Once Upon a Time (The Prisoner)
Encyclopedia
"Once Upon a Time" is the title of the 16th episode of the British
science fiction
-allegorical
series, The Prisoner
, starring Patrick McGoohan
as Number Six
. It originally aired in the UK on ITV
on 25 January 1968 and was first broadcast in the United States
on CBS
on 14 September 1968.
This episode was filmed sixth in the series' production run.
) returns to undertake "Degree Absolute" in a final attempt to break Number Six.
At night, Number Six is brainwashed with one of the "pulsator lamps", and when he wakes up, his mind has regressed back to childhood. With The Butler (Angelo Muscat
), they descend to the "Embryo Room" located deep underneath The Green Dome. The doors are locked from the outside, a timer is set, and from this point on the three of them cannot leave the room for a week.
Number Two conducts psychological tests representing William Shakespeare
's Seven ages of man (except the age of the lover) to discover why Number Six resigned. They go through the different stages of Number Six's life, with Number Two playing the roles of various authority figures (parent, teacher, coach, employer, judge, officer) while Number Six plays the corresponding subordinate roles (son, student, athlete, employee, defendant, soldier). Throughout the tests, Number Two starts asking "Why did you resign?" every time he detects a weakness. During these sessions, Number Two discovers that his charge has developed a mental block that prevents him from speaking the number "Six". Slowly, Number Two also starts developing a fondness for the prisoner. "I'm beginning to like him," he says after yet another failed attempt to break Number Six.
As the week goes by, Number Six gains strength. A final attempt at interrogation (with Number Two in the role of a jailer and Number Six as a prisoner of war) ends with Number Six appearing to snap, begging Number Two to kill him, stating that his resignation was "A matter of conscience ... too many people knew too much ... I know too much ... I know too much about you!" (a statement Number Two rejects), and finally calling his tormentor a "fool" and "an idiot". Then, suddenly, Number Six speaks the word "six", and counts down to zero, by which time he's his normal self again.
It is left ambiguous as to whether Number Six had been play-acting the entire time, or whether the brainwashing had simply unraveled at some point. As a shell-shocked Number Two lies on a table, Number Six states that Degree Absolute, while a recognized technique in psychiatry, carries risks, particularly if the person conducting the session "has his own problems". This intrigues Number Two, who joyfully explains the entire ruse to Number Six, giving him a tour of the Embryo Room, culminating with the timer - which shows that there are only a few minutes remaining before the end of the session.
Panicking, Number Two pleads with Number Six to tell him why he resigned, and ultimately finds himself crawling in supplication to the prisoner. This ends in a room that looks like a large cage, Number Two explaining that it is stocked with provisions. Number Two pours a glass of wine for each of them and desperately drinks his. Suddenly, Number Six closes the door to the cage, locking Number Two inside. The Butler, who has switched allegiances, takes the key. Number Two paces back and forth like a caged animal; a voice (never explained, possibly Number Six, possibly Number Two himself, perhaps even Number One) taunts "Die!" over and over as the timer runs down. Number Two collapses, apparently dead, as a somewhat regretful Number Six turns to leave. The door slides open and the Supervisor (Peter Swanwick
) enters the chamber.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-allegorical
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
series, The Prisoner
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
, starring Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
as Number Six
Number Six (The Prisoner)
Number Six is the central fictional character in the 1960s television series The Prisoner, played by Patrick McGoohan. In the AMC remake, the character is played by Jim Caviezel, renamed "Six"....
. It originally aired in the UK on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
on 25 January 1968 and was first broadcast in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
on 14 September 1968.
This episode was filmed sixth in the series' production run.
Plot summary
The Number Two from the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben" (Leo McKernLeo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
) returns to undertake "Degree Absolute" in a final attempt to break Number Six.
At night, Number Six is brainwashed with one of the "pulsator lamps", and when he wakes up, his mind has regressed back to childhood. With The Butler (Angelo Muscat
Angelo Muscat
Angelo Muscat was a character actor.Muscat was born in Malta. He appeared in 14 of the 17 episodes of the sixties cult television series The Prisoner, in which he played the famously mute Butler...
), they descend to the "Embryo Room" located deep underneath The Green Dome. The doors are locked from the outside, a timer is set, and from this point on the three of them cannot leave the room for a week.
Number Two conducts psychological tests representing William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Seven ages of man (except the age of the lover) to discover why Number Six resigned. They go through the different stages of Number Six's life, with Number Two playing the roles of various authority figures (parent, teacher, coach, employer, judge, officer) while Number Six plays the corresponding subordinate roles (son, student, athlete, employee, defendant, soldier). Throughout the tests, Number Two starts asking "Why did you resign?" every time he detects a weakness. During these sessions, Number Two discovers that his charge has developed a mental block that prevents him from speaking the number "Six". Slowly, Number Two also starts developing a fondness for the prisoner. "I'm beginning to like him," he says after yet another failed attempt to break Number Six.
As the week goes by, Number Six gains strength. A final attempt at interrogation (with Number Two in the role of a jailer and Number Six as a prisoner of war) ends with Number Six appearing to snap, begging Number Two to kill him, stating that his resignation was "A matter of conscience ... too many people knew too much ... I know too much ... I know too much about you!" (a statement Number Two rejects), and finally calling his tormentor a "fool" and "an idiot". Then, suddenly, Number Six speaks the word "six", and counts down to zero, by which time he's his normal self again.
It is left ambiguous as to whether Number Six had been play-acting the entire time, or whether the brainwashing had simply unraveled at some point. As a shell-shocked Number Two lies on a table, Number Six states that Degree Absolute, while a recognized technique in psychiatry, carries risks, particularly if the person conducting the session "has his own problems". This intrigues Number Two, who joyfully explains the entire ruse to Number Six, giving him a tour of the Embryo Room, culminating with the timer - which shows that there are only a few minutes remaining before the end of the session.
Panicking, Number Two pleads with Number Six to tell him why he resigned, and ultimately finds himself crawling in supplication to the prisoner. This ends in a room that looks like a large cage, Number Two explaining that it is stocked with provisions. Number Two pours a glass of wine for each of them and desperately drinks his. Suddenly, Number Six closes the door to the cage, locking Number Two inside. The Butler, who has switched allegiances, takes the key. Number Two paces back and forth like a caged animal; a voice (never explained, possibly Number Six, possibly Number Two himself, perhaps even Number One) taunts "Die!" over and over as the timer runs down. Number Two collapses, apparently dead, as a somewhat regretful Number Six turns to leave. The door slides open and the Supervisor (Peter Swanwick
Peter Swanwick
Peter Swanwick was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" in the 1967 TV series, The Prisoner...
) enters the chamber.
- Supervisor: "What do you desire?"
- Number Six: "Number One."
- Supervisor: "I'll take you."
Additional guest cast
- Supervisor: Peter SwanwickPeter SwanwickPeter Swanwick was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" in the 1967 TV series, The Prisoner...
- Umbrella man: John CazabonJohn CazabonJohn F Cazabon was an Australian actor born in Hertford, England.His parents were Albert Cazabon , a noted violinist and from 1927–36 musical director of Prince Edward Theatre orchestra and Mrs Albert Cazabon , a professional actor born in Australia, who became active again with Pickwick Theatre...
- Number Eighty-Six: John MaximJohn MaximJohn Maxim , sometimes credited as John Wills, was an English film and television actor.-Career:...
Behind the scenes
- "Once Upon a Time" was originally reported to be the final episode of the first of two seasons of thirteen episodes, but when ITC and McGoohan renegotiated to make just seventeen episodes, the closing was refilmed and it was held back to become the first half of a two-part series finale. However, the purported original script has been published, containing that ending.
- Angelo MuscatAngelo MuscatAngelo Muscat was a character actor.Muscat was born in Malta. He appeared in 14 of the 17 episodes of the sixties cult television series The Prisoner, in which he played the famously mute Butler...
(the Butler) receives "Guest Star" billing in this episode. - According to The Prisoner: The Official Companion to the Classic TV Series by Robert Fairclough, the strain of filming this episode caused McKern to suffer either a nervous breakdownNervous breakdownMental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
or a heart attackMyocardial infarctionMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
(accounts differ), forcing production to stop for a time. - A number of fans who speculate that Number Six is in fact John Drake from McGoohan's earlier series, Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
usually reference this episode. They claim that Number Two says "Report to my study in the morning, Drake!" when in fact he really says "Report to my study in the morning break." - The characterization of Number Six in this episode is significantly different from previous episodes. During the series, Number Six's initial fury and apprehension towards the Village eventually transitioned into the manner of a suave, obstinate rebel who now carried himself with assurance and certainty in resisting the Village. However, in this episode, Number Six is edgy and tense, pacing back and forth in his kitchen without the casual ease of previous episodes, and his interactions with the Villagers have become bizarre, with his accosting the Umbrella Man who seems eager to avoid him. As "Once Upon a Time" was shot among the first thirteen episodes and held back as a potential end-season cliffhanger, it may be that plans to develop Six's characterization to this state were curtailed by the sudden cancellation. However, the recently published collection of all the series' original scripts indicates there was no re-purposing of this episode.
- John Maxim's brief scene was left on the cutting room floor.
- Contrary to all other uses of the distinctive font (a slightly modified form of AlbertusAlbertus (typeface)Albertus is a glyphic, serif typeface designed by Berthold Wolpe in the period 1932 to 1940 for the Monotype Corporation type foundry. Wolpe named the font after Albertus Magnus, the thirteenth-century German philosopher and theologian....
) for the show's titles and credits as well as throughout the Village's signage, there is a dot on the "i" of the word "Time" in the title card of this episode. - A working title of this episode was called "Degree Absolute"
- According to "Don't Knock Yourself Out": During production and filming of the episode both actors portraying Number Six and Number Two became totally engrossed in their roles and almost achieved a near-psychotic state (cited by various people including Leo McKern).