The Chimes of Big Ben (S01E02)
Airdate: October 6th 1967
Written by: Vincent Tisley Directed by: Don Chaffey
Running Time: 50 minutes
The Prisoner endures as one of the most audacious and intellectually stimulating television works of the 1960s, a surreal labyrinth of Cold War paranoia, psychological manipulation, and existential inquiry that remains profoundly influential. Yet, for all its genius, the series was never flawless. Certain structural and conceptual limitations, inherent in its unique format and self-contained setting, occasionally resulted in episodes that felt constrained, their narrative resolutions somewhat telegraphed to modern sensibilities. While these shortcomings were likely imperceptible, or at least forgivable, to audiences in the late 1960s – encountering such bold experimentation for the first time – they become increasingly apparent today. Contemporary viewers, steeped in decades of sophisticated television drama that has both built upon and refined The Prisoner’s legacy, possess a heightened critical lens. It is against this backdrop that the series’ second episode, The Chimes of Big Ben, reveals itself as a fascinating, yet ultimately flawed, entry – a work of high quality momentarily tripped by the very framework that defined the show’s brilliance.
Number Six, as ever, operates under the same relentless imperatives established in Arrival: resist the insidious pressure exerted by his captors to divulge the reason for his resignation, seek any conceivable avenue of escape from the deceptively serene yet psychologically suffocating Village, and navigate the bizarre social fabric of this forced community. This episode introduces the formidable Leo McKern as the new rotating Number Two, a character radiating a chilling blend of avuncular charm and ruthless authority. The catalyst for the plot emerges through Number Six’s interaction with his new neighbour, Number Eight, portrayed with captivating enigma by Nadia Gray (the Romanian actress renowned for her legendary striptease scene in La Dolce Vita). Her presence initially draws him into the Village’s trivialities, specifically the upcoming crafts show – an activity he would otherwise disdain. This involvement is not born of idle curiosity, however. Gray’s character, later identifying herself as Nadia, is apprehended by the ever-present Rover while attempting a desperate swim escape. Brought to the Village hospital and subjected to interrogation, Number Six strikes a pragmatic bargain: his participation in the crafts show in exchange for an end to her ordeal. This transaction underscores the episode’s core tension – the constant negotiation for even minor concessions within an utterly totalitarian system.
Nadia’s subsequent revelation that she is Estonian, and crucially, her identification of the Village’s location on the "Baltic coast of Lithuania" (then, of course, a Soviet Socialist Republic), provides the geographical anchor for their escape plan. Their scheme hinges on subverting the Village’s own enforced normalcy, utilising a large art installation created for the crafts show as a means to breach the perimeter. Remarkably, their audacious plan succeeds. They flee, leveraging Number Six’s presumed pre-Village expertise and contacts to navigate the treacherous waters of the Iron Curtain, ultimately reaching the apparent sanctuary of London. Here, however, the rug is pulled from under both Number Six and the audience. Summoned by his former superiors, he faces suspicion of being a double agent. On the cusp of finally revealing his long-protected secret – seemingly the price for Nadia’s continued freedom – an instinctive, almost preternatural suspicion halts him. Something feels profoundly wrong about the entire scenario, a dissonance he cannot immediately name.
This brings us to the episode’s central, and ultimately its most significant, weakness: the celebrated plot twist. The revelation that Number Six has never truly escaped – that London was merely another meticulously constructed layer of the Village’s illusiont – is, for contemporary viewers, less a stunning revelation and more a narrative inevitability. Precisely because it is only the second episode, seasoned viewers of serialised drama, even those unfamiliar with The Prisoner’s specific rules, would anticipate this outcome. The foundational premise – Number Six’s perpetual, inescapable imprisonment – is so starkly established in Arrival that any apparent success in The Chimes of Big Ben must inherently be temporary, a trap. The brilliance of the twist in 1967 lay in its sheer audacity within the context of early television; today, its predictability undermines its intended impact, rendering it the episode’s most conventional and least surprising element.
Nevertheless, The Chimes of Big Ben maintains the series’ generally high production values and features exceptional performances. Leo McKern is simply magnificent as Number Two, embodying the role’s terrifying duality – the affable bureaucrat masking the implacable enforcer – with a subtlety and menace that sets a benchmark for all subsequent incumbents. Nadia Gray is equally compelling, investing Nadia with a palpable sense of mystery, resilience, and pragmatic determination. Her relationship with Number Six remains strictly professional and transactional, a refreshing avoidance of forced romance that heightens the tension and ambiguity surrounding her true motives. This ambiguity is central to the episode’s other strength: its potent Cold War atmosphere. More overtly than most Prisoner episodes, it leans into the tropes of contemporary spy fiction – the Iron Curtain, defectors, double agents, and the shadowy world of intelligence. Crucially, however, the script retains the series’ core ambiguity. It deliberately obscures who exactly holds the Village and from whom Number Six is truly escaping. Is it a Western black operation? A Soviet counterpart? Or, as the episode intriguingly suggests, a third entity performing "outsourced dirty work" for both superpowers? This deliberate fog surrounding the Village’s allegiance is one of The Prisoner’s most enduring and thought-provoking aspects.
Yet, this carefully constructed ambiguity is somewhat undermined by geographical inaccuracies that, while perhaps glossed over in the 1960s, grate significantly today. Nadia’s identification of the Village on the "Baltic coast of Lithuania" (a Soviet republic at the time, alongside Estonia and Latvia) is presented as concrete fact within the episode. However, Lithuania’s coastline is minuscule compared to Estonia’s or Latvia’s, and the specific conflation of Estonian identity (Nadia) with a Lithuanian location feels geographically muddled even by Cold War-era Western standards. More critically, in the current geopolitical climate, where the precise borders, histories, and national identities of the East Europe are subjects of intense global focus and conflict, such casual conflation appears jarringly uninformed.
In conclusion, The Chimes of Big Ben stands as a testament to The Prisoner’s ambition and quality, boasting stellar performances and a potent Cold War narrative that effectively explores the series’ central themes of deception and control. McKern and Gray deliver compelling work within the Village’s gilded cage. However, its position as only the second episode fatally compromises its central narrative device, making the supposedly shocking return to the Village feel less like a masterstroke and more like a structural necessity rendered predictable by the show’s own premise. *The Prisone’s genius lies in its totality; individual episodes, like this one, inevitably bear the marks of their time and format, reminding us that even masterpieces are not immune to the passage of years and the evolution of audience expectation.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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