The Prisoner
The Chimes of Big Ben
TV Flash files “The Chimes of Big Ben” as hour 2 of 17 in the TV Flash guide — The Prisoner (1967–1968) on ITV, season 1, episode 2, aired 1967-10-08, 50 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E02: listed hour 2 of 17 in the The Prisoner guide, hour 2 of 17 in season 1. It aired 1967-10-08 (50 min). The listed hour before it is “Arrival” (S01E01). Next is “A. B. and C.” (S01E03).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Number Six has a new next door neighbour, Nadia. She befriends Number Six and tells him that The Village is situated on the Baltic. To cover their plans of escape Number Six enters The Village arts and crafts exhibition competition. His entry entitled "Escape" is the inspiration for their plan to get back to London.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Chimes of Big Ben sit in the The Prisoner guide?
S01E02 is listed hour 2 of 17 — hour 2 of 17 in season 1, season 1 episode 2.
When did The Prisoner S01E02 air?
The Chimes of Big Ben aired 1967-10-08 and is listed at 50 minutes.
Where should I start?
Episode one is the resignation-and-Village contract. The series is only 17 hours; starting at the beginning is the point, not a sample platter.
In the series
Why this series still plays
A secret agent resigns; a Village claims him. Patrick McGoohan's Number Six spends seventeen episodes demanding identity in a pastel prison of surveillance and untrustworthy faces. Stylish, stubborn, endlessly rewatchable spy-allegory — and a finale that still starts arguments. Be seeing you.
A secret agent resigns; a Village claims him. Patrick McGoohan's Number Six spends **seventeen episodes** (ITV, 1967–1968) demanding identity in a pastel prison of surveillance, mind games, and untrustworthy faces. George Markstein co-shaped the thing with him. Angelo Muscat's Butler and Leo McKern's Number Two orbit the refusal to be numbered. Each escape fails differently. *Arrival* is the capture. *Fall Out* is the closer that still starts fights. On the palate: penny-farthings, Rovers, and a greeting that is…
Filed against
- Patrick McGoohan as Number Six
Patrick McGoohan’s Number Six spends The Prisoner demanding identity in a pastel Village of surveillance — seventeen stylish, stubborn episodes, a finale that still starts arguments — after Danger Man’s John Drake practiced spy craft with…
- Angelo Muscat as The Butler
Angelo Muscat’s Butler haunted The Prisoner in silence — a secret agent resigns, a Village claims him, Patrick McGoohan’s Number Six spends seventeen episodes demanding identity in a pastel prison of surveillance. Stylish, stubborn…
- Leo McKern as Number Two
Leo McKern occupied the Village as Number Two on The Prisoner — not a single villain so much as the job title that kept asking Patrick McGoohan’s Number Six who he was. Pastel prison, untrustworthy faces, a finale still starting…