The Prisoner
Once Upon a Time
TV Flash files “Once Upon a Time” as hour 16 of 17 in the TV Flash guide — The Prisoner (1967–1968) on ITV, season 1, episode 16, aired 1968-01-28, 50 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E16: listed hour 16 of 17 in the The Prisoner guide, hour 16 of 17 in season 1. It aired 1968-01-28 (50 min). The listed hour before it is “The Girl Who Was Death” (S01E15). Next is “Fall Out” (S01E17).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
After all previous attempts to break Number Six have failed, Number Two decides the only way to obtain the information wanted is by using a system known as "Degree Absolute". A battle that will leave one of them dead. If Number Six wins, he will have survived the ultimate test and meet Number One.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Once Upon a Time sit in the The Prisoner guide?
S01E16 is listed hour 16 of 17 — hour 16 of 17 in season 1, season 1 episode 16.
When did The Prisoner S01E16 air?
Once Upon a Time aired 1968-01-28 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…