| LIVING IN HARMONY |
We see a Western parody of the standard pre-titles resignation sequence normally placed at the beginning of most episodes. A man, dressed in Western gear, rides across a plain and turns in his Sherrif's badge. Walking away from the job, he's attacked by a gang of cowboys and is dragged to the gates of a town called 'Harmony'.
It's clear that he isn't intended to leave, every escape simply results in him being dragged back. The town Judge wants him to become the new Sheriff, but the man refuses, particularly the guns that go with the job.He befriends Kathy, who works in the saloon but the Judge uses her as emotional blackmail to emphasise that they can never leave. Kathy is hounded by a mute psychotic 'Kid' whose dangerous homicidal tendencies make things even more difficult. Taking up the Sherrif's job in order to buy them some time, the man persuades Kathy that they must attempt to escape and are helped by Jim,  a local man who is their only ally. However, Jim and, later, Kathy are murdered for helping. The man buries the dead, straps on the guns he has so far refused to wear, and goes to the saloon to have it out with the Judge and his men. In the shootout, he kills all of the men but is in turn shot in the head by the Judge. He awakens to find himself as No. 6 once more, dazed and disorientated but physically unharmed. He is surrounded by all the Western trapping but they're all cardboard cutouts. Clearly he's been drugged and made to act out the whole thing. This is confirmed as we cut to the interior of the Green Dome where the Judge is in reality No. 2 and Kathy and the Kid are his assistants. The object of the exercise was to break down his mental defences in the artificial environment. However, all of them got carried away and have lost control. No. 6 enters the room and looks at them with contempt. No words are necessary and he leaves, his secrets and indentity intact. However, the role-playing has had a serious effect on the others and tragedy strikes, leaving two people dead.
Trivia: 
There is no standard title sequence for this episode, although the key scenes are cleverly parodied in classic Western style. There are deliberately no written titles either, except that some television companies, underestimating the intelligence of their viewers as usual, superimposed the words "The Prisoner" over some of the opening shots.Five sequences within the main story hit censorship problems and were either deleted or re-edited prior to transmission. These were: Johnson's hanging, the fight with Zeke, The Prisoner being dragged back to Harmony and both sequences where Kathy is strangled. It was not until 1984 that the episode was shown complete in the UK. The town of Harmony was the Borehamwood backlot which had been redressed and reused several times in the series. Frank Maher, who was both stunt co-ordinator and McGoohan's stunt double for the entire series, receives his only screen credit in this episode as "Third Gunman". Maher taught both McGoohan and Kanner to handle their guns like professionals and choreographed all the fight scenes, including the wonderful final shootout. It was from his suggestion that this episode came to be written. First UK showing: Friday the 29th December 1967 at 19:30 on ATV Midlands |
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