Checkmate (The Prisoner)

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The Prisoner episode
“Checkmate”
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 9
Guest star(s)	Number Two - Peter Wyngarde Rook - Ronald Radd Queen - Rosalie Crutchley Man with stick - George Coulouris
Writer(s)	Gerald Kelsey
Director	Don Chaffey
Production no.
Original airdate	December 3, 1967
Episode chronology
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"Dance of the Dead"	"Hammer Into Anvil"

Checkmate is the ninth episode of the television series The Prisoner. The show starts off with a game of chess using people in the courtyard. One of the rebellious rooks is taken to the hospital for "evaluation". After the game, Number 6 talks with the Chess Master, who comments that one can tell who is a prisoner and who is a guardian “[B]y their disposition. By the moves they make.” Number 6 later visits the hospital to inquire as to the fate of the rook, and sees him subjected to mind control exercises. Number 6 seeks an alliance with the rook, and other villagers that he can now identify as prisoners. Together they attempt an escape by building a 2-way radio and hoping to signal any passing ships. But he discovers he has been a pawn all along.