The Chimes of Big Ben
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| “The Chimes of Big Ben” | |
|---|---|
| The Prisoner episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 2 |
| Guest stars | Number Two - Leo McKern Nadia - Nadia Gray |
| Written by | Vincent Tisley |
| Directed by | Don Chaffey |
| Original airdate | October 8, 1967 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Arrival" | "A. B. and C." |
"The Chimes of Big Ben" is the title of the second episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on October 8, 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS in the summer of 1968.
The episode starred Patrick McGoohan in the character of Number Six and introduced perhaps the most popular of the many characters who would bear the title of "Number Two" in the series, that of Leo McKern. McKern's Number Two would return for the last two episodes of the series.
[edit] Plot summary
The episode opens with the relentlessly cheerful voice of the radio announcer encouraging every Villager to participate in an upcoming crafts show. Number Six is playing chess near the beach when Number Two (Leo McKern) joins him. During their conversation, a helicopter lands and an unconscious woman (Nadia Gray) is taken out on a stretcher.
Later, Number Six is invited to The Green Dome where he and Number Two watch the woman wake up on the main viewing screen. Number Two says that she is Number Eight and that she will be Number Six's new neighbour.
When Number Six returns to his cottage, Number Eight emerges, confused, and asks for directions to The Green Dome. When she returns later, she reveals to him that her name is Nadia, but she is suspicious that he is a Village spy. The day after, Nadia tries to escape by swimming out to sea but is brought back by Rover and interrogated in the hospital. In response, Number Six makes a deal, agreeing to participate more in Village life — for instance, by entering the craft show — if this puts an end to her torture.
Number Six and Nadia become closer and eventually plan to escape. She tells him that she knows the location of The Village: On the Baltic coast of Lithuania about 30 miles from the Polish border.
At the craft show (where every entry except Number Six's is a depiction of Number Two in some medium), Number Six presents his work, a multi-piece abstract sculpture called "Escape". He is then awarded first prize and uses the "work units" he has won to purchase a tapestry, the entry of one of the other prize winners. At night, he and Nadia escape in his exhibit, which is really a carved boat, using the tapestry as a sail.
When they reach land, they meet Nadia's contact. Number Six borrows the contact's watch since his own has stopped. Number Six and Nadia then hide in a packing case as they travel to London. They end up in Number Six's old office and meet his former bosses. When they suspect him of being a double agent, Number Six agrees to tell them why he resigned if Nadia is given protection.
However, as he is about to talk, Number Six hears the familiar chimes of Big Ben. He looks at his watch and finds that it shows the same time — not the hour's difference of the time in Poland. Realizing that he has been tricked, he begins a search of the office and discovers a tape recorder recreating the background sounds of London. He exits the building, finding himself back in The Village, with Nadia standing with Number Two — thus revealing she was an operative all along.
[edit] Additional guest cast
- General: Finlay Currie
- Colonel: Kevin Stoney
- Number Two's assistant: Christopher Benjamin
- Karel: David Arlen
- Supervisor: Peter Swanwick
- Number Thirty-Eight: Hilda Barry
- Judge: Jack Le White
- Judge: John Maxim
- Judge: Lucy Griffiths
[edit] Trivia
- When Number Six and Nadia are encased in the box, with the wood divider between them, McGoohan ruins the illusion that they are separated by sticking his hand over the edge of the wood divider.
- An alternate version of this episode exists called "The Alternative Chimes of Big Ben". It was actually a original edit of the episode that was submitted as the pilot for the series. It was accidentally broadcast and eventually released on video several years later (contrary to popular belief, Arrival was not the series pilot). Most of the differences are minor, except for an alternate scene of Number Six trying to discover The Village's location using a home-made navigational device called a triquetrum, and different theme song, incidental music, opening and closing credits.
- This episode contains a much-quoted dialogue often regarded as a high point of the series by Prisoner fans. The exchange happens while Number Two and Number Six are on the beach, watching Nadia start her swim:
- Number Two: I am definitely an optimist. That's why it doesn't matter who Number One is. It doesn't matter which "side" runs the Village.
- Number Six: It's run by one side or the other.
- Number Two: Oh certainly, but both sides are becoming identical. What in fact has been created is an international community — perfect blueprint for world order. When the sides facing each other suddenly realize that they're looking into a mirror, they will see that this is the pattern for the future.
- Number Six: The whole Earth as the Village?
- Number Two: That is my hope. What's yours?
- Number Six: I'd like to be the first man on the moon.
- Another portion of the dialogue became the basis of the episodal tirade between Number Six and Number Two that would start most of the episode: "Who is Number One?"
- It is sometimes reported about this episode that Nadia "strangely has no number". This claim is even repeated on the back of some video boxes, but it is based on a misreading of the episode; Nadia is clearly and openly assigned the number 8, and even though she later angrily declares "I'm no Number Eight, or Number anything else!" it's a statement meant to mirror Six's declaration "I am not a number, I am a free man!"
