![]() ![]() Anthony Skene, who also wrote the classic Prisoner episodes “ A. There are compelling reasons to place this second in episode order, even though I have it at #4. The three judges who hold No.6’s fate: Queen Elizabeth (Denise Buckley), the Emperor (Aubrey Morris), and Napoleon (Duncan Macrae). When No.6 asks 2 “Why haven’t I got a costume?” she casually responds, “Perhaps because you don’t exist.” This is her goal: to convince No.6 that the personal identity to which he clings is worthless, because he’s already a dead man walking – as the disabled but still-running computer demonstrates. Both Dutton and 6 are the “dead” of the title, and this Carnival might as well be the ball from “The Masque of the Red Death.” In The Prisoner, death is losing one’s sense of self. She holds her own with confidence, biding her time before making her move against No.6’s iron will with the revelation of poor Dutton’s fate, and letting No.6 know that he no longer has a life to go back to. Morris, a distinguished theater veteran with numerous TV credits, makes an excellent No.2, one of the few females to occupy the office in the series’ run. But “Dance of the Dead” is a downer, completely lacking the usual comic touches. Some of its imagery is quite beautiful, like the sunset walk on the beach where No.6 meets No.2 dressed as Peter Pan, her shadow extending behind her as in a storybook illustration. There is something in its melancholy tone and increasingly surreal atmosphere that I find mesmerizing I also appreciate that it is one of the few Prisoner episodes which takes a pause from the usual frantic pace, lingering in the Village (with lots of Portmeirion location shooting), observing its sinister and strange workings. It’s not an episode that most Prisoner fans cite as one of their favorites, but it’s one of mine. There is little action and the stakes are mostly abstract. It’s downbeat and cynical, featuring a No.6 whose morale is at a low ebb. I always find “Dance of the Dead” one of the most pleasurable episodes to watch – which maybe says something about me. ![]() No.6 (Patrick McGoohan) is confronted by Peter Pan and his shadow – or, rather, No.2 (Mary Morris), costumed for Carnival. The Prisoner’s identity is processed for termination on a telex machine that continues to function even after he has ripped out its circuitry. No.6 calls as his witness Dutton, but the man brought before him has been reduced to a vegetable and dressed as the Fool, waving a white balloon on a stick. Bo Peep testifies against him, and Queen Elizabeth, Napoleon, and the Roman Emperor serve as his judges. The sentence is “death”: the outside world will be given evidence that he died in an accident at sea. No.2 discovers him and escorts him back to the Carnival where she puts him on trial to answer to his nonconformity. While sneaking around the Town Hall, No.6 discovers that Dutton has been sentenced to death. ![]() She is dressed as Peter Pan, his maid (Denise Buckley) as Queen Elizabeth, the doctor as Napoleon, his observer as Little Bo Peep, and the town crier (Aubrey Morris of A Clockwork Orange) as a Roman emperor. Just as he shoves the body off, he discovers his old friend Roland Walter Dutton (Alan White), who has been held prisoner in the Village for much longer than No.6, and has been given 72 hours’ freedom for a chance to reconsider a chance for peaceful conformity in the Village before he “ceases to exist.” No.6 attends the Carnival dressed in the costume given him by No.2 – his own suit. Later he sends the body off in a life preserver, bundling with it information about the Village – including his own hand-drawn map and his ID card – hoping that it will lead to rescue. No.6 steals the radio and listens to transmissions in different languages, but his observer and No.2 catch him with it. One day he discovers a dead body washed up on the beach with a small radio in his pocket. No.6 also forms a bond with a stray black cat. 240 (Norma West), who has actually been assigned as his “observer” and feels her cover is blown. He ignores her suggestions and settles on a young woman, No. She makes preparations for a costume-themed Carnival at the Town Hall and encourages No.6 to pick a date. But the new No.2 (Mary Morris) wants to take a more subtle approach. The nights of No.6 are spent undergoing extreme experiments on his mind by a doctor in the Hospital, No.40 (Duncan Macrae), with the goal of extracting the reason for his resignation. DANCE OF THE DEAD First UK Broadcast: Novem | Written by Anthony Skene | Directed by Don Chaffey ![]()
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