Episode 1 - Arrival

The recap below contains plot spoilers about Episode 1, "Arrival." If you haven't seen "Arrival" yet, you can watch the full episode online.

After handing in his resignation, No. 6 heads off to his London home to pack for a holiday. He begins to feel faint and ends up unconscious. He awakens not in his house but in a strange village.

Who is he? Who has abducted him? And why? The man who is to remain a prisoner for a long, long time finds himself in a strange world -- a world which is menacing and beautiful at the same time.

A jet of vapor hisses through a keyhole. The occupant of the room clutches at his throat, staggers, and falls. He passes out, and then, returning to consciousness, groggily lurches to the window for air.

But it is not the London view he knows so well. His eyes stare out at a village he has never seen before: a beautiful village, architecturally puzzling and difficult to identify, quietly peaceful, with the sea in the background, mountains stretching in the other direction. It could be anywhere. Anywhere in the world.

The man is now the Prisoner (Patrick McGoohan).

Puzzled, he moves out onto the balcony and is conscious of the fact that he is being watched. But there is no one in sight. The watching eyes are invisible.

Then he sees a human figure moving among tables and chairs of an open-air cafe and he hurries out. The waitress (Patsy Smart) recognizes him as a newcomer, but he can learn little from her except that the place is "The Village."

The Village stirs to life. He tries to make a telephone call, but only local calls are permitted. He sees a taxi sign: the taxis are "beach buggies" and will go on local journeys only.

The Village is, in fact, completely self-contained, so self contained that no one can leave it. No one has a name, only a number. The Prisoner's house is No. 6, and that becomes his number.

He is summoned to meet No. 2 (Guy Doleman), whose attitude is friendly and genuinely sympathetic. And he learns why he has been abducted: because he has retired from his highly confidential job. "The information in your head is priceless. I don't think you realize what a valuable property you have become. A man like you is in real demand on the open market."

But who are those who have taken him there? No. 2 refuses to be drawn: "A lot of people are curious about what lies behind your resignation. You've had a brilliant career. They want to know why you suddenly left."

Whom can he trust? Who are the fellow prisoners and who are the spies watching him all the time? On whose side is the attractive personal maid (Stephanie Randall) who is appointed to him and tries to win his confidence? Who is the beautiful woman (Virginia Maskell) who suddenly arrives and offers help? On whose side is the man Cobb (Paul Eddington), who is an old friend?

The Prisoner tries to escape, but there is no escape. He is taken to No. 2 again, but this time it is a different man (George Baker). Whoever is No. 1 trusts no one. His second in command must never remain in power for long and has no desire to do so, either.

The desperate, bewildering terror of the situation he has found himself in gradually becomes apparent to the Prisoner.