"Arrival" is the first episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series The Prisoner. It was written by George Markstein and David Tomblin, and directed by Don Chaffey. It was first broadcast in the UK on ITV (ATV Midlands and Grampian) on Friday 29 September 1967, and first aired in the United States on CBS on Saturday 1 June 1968.
The episode introduced the character of Number Six, portrayed by co-creator Patrick McGoohan, and introduced Guy Doleman and George Baker in the role of Number Two, the regularly changing administrator of The Village in which Number Six was incarcerated.
The episode introduced most of the concepts of the series present throughout its run, as Number Two used various means to find out why Number Six had abruptly resigned from his intelligence job.
Plot summary
An unidentified British intelligence agent storms into his employer's London office to hand in his resignation. He returns home in his Lotus Seven and hastily packs a bag to go travelling, unaware that a hearse has followed him home. The hearse driver releases knockout gas into the man's home via the keyhole. The man collapses in his study. Later, the man wakes up in what appears to be his study, but finds it is a mockup located in "The Village". He asks the colourfully clad residents of the Village what country he is in, but they cannot provide a satisfactory answer. He discovers the Village is surrounded by mountains save for its beachline, which opens onto the ocean with no sign of land nearby. Frustrated, he returns to the mockup study and finds it is attached to a modern flat. There, he receives a phone call and is told that Number Two wants to meet him at the Green Dome.
At the Green Dome, where several technicians monitor all aspects of the Village, Number Two tells the man they only wish to know why he resigned and to whom he is loyal, as the intelligence he has gathered over his career is too valuable to simply let him "walk away". Number Two suggests they would rather have his cooperation, but are prepared to use other means as needed. Number Two takes the man on a tour of the Village to show him the security systems they have in place to keep the inhabitants in line, including Rover, a mysterious floating balloon guardian that attacks those who flee. Later that night, the man attempts escape by sea but Rover catches him and renders him unconscious.
The man wakes in the Village's hospital, and finds a former colleague, Cobb, in the next bed. The man learns Cobb is also incarcerated in the Village, but before he can learn more, the hospital staff take him away for examination. On his return, he is told Cobb committed suicide by jumping out of the window. The man is released, and goes to accost Number Two, but finds that a different man is in the Green Dome. The new Number Two explains they may change that position from time to time for unexplained reasons. He then explains that no one in the Village uses his or her name, but is instead assigned a number, and the man is now Number Six. Number Six refuses to use this title as he adjusts to life in the Village.
Number Six attends Cobb's funeral and observes a woman watching from afar, and proceeds to follow her around the Village before he talks to her directly. The woman, Number Nine, claims to have been working with Cobb on an escape plan, and suggests that Number Six can still use the same plan. She gives him an electropass that can keep Rover at bay, giving him time to escape via a helicopter. Number Six has doubts about her motives as he had seen her talking to Number Two, but accepts the pass. That night, Number Six uses the pass and acquires a helicopter, but as he flies off, one of the technicians remotely takes over the helicopter and returns it to the Village. Number Six is escorted back to his home in the Village. Number Two is watching these events with Cobb, who had faked his death to mislead Number Six. With his assignment complete, Cobb prepares to move on to his next duty, but warns Number Two that Number Six will be "a tough nut to crack".