Dance of the Dead (The Prisoner)

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Dance of the Dead (The Prisoner) - Simple summary

Overview
Dance of the Dead is the eighth episode of the British sci-fi series The Prisoner. It was written by Anthony Skene and directed by Don Chaffey. Patrick McGoohan stars as Number Six, with Mary Morris as Number Two.

Plot
- Number Forty-Two (Roland Walter Dutton) contacts Number Six under a kind of mind control, but Number Six resists and the plan is abandoned.
- Six wakes with memory gaps. A black cat, which is actually a spy for Number Two, crosses his path. Number Two hints Six should get a girlfriend.
- A Carnival is coming to the Village. Six tries to escape again but is stopped by Rover on the beach. He spends the night on the shore and finds a dead man with a radio.
- He listens to a mysterious broadcast urging him to understand and to accept pain as a path to tomorrow.
- Six sends the body out to sea with a note. He hides in a cave and meets Dutton, who has been broken by his captors.
- The Carnival becomes a masked ball. Everyone has an identity except Six, who is given only a dinner jacket. Six discovers Dutton is to be executed.
- A morgue scene reveals the corpse washed ashore will be altered to resemble Six, so the outside world believes Six died at sea.
- The event ends in a kangaroo court where Six is tried for possessing the radio. Dutton is called as a witness but appears as a mindless jester.
- Six is sentenced to death and flees through the town hall. He damages a teletype that might connect the Village to Number One. Number Two reveals, “they don’t know you’re already dead.” Six vows to resist, and Number Two quips that this will be very uncomfortable for him.

Cast (selected)
- Patrick McGoohan as Number Six
- Mary Morris as Number Two
- Duncan MacRae as Doctor/Judge
- Norma West as Observer/Prosecutor
- Angelo Muscat as The Butler
- Aubrey Morris as Town Crier/Chief Judge

Broadcast
- The episode aired at different times in different ITV regions during late 1967.
- Examples: ATV Midlands and Grampian on Nov 17, 1967; Anglia on Nov 24; ATV London, Southern, Westward, Tyne-Tees on Nov 26; Scottish Television on Nov 30; Border on Dec 7; Granada on Dec 15.
- Northern Ireland aired it on Feb 23, 1968; Wales on Feb 25, 1970.
- The initial debut in ITV regions was estimated to reach about 9.1 million viewers.

This episode continues The Prisoner’s allegorical tale of Number Six trying to resist control and uncover the Village’s true nature.