> > Basically, the Prisoner was a show about a spy of some sort who was thrown into the Scariest
> > Village in the World, which was meant to break peoples' brains so they would talk about
> > whatever it was they were spying for (the details were kept deliberately vague).
>
> It's my understanding (it's only an understanding, since I never actually saw that
> show......yes, yes, yes, my head is hanging in shame.) that the main character was a
> continuation from another spy program, and The Village was trying to find out why he retired
> from the spy game.

It's like this:

The chap who created and starred in "The Prisoner" had just finished a run as a British secret agent on a series called, IIRC, "Secret Agent", for which he was well-known.

"The Prisoner" begins with an unnamed British secret agent storming into his headquarters and resigning. Shortly afterwards, he is kidnapped by unknown forces and taken to the Village, where 'they' (and we never find out if 'they' are the people he was working for, or the people he was working against, or someone else entirely) try to find out why he retired.

There's obviously the implication that it's the same man, but we're never told Number Six's real name, and I don't think the writer ever made an official statement one way or the other.

Paul

"Who is Number One?"
"You are, Number Six."