| "Free for All" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Prisoner episode | |||
 | |||
| Episodeno. | Series 1 Episode 4 | ||
| Directed by | Patrick McGoohan | ||
| Written by | Patrick McGoohan (credited as Paddy Fitz) | ||
| Cinematography by | Brendan J. Stafford | ||
| Production code | 2 | ||
| Original air date | 20 October 1967 (1967-10-20) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of episodes | |||
"Free for All" is an episode of theallegorical Britishscience fiction TV seriesThe Prisoner. It was written and directed byPatrick McGoohan (though he used the pseudonym "Paddy Fitz" for the writer credit) and the second episode to be produced. It was the fourth episode to be broadcast in the UK onITV (ATV Midlands andGrampian) on Friday 20 October 1967 and first aired in the United States onCBS on Saturday 29 June 1968.[1][2]
The episode starsPatrick McGoohan asNumber Six and featuresEric Portman asNumber Two .[3] The central theme of the episode is corruption and fraud in elections.
Number Six is persuaded to run for election to the post of Number Two when it is suggested to him by the new incumbent that, should he win, he will finally meet Number One. Number Fifty-Eight, a newly arrived young woman who speaks only an unidentified Slavic-sounding foreign language (really "a meaningless linguistic pastiche specially invented by the scriptwriters")[4] is assigned to Number Six as his assistant, which she enthusiastically embraces, although he does not. Both men campaign for the office, with Number Six subversively offering freedom to the Village masses if he is elected. Number Six participates ambivalently, but abruptly makes a break for freedom himself in the midst of the campaign by escaping in a motorboat. He is retrieved on the water byRover while he robotically mouths campaign platitudes.
Number Six and Number Two drink and commiserate in a cave where illegal liquor is distilled and Number Two states that he detestsThe Village. Number Six is again repeatedly drugged and coerced into accepting the campaign, and wins the election when virtually all the robotic "citizens" vote for him. As he and Number Fifty-Eight go to the Green Dome to take command of the Village, she agitates him by playing with the buttons on the control panel before brutally slapping him around several times with surprising strength, then stunning him with bright lighting. As Number Six becomes somewhat more lucid and attempts to broadcast to the Villagers that they are free to go, he is beaten by a group of mechanics in coveralls, and Number Fifty-Eight, now speaking perfect English, reveals herself as the real incoming Number Two, while the previous Number Two prepares to head out. She asks her departing predecessor to give her "regards to the homeland".
The broadcast date of the episode varied in different ITV regions of the UK. The episode was first shown at 7:30pm on Friday 20 October 1967 onATV Midlands andGrampian Television, on Sunday 22 October onATV London,Southern Television,Westward Television andTyne-Tees; on Thursday 26 October onScottish Television, on Friday 27 October onAnglia Television, on Thursday 9 November onBorder Television and on Friday 17 November onGranada Television in the North West. The aggregate viewing figures for the ITV regions that debuted the season in 1967 have been estimated at 11.1 million. In Northern Ireland, the episode did not debut until Saturday 27 January 1968, and in Wales, the episode was not broadcast until Wednesday 28 January 1970.[1]
In the United States, the episode aired on the CBS Television Network at 7:30 pm EDT on June 29, 1968.
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