It has been said that this is television's first masterpiece and I agree with that statement 100%. While this is neither sci fi or fantasy it is, in my view, one of the most sophisticated and intelligent adventure series (only 17 episodes in total) to ever make its way to television. Patrick McGoohan plays a secret agent who resigns and is then kidnapped and brought to a village located on a remote island. Although the buildings and decorations are cheerful and everything is brightly colored there is a dark purpose lurking underneath. All residents of the village have been brought there because they have some kind of valuable information. No one is safe from the eyes of their captors as even the eyes of the statues that adorn the grounds are cameras and people can be watched and monitored wherever they are, even in their living quarters. Everyone is assigned a number and Patrick McGoohan is assigned the number six. With the exception of actor Leo McKern who apppears three times (twice as number two and in the final episode as the defeated and dead number two) there is a new number two for each episode and his or her job is to find out why the prisoner resigned. The prisoner does not know which side is holding him so he refuses to talk. They use every possible means in an attempt to get the prisoner to talk including drugs, shock treatment, hypnosis, as well as old fashioned deception. The prisoner stands his ground defeating them at every turn and makes his every move a statement of contempt towards his captors. As number two (Leo McKern) is spying on the prisoner one morning he remarks that He even makes putting on his bathrobe an act of defiance. The main message of the program, beyond the prisoner trying to escape and discover who is the elusive number one, is that no man is a number. In the first episode he declares I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. Each show starts with the prisoner saying I am not a number, I am a free man followed by laughter from the actor or actress playing number two for that particular episode. The show has many little nuances that can be interpreted different ways. For example, in each episode one of the characters always says the phrase Be seeing you and makes an ok sign with his hand with the circle held up to his eye..... or is he actually forming a number six with his hand and reminding the prisoner that he is always being watched? There is also the threat of rover which is the sphere like security device that roars as it chases and captures (or kills) all those who might attempt to escape. If you have ever felt caught up in the conformity of the world and the sometimes useless procedures one must go through in order to get along, I highly recommend this program. If you feel as if you are just a number and not a free individual perhaps this show might inspire you to someday defy your captors and escape from the village that is holding you prisoner.......... be seeing you........

Flick is right about this. This show is WAY above the normal standard of things on television. Richly metaphoric, existential, and disturbing on many levels (and open to lots of interpretations) you can watch these again and again. I was way too young to understand it when it was first on but when I saw the episodes as an adult I was amazed. Please O TV Divinities put something as good as this on again... just once... and I'll actually not cancel my cable at the end of the month.