had a very dull yet oddly piquant name.

That's a shame  but if you read my posts hopefully you'll get a handle on what it's about, that's my hope of doing  them, admittedly it is weird, but basically a simple tale of secret agent captive, but told bizarrely in a bizarre location.

Number 6 may have been John Drake of Danger Man, but McGoohan always denied it. Suspicion fell because admitting it was the same character would result in McGoohan having to pay royalties to Danger Man creator, Ralph Smart.

9. A CHANGE OF MIND
 

Number 2 this episode; John Sharp 

Number 6 pursues his daily exercise routine in the woods. Two young toughs arrive and accuse him of being anti-social for not using the community gym and a fight ensues in which Number Six prevails. In an anteroom to the Council Chamber, a Villager is seen desperately confessing to being "inadequate and anti-social"; he is applauded by others for this admission. Number Six is invited into the committee chamber to confess his lack of cooperation, but sarcastically declines to do so.

The Village newspaper, the Tally Ho, reports that Number Six is due for "further investigation". Number Two denies having any influence over the committee but warns of the consequences of non-compliance. Number Eighty-Six, an attractive female, chides Number Six for his non-cooperation.
Number Six's exposure of a community "rehab" process causes the committee to label him uncooperative. He is taken to the Hospital, where he encounters a Villager with a scar on his temple who says that he had been labelled as "unmutual", but is now cured. Number Six again appears before the committee and is told he will be labelled for "Instant Social Conversion" if he doesn't fall into line. He then reads in the Tally-Ho and hears over the public address system that he is officially "unmutual".

Next morning Number Six is thoroughly shunned, and Number Two threatens him again with Social Conversion, which is a sort of lobotomy. Number Six is attacked by the irate Villagers and marched to the Hospital. There he is strapped to a table and the Social Conversion process is explained to a Village television audience by Number Eighty-six, who is the chief technician in charge. Drugged, Number Six is subjected to an ultra-sonic treatment which lobotomizes him. At the last second, Number Eighty-six shuts off the ultrasound.

Number Six wakes up, apparently docile, returns to the community, and is welcomed by all. In his flat he sees his cup of tea being drugged by Number Eighty-six and pours it away. Number Two arrives and questions Number Six about his resignation, but is rebuffed. Number Two and Number Eighty-six discuss Number Six and reveal that the "ultra-sonic" lobotomy was an intentional sham, meant to convince the subject (in conjunction with the drug) that he has been lobotomized. Number Eighty-six, watching Number Six remove the dressing covering his "operation scar", doubts that he has been properly conditioned, but Number Two insists that all is well. She tries to drug Number Six again, but he takes over the tea-making process, switching the cups so that Number Eighty-six drinks the drugged tea instead.

Back at the exercise site in the woods, the thugs again confront Number Six. He initially appears confused and unable to defend himself, but ultimately rallies and prevails. Number Eighty-six, still intoxicated with the drug, is hypnotised by Number Six and explains how the conditioning process was faked; she is given undisclosed instructions by Number Six.

Number Six visits Number Two and convinces him that the ploy has worked, informing him that he wants to publicly confess to "everyone". Number Two arranges for the whole village to hear Number Six speak. The programmed Number Eighty-six arrives on cue at the stroke of 4 o'clock and loudly charges Number Two with being "unmutual". The Villagers turn on Number Two, who is forced to flee through the Village streets.
2 is captured and dragged of, presumably to be lobotomized.