Writer: Anthony Skene
Director: Pat Jackson
Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Colin Gordon (Number Two), Sheila Allen (Number Fourteen), Angelo Muscat (The Butler), Katherine Kath (Engadine), Peter Bowles (A), Georgina Cookson (Blonde Lady), Annette Carell (B), Lucille Soong (Flower Girl), Bettina Le Beau (Maid At Party), Terry Yorke (Thug), Peter Brayham (Thug) & Bill Cummings (Henchman)
Drugs are used to infiltrate Number Six's dreams, where Number Two hopes to discover which of three suspects Six "sold out" to before resigning...
Of the 17 episodes produced, less than half are actually essential to The Prisoner's overarching story. A. B And C is superfluous, but it has an entertaining idea (invading dreams) and there's a reason given for why Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) didn't resign from his job. Ultimately though, it's all rather irrelevant and the execution looks antiquated through modern eyes...
Things start quite creepily, with Number Two (the excellent Colin Gordon) under orders from his superior (Number One?) to get quick results from the situation with Number Six. He decides to use an experimental drug created by Number Fourteen (Sheila Allen), which has never been trialled on a human before. With an atmospheroc thunderstorm roaring outside, an unconscious Number Six is wheeled into Fourteen's lab and injected with her drug – allowing Two and Fourteen to spy on his dreams through a giant video-screen...
Number Two suspects the reason for Six's resignation involved selling secrets to the "other side", so as Six dreams of a posh party at Madame Engadine's (Katherine Kath) Paris home, three suspects (referred to as "A", "B" and "C") are injected into his experience, to see which one he would have sold-out to...
In the dream, where Six is a suave and assured presence, he's approached by "A" (a known defector), but coolly brushes "A" aside when he starts fishing for secrets, maintaining that he's going on holiday. "A" later kidnaps Six and transports him to a foreign country, only for Six to escape and defeat his kidnappers in a fight – effectively ruling out "A" as Six's employer.
At one point during the procedure, Six wakes up and sees Fourteen, before she returns him to an unconscious state. As the experiment is so dangerous, there are breaks between each session, giving Six time to realize what's happening to him each night. Six recognizes Fourteen in the Village from the first experiment, and is curious about a puncture wound on his wrist (where the drug is administered by hypodermic needle).
The episode eventually splits its time between Six's dream-world at Madame Engadine's party and the real-world of the Village, with Six trying to understand what's happening to him. In the second dream experiment, he's approached by a woman ("B"), who arouses Six's suspicions because Fourteen and Two find a way to speak their own words through this avatar, and can't give correct answers to questions he asks of her.
Now aware that his dreams are being manipulated every night, Six follows Fourteen into her lab and discovers her equipment and files on suspects "A", "B" and "C". Later, despite tipping away his drugged tea for tap water, Six finds that the water has been spiked too and falls unconscious. The third dream is instigated by Two and "C" is revealed as party host Madam Engadine herself...
The cumulative effects of the drugs means the experiment begins to crumble, with Six growing mentally stronger, and playing mindgames with Two and Fourteen – hinting that he's close to "selling out" to Engadine and her own superior (nicknamed "D".) After meeting with "D" (whose face is wrapped in black cloth), Number Two is impatient to have the man's identity revealed – but when Six unmasks "D", Number Two finds he's staring at himself. It's a trick, and Six was in total control of his tormentor's dream-world all along...
A. B And C. is more interesting on paper than in practice. While the premise from writer Anthony Skene is very interesting, the pacing is slothful, and we get little insight into Number Six before he arrived in the Village. The big question hanging over The Prisoner is why Six resigned, and the whole point of the show is Six's determination to keep his reason a secret from interrogators. But consequently, the audience is left as clueless and frustrated as Number Two.
That's not always the case, as there's fun to be had in watching Six getting one over The System every week, but in episodes that could have provided background information on Six – it was annoying.
The notion of manipulating dreams is exciting, but the possibilities aren't fully explored here. Today, audiences are au fait with the ideas presented here (see Vanilla Sky), so A. B. And C's mechanics look old-hat and occasionally silly. None of this is really a criticism, as I'm sure this was stimulating material for TV audiences in 1967, but time hasn't been kind.
If there's an example of an old Prisoner story that would be improved by modern techniques and present-day writing, this is it. It would have been more interesting to have the whole episode play as a genuine flashback to Engadine's party, with the manipulated fantasy only being revealed near the end. It's just too straight-forward for modern audiences. As easy as A, B, C.
-- A scene involving Number Two and Number Fourteen discussing their experiment on Number Six in the former's office was filmed but cut.
-- Number Fourteen's laboratory is a redress of Number Two's office set.
-- This episode had two working titles: Play In 3 Acts and 1, 2 & 3.
-- Georgina Cookson (Blonde Lady) will later play Mrs. Butterworth/Number Two in Many Happy Returns.
-- Along with Leo McKern, Mary Morris and Peter Wyngarde, Colin Gordon is one of only four Number Twos to have their voices added to the interrogation scene in the opening credits. The standard voice of Number Two was provided by Robert Rietty.
-- This is the only episode where we see rain in the Village, although it occurs at night when none of the prisoners would see it.
First Aired: 15 Ocober 1967
Director: Pat Jackson
Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Colin Gordon (Number Two), Sheila Allen (Number Fourteen), Angelo Muscat (The Butler), Katherine Kath (Engadine), Peter Bowles (A), Georgina Cookson (Blonde Lady), Annette Carell (B), Lucille Soong (Flower Girl), Bettina Le Beau (Maid At Party), Terry Yorke (Thug), Peter Brayham (Thug) & Bill Cummings (Henchman)
Drugs are used to infiltrate Number Six's dreams, where Number Two hopes to discover which of three suspects Six "sold out" to before resigning...Of the 17 episodes produced, less than half are actually essential to The Prisoner's overarching story. A. B And C is superfluous, but it has an entertaining idea (invading dreams) and there's a reason given for why Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) didn't resign from his job. Ultimately though, it's all rather irrelevant and the execution looks antiquated through modern eyes...
Things start quite creepily, with Number Two (the excellent Colin Gordon) under orders from his superior (Number One?) to get quick results from the situation with Number Six. He decides to use an experimental drug created by Number Fourteen (Sheila Allen), which has never been trialled on a human before. With an atmospheroc thunderstorm roaring outside, an unconscious Number Six is wheeled into Fourteen's lab and injected with her drug – allowing Two and Fourteen to spy on his dreams through a giant video-screen...
Number Two suspects the reason for Six's resignation involved selling secrets to the "other side", so as Six dreams of a posh party at Madame Engadine's (Katherine Kath) Paris home, three suspects (referred to as "A", "B" and "C") are injected into his experience, to see which one he would have sold-out to...
In the dream, where Six is a suave and assured presence, he's approached by "A" (a known defector), but coolly brushes "A" aside when he starts fishing for secrets, maintaining that he's going on holiday. "A" later kidnaps Six and transports him to a foreign country, only for Six to escape and defeat his kidnappers in a fight – effectively ruling out "A" as Six's employer.
At one point during the procedure, Six wakes up and sees Fourteen, before she returns him to an unconscious state. As the experiment is so dangerous, there are breaks between each session, giving Six time to realize what's happening to him each night. Six recognizes Fourteen in the Village from the first experiment, and is curious about a puncture wound on his wrist (where the drug is administered by hypodermic needle).
The episode eventually splits its time between Six's dream-world at Madame Engadine's party and the real-world of the Village, with Six trying to understand what's happening to him. In the second dream experiment, he's approached by a woman ("B"), who arouses Six's suspicions because Fourteen and Two find a way to speak their own words through this avatar, and can't give correct answers to questions he asks of her.
Now aware that his dreams are being manipulated every night, Six follows Fourteen into her lab and discovers her equipment and files on suspects "A", "B" and "C". Later, despite tipping away his drugged tea for tap water, Six finds that the water has been spiked too and falls unconscious. The third dream is instigated by Two and "C" is revealed as party host Madam Engadine herself...
The cumulative effects of the drugs means the experiment begins to crumble, with Six growing mentally stronger, and playing mindgames with Two and Fourteen – hinting that he's close to "selling out" to Engadine and her own superior (nicknamed "D".) After meeting with "D" (whose face is wrapped in black cloth), Number Two is impatient to have the man's identity revealed – but when Six unmasks "D", Number Two finds he's staring at himself. It's a trick, and Six was in total control of his tormentor's dream-world all along...
A. B And C. is more interesting on paper than in practice. While the premise from writer Anthony Skene is very interesting, the pacing is slothful, and we get little insight into Number Six before he arrived in the Village. The big question hanging over The Prisoner is why Six resigned, and the whole point of the show is Six's determination to keep his reason a secret from interrogators. But consequently, the audience is left as clueless and frustrated as Number Two.
That's not always the case, as there's fun to be had in watching Six getting one over The System every week, but in episodes that could have provided background information on Six – it was annoying.
The notion of manipulating dreams is exciting, but the possibilities aren't fully explored here. Today, audiences are au fait with the ideas presented here (see Vanilla Sky), so A. B. And C's mechanics look old-hat and occasionally silly. None of this is really a criticism, as I'm sure this was stimulating material for TV audiences in 1967, but time hasn't been kind.
If there's an example of an old Prisoner story that would be improved by modern techniques and present-day writing, this is it. It would have been more interesting to have the whole episode play as a genuine flashback to Engadine's party, with the manipulated fantasy only being revealed near the end. It's just too straight-forward for modern audiences. As easy as A, B, C.
Trivia
-- A scene involving Number Two and Number Fourteen discussing their experiment on Number Six in the former's office was filmed but cut.
-- Number Fourteen's laboratory is a redress of Number Two's office set.
-- This episode had two working titles: Play In 3 Acts and 1, 2 & 3.
-- Georgina Cookson (Blonde Lady) will later play Mrs. Butterworth/Number Two in Many Happy Returns.
-- Along with Leo McKern, Mary Morris and Peter Wyngarde, Colin Gordon is one of only four Number Twos to have their voices added to the interrogation scene in the opening credits. The standard voice of Number Two was provided by Robert Rietty.
-- This is the only episode where we see rain in the Village, although it occurs at night when none of the prisoners would see it.
First Aired: 15 Ocober 1967
