In what order should I watch the episodes?
That is a very good question.Here are a few possible orderings:
KTEH 6o1 SciFi ITC 1st McG
*1* || 1 Arrival
2 3 2 || 8 8 || 3 Dance of the Dead
3 4 4 || 11 9 || 4 Checkmate
4 5 5 || 2 2 || 5 The Chimes of Big Ben
5 2 3 || 4 4 || 2 Free For All
6 9 9 || 7 7 || - Many Happy Returns
7 8 8 || 5 5 || - The Schizoid Man
8 7 6 || 6 6 || - The General
9 6 7 || 3 3 || - A, B, and C
10 14 14 || 12 14 || - Living in Harmony
11 10 10 || 10 11 || - It's Your Funeral
12 13 13 || 9 13 || - Do Not Forsake Me
|| || Oh My Darling
13 11 11 || 13 12 || - A Change of Mind
14 12 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 Scott Appel for KTEH channel 54
(PBS affiliate in San Jose, CA)
6o1: Endorsed by Six of One
SciFi: Used for the Sci-Fi Channel marathon
(Note: The Sci-Fi Channel normally uses
the Six of One order)
ITC: "Official" ITC sequence
1st: Original airing sequence
McG: Patrick McGoohan's original seven episodes
which "really count"
(Note: "Living in Harmony" was omitted by CBS from the first showing of the series in the U.S. CBS claimed this censorship was because of the drug use portrayed, but this is unlikely in light of other episodes which were aired freely (e.g., "A, B, and C").
A more common explanation is that it was pulled due to the Vietnam era and the episode's themes of anti-authoritarianism and disrespect for the law.)
McGoohan has stated in an interview that he only wanted to do seven episodes, but his financier (Lew Grade) insisted that he needed more in order to sell the series. Grade, in fact, wanted 30 episodes; McGoohan managed to compromise on 17. Some of the extra episodes are basically "filler" and contain no (or re-used) shots of the Village. The seven core episodes are crucial; the rest, though individually worth watching, are less essential to the series as a whole.
The show had many production problems. When The Prisoner was first shown 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 (in particular, changes were made to "The Chimes of Big Ben" shortly before airtime; hence the existence of the alternate version).
The order in which ITC later released the series is considered "official".
"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".
Four of the script writers thought they were writing the second episode; in two of them, "Dance of the Dead" and "Checkmate", the Prisoner 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 "The Schizoid Man" is presumably February 10. In "Many Happy Returns", we learn the date is 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 the Prisoner gets riskier and more intense as the series progresses, then episodes where the Prisoner's life is endangered like "A, B, and C" and "The Schizoid Man" probably belong later in the series.
The episodes can also be ordered to show the progression of the Prisoner 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.
Thinking about the order of the episodes and coming up with your own is an interesting way to appreciate The Prisoner.