Episode 2 -   The Chimes of Big Ben

The recap below contains plot spoilers about Episode 2, "The Chimes of Big Ben." If you haven't seen "The Chimes of Big Ben" yet, you can watch the full episode online.

The Prisoner has a new next-door neighbor, Nadia, who tells him that The Village is situated on the Baltic. They decide to escape from The Village.

A helicopter brings a new arrival. This time, there is a name: Nadia (Nadia Gray). She is unconscious when lifted from a helicopter and still unconscious when taken to her house. And the Prisoner (Patrick McGoohan) finds himself with a new neighbor.

They meet. Her story is curiously akin to his own. All she has done is resign.

He tries to find out more about her, but she is suspicious and indignant, intimating that she believes he may be one of No. 2's assistants. She is, apparently, as rebellious as the Prisoner himself. She makes an escape bid by swimming out to sea, but is caught by a rover, taken to hospital, and put through a rigorous interrogation, which No. 2 allows the Prisoner to watch.

The interrogation turns to torture, which is brought to a stop by the Prisoner's interception and agreement to give partial cooperation in that he agrees to contribute to an exhibition of arts and crafts. It is the first sign of a break on his part: his first-ever cooperation.

Nadia is assigned to him as a personal maid, and she helps him to cut wood for the exhibit. It seems now that Nadia is ready to trust him completely, and she reveals that she knows where The Village is situated. They are on the Baltic coast, in Lithuania, and only 30 miles from the Polish border.

An ingenious escape plan forms in the Prisoner's mind. The three carvings he enters for the exhibition, and which win him first prize, can be adapted to make a boat. A weaving is used as a sail, and they put out to sea. Success seems to be within their grasp when a helicopter and rover catch up with them.

They succeed, however, in making land, and a friendly fisherman comes to their aid. Hidden in a packing case, they are booked through Copenhagen to Britain. The sounds of Big Ben reach them. They hear Cockney voices. And they find themselves in the Prisoner's London office. Familiar faces greet them, and the Prisoner immediately undergoes interrogation and the critical question: "Why did you resign?"

The Prisoner hesitates, prepared to give an honest answer. Then Big Ben rings again, chiming out the hour. The Prisoner glances at his watch, set to correct time when leaving Poland. He counts the chimes. Big Ben's time tallies with the hands on his watch.

But there is actually one hour's difference between British and Polish time at this period of the year.