From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fall Out (The Prisoner)
Fall Out (The Prisoner)
"Fall Out"
Out" ment with Portmeirion’s architect, Sir Clough Williams-
Ellis, that the location would not be revealed until the fi-
The Prisoner episode nal episode.
Plot summary
After breaking Number Two’s will from "Once Upon a
Time", Number Six asks The Supervisor to "meet Number
One". After being allowed to change into his own clothes,
Number Six is led to a cavernous chamber bearing re-
semblance to a British courtroom, including a presiding
judge and a large assembly, its members wearing masks
and robes; The Supervisor joins its ranks after directing
Number Six to his seat. The room also contains a large
Episode no. Season 1 cylindrical object with a mechanical eye watching the
Episode 17 room, and is labeled "1". The judge announces that Num-
Directed by Patrick McGoohan ber Six has passed the ultimate test and won the right to
be an individual, and with that occasion, there are many
Written by Patrick McGoohan
matters of ceremony to be completed in the "transfer of
Production code vcil ultimate power".
The caged room from "Once Upon a Time" is lowered
Original air date 1 February 1968
into the chamber and Number Two’s body is taken into
Guest stars a laboratory in the chamber. His body is revived, and he
Number Two: Leo McKern is given a make-over. Both he and Number 48, a young
Number Forty-Eight: Alexis Kanner modishly-dressed man, are seemingly put on trial. Num-
President: Kenneth Griffith ber 48 refuses to conform, and causes a ruckus in the
chamber by causing the assembly to sing along to "Dem
Episode chronology
Bones" before he is restrained, while Number 2 questions
← Previous Next → why he was revived and defies the authority of the
"Once Upon A Time" — process. Both are taken away.
The judge shows Number Six that his home is being
"Fall Out is the seventeenth and final episode of the al-
Fall Out" prepared for his return, and gives him a large sum of
legorical British science fiction series The Prisoner, which money in traveller’s cheques, his passport, the keys to his
starred Patrick McGoohan as the incarcerated Number London home and his car, and a purse of petty cash. The
Six. The episode originally aired in the UK on ITV on 1 Fe- judge then offers Number Six to address the assembly,
bruary 1968, and was first broadcast in the United States but Number Six can only utter "I feel..." before the as-
on CBS on 21 September 1968. sembly rambunctiously drowns him out by clapping and
"Fall Out" generated controversy when it was origi- pounding on their desks. Number Six is then given the
nally aired, because the last third of the episode was de- opportunity to meet Number One by ascending in the
signed to be very obscure and be open to interpretation. metal structure after seeing 48 and 2 held in tubes la-
The reception forced McGoohan, who wrote and direct- beled "orbit 48" and "orbit 2" next to an empty tube la-
ed the episode, to go into hiding for a period of time be- beled ominously "orbit" with no number (noteworthy as
cause he was hounded at his own home by baffled view- 6 had been told he’s no longer to be referred "a num-
ers demanding explanations. This episode omits the usu- ber of any kind"). Number Six sees the hooded figure of
al long opening and instead shows a recap of the penulti- Number One watching surveillance videos of Number Six;
mate episode, "Once Upon a Time". This is also the only Number Six tries to unmask the figure, first revealing a
episode in the series in which the show’s main outdoors chimpanzee mask, then what appears to be a crazed ver-
location, Portmeirion, is given a specific credit in the sion of Number Six (suggesting that Number One was,
opening titles. This came about as a result of an agree- somehow, a perverted element of Number Six’s person-
ality) before Number One leads Number Six on a chase,
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fall Out (The Prisoner)
eventually locking himself in a room above the surveil- • The Butler: Angelo Muscat[3]
lance floor. As he leaves the metal cylinder Number Six
realizes it is a rocket and starts its launch sequence, send-
ing the assembly and the Village into a panic and mass
Shattered Visage
evacuation. The comic book sequel mini-series Shattered Visage (1988)
As Number Six leaves, he helps to free Numbers Two opens with the text of a classified intelligence report on
and 48, and along with the Butler they successfully en- the Village. It describes the events of this episode and
gage in a gun battle with the armed guards, killing sever- the previous as "a theatrical tour-de-force involving ac-
al of the guards in the process. Number Six and his three tors as well as hallucinogenic drugs," organised by Leo
confederates then make their escape in the caged room, McKern’s Number Two, in which Two "staged his own
revealed to be on the back of a Scammell Highwayman death and resurrection." Further explanation of this
low loader. As they leave the Village, the rocket launches episode is suggested when Number Two narrates the life
overhead. The last shot of the village in the series shows of Number Six and recounts how a psychologically bro-
it completely evacuated, except for Rover which is de- ken Six was convinced to choose a number - Number
stroyed upon activation by the flames of the rocket. As One. The comic suggests that the final sequences of this
the escapees drive along the A20 road towards London, episode, from the gun battle to Six driving his Lotus
Number 48 gets off and proceeds to hitch-hike. The re- Seven, represent a skewed perception of actual events.
maining three stop outside of the Palace of Westminster; Shattered Visage interprets the inauguration of Num-
Number Two thanks Number Six and enters the building ber Six in this episode as psychologically entrapping him.
via the peers’ entrance, while Number Six and the Butler Where before the Village sought to crush any sense of
return to Six’s former home and find The Prisoner’s car. free will Number Six possessed, here its administration
As he drives off, the door to his home opens for the Butler claims to respect his self-identity and offers him the re-
in the same electronic/automatic manner as the doors in ward of leadership. This position, however, requires that
the Village. The number on the door is 1. (This was also Number Six accept that he is a number - Number One. Ac-
the case in the standard opening sequence when Num- cording to the comic, Six’s acceptance of the number and
ber Six returns to his home just prior to being gassed in- abhorrence for being a number breaks his mind. It is im-
to unconsciousness, and in "Many Happy Returns", when plied that all this is initiated by the Degree Absolute in-
Number Six was temporarily allowed to "escape" from terrogation process of the previous episode.
the Village.)
The final moments repeat the show’s normal opening
sequence without the music (or the cloudy sky shot),
Miscellany
showing Number Six driving in his Lotus 7 car towards
the camera.
Cast notes
• Leo McKern, Alexis Kanner, and Kenneth Griffith all
appear in previous episodes of the series. While
Critical reception McKern’s Number Two is the same one that
At the time "Fall Out" was first broadcast there were previously appeared, Kanner’s Number 48 is almost
only three television channels available in the UK and certainly a different character to the one(s) he
the long-awaited final episode of the series had one of played in "Living in Harmony" and "The Girl Who
the largest ever viewing audiences seen until then for Was Death", but it is unclear whether Griffith’s
a television program.[1] As VCRs did not become gener- character is the same one that was the Number Two
ally available until some years later,[2] most consumers in the latter episode. It is, however, reasonably
did not have access to any video recording equipment common in The Prisoner for actors to play different
and the fleeting glimpse of No 1’s face was missed by characters in different episodes.
many viewers.[1] This, along with the intentional ambi- • Leo McKern’s hair is trimmed much shorter in this
guity of the finale caused bafflement and a great deal final episode than in "Once Upon a Time" (and his
of anger amongst the public and McGoohan claimed he beard is absent entirely) because he changed his
was ‘hounded’ out of the country after the episode was appearance during the year-long production gap
shown.[2] The popular press joined in the ‘protest’ between filming the two episodes. The show
against this ‘rubbish’ McGoohan had foisted on the view- accommodated this by showing McKern’s face
ing public and he never worked in Britain again. [2] covered in shaving cream and being shaved before
he is revived.
• All six main stars of this episode are now dead - Peter
Additional guest cast Swanwick (The Supervisor) died in 1968, Angelo
• Supervisor: Peter Swanwick Muscat (The Butler) died in 1977, Leo McKern
• Delegate: Michael Miller (Number Two) died in 2002, Alexis Kanner (Number
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fall Out (The Prisoner)
48) died in 2003, Kenneth Griffith (The Judge) died in actors themselves (still in character), an extreme
2006, and then finally Patrick McGoohan (Number aerial shot of the Lotus on London streets (the driver
Six) died in 2009. is not actually recognizable) is captioned simply,
"Prisoner". Nor does McGoohan receive his usual
Production notes executive producer credit; in "Living in Harmony"
• This is the only episode to feature a pop song. As and "The Girl Who Was Death" it is replaced with a
Number Six approaches the large "court" chamber large "Starring Patrick McGoohan as The Prisoner"
and again during the gun battle, The Beatles’ "All credit, but here his name appears onscreen only as
You Need Is Love" is played in the background. writer/director.
• According to the book The Prisoner by Robert • McGoohan has very little dialogue in this final
Fairclough, McGoohan was informed that production episode, save for brief exchanges with the Judge and
was canceled on the series immediately following Number 48, his unintelligible speech at the podium
filming of the preceding episode "The Girl Who Was (only the words "I feel, that despite..." can be heard,
Death" and was given only a week to write a finale to the rest being drowned out by the "jury"), and a few
conclude the storyline started in "Once Upon a slogans heard in the archive footage.
Time", which had been filmed a year earlier. • The jukeboxes featured in the alcoves of the cave as
(Fairclough’s account is, however, in contradiction Number 6 is led to the court room are a Seeburg
to virtually all others, which state that McGoohan LPC480, Seeburg Mustang Discotheque, Seeburg
knew when he left for America to act in the SS160 Stereo Showcase, and a Wurlitzer 2300.
Hollywood film, Ice Station Zebra, that there would be
only four more episodes produced from that point, References
starting with "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling"
during his absence and ending with a finale; indeed, [1] ^ "Interview with Patrick McGoohan" Toronto,
most agree that this last happened because a Canada 1977 (transcript)
scheduled production break was scrapped when two [2] ^ From the pen of Chris Gregory: The Prisoner
series of 13 episodes were reduced to one of episode by episode| accessed on 17 April 2011
seventeen due to ITC chief Lew Grade deciding that [3] IMDb entry for "Fall Out"
the actor/producer was taking too long and
spending too much money.) In order to save time Bibliography
and cut costs, "Fall Out" reused several sets from • Fairclough, Robert, ed. The Prisoner: The Original
"Girl", most notably the rocket control room. Two 2.
Scripts. vol. 2 foreword by Roger Parkes. Reynolds &
guest actors from the episode, Kenneth Griffith and Hearn. ISBN 978-1903111819. OCLC 61145235. - script
Alexis Kanner, were also recruited to play different of episode
characters in "Fall Out" (this was in fact Kanner’s
third appearance on the series in only a few weeks,
as he previously played Number Eight alias "The Kid"
External links
in the Western themed episode "Living in • The Prisoner: Fall Out at the Internet Movie Database
Harmony"). According to Fairclough, McGoohan was • A page at The Straight Dope discussing the final
so pressed for time that Griffith was asked to write episode
his own dialogue. • The Fall Out Theory
• Patrick McGoohan receives no onscreen acting credit • Articles and views on the episode
in this episode. The episode opens with the series
title superimposed over the first moments of the
"Once Upon a Time" recap, with the location credit,
episode title, guest stars, David Tomblin’s producer
credit and McGoohan’s "written and directed by"
credit over aerial footage of Portmeirion following
that sequence. At the end, after the names of Kanner,
McKern, and Muscat appear as captions over the
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fall_Out_(The_Prisoner)&oldid=457566135"
Categories:
• The Prisoner episodes
• Television series finales
• 1968 television episodes
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fall Out (The Prisoner)
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