The series has attained cult status because it is so complex, so filled with symbolism, with dialogue and action working at several levels of meaning, that the entire story remains open to multiple interpretations. The Prisoner was shot in the Welsh village of Portmeirion, whose remarkable architecture contributes to the rich, mysterious atmosphere of the series. In many ways an allegory, the adventures within The Prisoner can be read as commentaries on contemporary British social and political institutions.

The hero of the series is an unnamed spy, who is first shown resigning his position. He leaves the bureaucratic office building housing his agency, goes to his apartment, starts packing—and is gassed—presumably by those for whom he used to work. He wakes up in “The Village,” a resortlike community on what seems to be a remote island. The Village, however, is actually a high-tech prison, and the spy is a prisoner, along with others, men and women, who were, it is understood, spies. All have been sent to the Village to be removed from circulation in any circumstances where their secret knowledge might be discovered.

Every member of the Village is known only by a number. The McGoohan character becomes Number Six and finds himself engaged in constant intellectual, emotional, and sometimes physical struggles with Number Two. But each episode presents a different Number Two. With a few exceptions, each episode begins with a repetition of some of the opening sequence from the first episode—McGoohan resigns; his file is dropped by a mechanical device into a filing cabinet labeled “Resigned”; he is gassed; he wakes in the Village and confronts (the new) Number Two. This beginning is followed by a set piece of dialogue:

Prisoner: Where am I?

Number Two: In the Village.

Prisoner: What do you want?

Number Two: Information.

Prisoner: Which side are you on?

Number Two: That would be telling. We want information, information, information... .

Prisoner: You won’t get it.

Number Two: By hook or by crook we will.

Prisoner: Who are you?

Number Two: The new Number Two.

Prisoner: Who is Number One?

Number Two: You are Number Six.

Prisoner: I am not a number. I am a free man.

Number Two: Ha, ha, ha, ha...

Some fans of the series argue that there is a slight gap between the words “are” and the “Number Two” in this exchange (“You are. Number Six”), which would mean that Number Six is also Number One, a character who remains unseen until the final episode. Number Two pushes the inquiry. He wants to know why Six resigned. Six says he will not tell him, then vows to escape from the Village and destroy it.

Each episode in the series consists of an attempt by a new Number Two and his or her associates to find out why Six resigned and of measures taken by Six to counter these attempts. Every possible method, from drugs to sex, from the invasion of his dreams to the use of supercomputers, is used to get Number Six to reveal why he resigned. In some episodes Six shifts his focus from escape attempts to schemes for bringing down the administration of the Village, though it is always understood that escape is his ultimate goal.

The concluding episode, written by McGoohan, was extremely chaotic, confusing, and very controversial. Number Six has defeated and killed Number Two in the previous episode, “Till Death Do Us Part.” When Number Six finally gets to see Number One, he turns out to be a grinning ape. But when Number Six strips off the ape mask, we see what appears to be a crazed version of Number Six, suggesting that Number One was, somehow, a perverted element of Number Six’s personality. Six, aided by several characters also deemed “revolutionaries” by the administration (including the Number Two of the previous episode, somehow brought back to life), does destroy the Village. He escapes with his associates in a truck driven by a midget, who may have been the servant of all previous Number Two figures. They blast through a tunnel just before the Village is destroyed and find themselves, surprisingly, on a highway near London.

The Prisoner is continually rebroadcast, usually presented as a science fiction program, though it is probably best described as a spy series filled with technological gadgetry. Each program and every aspect of the series has been subjected to scrutiny by its fans. Dealing with topics ranging from the nature of individual identity to the power of individuals to confront totalitarian institutions, The Prisoner remains one of the most enigmatic and fascinating series ever produced for television.