The Prisoner poster

The Prisoner

★ 8.4 16K votes 1967–1968 1 season · 17 episodes Ended ITV1
Puzzle plotNonlinear timelines, twists and structural games that reward attention.This show: 9/10DystopiaOppressive imagined societies and the people caught in them.This show: 8/10Intellectual challengeRewards close attention and theorizing.This show: 8/10ExperimentalFormally adventurous television that breaks the rules.This show: 8/10PhilosophicalBig questions of meaning, ethics and existence.This show: 8/10Stylized directionBold, signature formal choices.This show: 8/10UnsettlingA creeping sense of unease and wrongness that gets under your skin.This show: 8/10Mystery boxCentral riddles sustained across whole seasons.This show: 8/10
Rate this series
Starring
Patrick McGoohanAngelo MuscatPeter SwanwickPeter BraceLeo McKernChristopher Benjamin
Written by
Patrick McGoohan
Starring
Patrick McGoohanAngelo MuscatPeter SwanwickPeter BraceLeo McKernChristopher Benjamin
Written by
Patrick McGoohan
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
03757501k2k

The Prisoner Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9E10E11E12E13E14E15E16E17
S17.98.48.58.27.78.57.58.77.58.28.77.67.87.26.97.27.77.6

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About

"A paranoid allegory disguised as a spy thriller"

A British intelligence agent abruptly resigns and wakes up imprisoned in a bizarre coastal village where everyone is known only by a number instead of a name. Stripped of his identity as "Number Six," he spends each episode battling the Village's unseen overseers and hunting for a way out. The show blends spy-thriller intrigue with surreal, dreamlike production design and philosophical undertones about freedom and control. It's stylish, paranoid, and increasingly abstract, more interested in mood and ideas than plot logic, building to one of television's most polarizing endings.

Watch it for

the surreal, philosophically loaded battle over individuality versus institutional control.

Maybe skip if

the finale's notoriously abstract, divisive ending frustrates viewers wanting tidy closure.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

Series 11967
7.917K1716h 50m
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
1Arrival8.4
1K50 min
2The Chimes of Big Ben8.5
1K60 min
3A. B. and C.8.2
1K60 min
4Free for All7.7
1K60 min
5The Schizoid Man8.5
1K60 min
6The General7.5
95860 min
7Many Happy Returns8.7
1K60 min
8Dance of the Dead7.5
92560 min
9Checkmate8.2
93960 min
10Hammer Into Anvil8.7
1K60 min
11It's Your Funeral7.6
87960 min
12A Change of Mind7.8
86560 min
13Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling7.2
89560 min
14Living in Harmony6.9
92460 min
15The Girl Who Was Death7.2
93260 min
16Once Upon a Time7.7
91260 min
17Fall Out7.6
1K60 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Patrick McGoohan Number Six, Number Twelve
Angelo Muscat The Butler
Peter Swanwick Supervisor, The Supervisor
Peter Brace 1st Guardian, 1st Mechanic, Village Thug
Leo McKern Number Two, Former Number Two
Christopher Benjamin Labour Exchange Manager, Number Two's Assistant, Potter
Michael Miller Man in Buggy, Number Ninety-Three, The Delegate
Alexis Kanner Chief's voice, Number Forty Eight, Photographer
Bill Cummings Henchman, Marshal, Second Horseman
Frank Maher Number Six, Number Twelve, Number Two

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