Dance of the Dead (The Prisoner)
Encyclopedia
Dance of the Dead is the eighth episode of the television
series The Prisoner
.
"Nowhere is there more beauty than here. Tonight, when the moon rises, the whole world will turn to silver. Do you understand? It is important that you understand.
"I have a message for you. You must listen. The appointment cannot be fulfilled. Other things must be done tonight. If our torment is to end, if liberty is to be restored, we must grasp the nettle, even though it makes our hands bleed. Only through pain can tomorrow be assured."
Hidden in the caves, Number 6 meets a former colleague who has been broken. Remembering his acquaintance with this man, Number 6 refers to him by name: Roland Walter Dutton. Dutton says he has told his captors all he knows, but they believe he is withholding further secrets, and they will soon be employing harsher methods to extract the information from him, destroying his mind in the process.
Later, Number 2 tells Number 6 that the body he floated out to sea has been discovered, and the corpse will be altered to resemble Number 6, so that the outside world will assume he has died at sea. The Carnival ends in a courtroom session with Number 6 on trial for the possession of the radio. Number 6 asks for Roland Walter Dutton to be called as a character witness, but when Dutton is revealed he is dressed in a Jester's costume, and is clearly a mindless vegetable. The trial ends with Number 6 being sentenced to death; he is pursued through the corridors of the town hall by enraged Villagers, but escapes into a back room. There Number 2 informs him that "they don't realise you're already dead". Number 6 swears that he'll never give in to the Village. In the final line of the episode Number 2 wryly observes, "Then how very uncomfortable for you, old chap!"
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series The Prisoner
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
.
Synopsis
Number 6 learns that a mysterious Carnival is to be held in the Village. He makes an attempt to escape that night but he is stopped by Rover on the beach. He then collapses due to exhaustion. After coming round he discovers a dead man's body floating in the sea, and using it as a buoy, attempts to send out a message to sea. On that man's person is a radio. When Number 6 tries to reach a high point to listen to it, at first he gets only static and a muffled, seemingly foreign, language channel. Then suddenly there is a mysterious message:"Nowhere is there more beauty than here. Tonight, when the moon rises, the whole world will turn to silver. Do you understand? It is important that you understand.
"I have a message for you. You must listen. The appointment cannot be fulfilled. Other things must be done tonight. If our torment is to end, if liberty is to be restored, we must grasp the nettle, even though it makes our hands bleed. Only through pain can tomorrow be assured."
Hidden in the caves, Number 6 meets a former colleague who has been broken. Remembering his acquaintance with this man, Number 6 refers to him by name: Roland Walter Dutton. Dutton says he has told his captors all he knows, but they believe he is withholding further secrets, and they will soon be employing harsher methods to extract the information from him, destroying his mind in the process.
Later, Number 2 tells Number 6 that the body he floated out to sea has been discovered, and the corpse will be altered to resemble Number 6, so that the outside world will assume he has died at sea. The Carnival ends in a courtroom session with Number 6 on trial for the possession of the radio. Number 6 asks for Roland Walter Dutton to be called as a character witness, but when Dutton is revealed he is dressed in a Jester's costume, and is clearly a mindless vegetable. The trial ends with Number 6 being sentenced to death; he is pursued through the corridors of the town hall by enraged Villagers, but escapes into a back room. There Number 2 informs him that "they don't realise you're already dead". Number 6 swears that he'll never give in to the Village. In the final line of the episode Number 2 wryly observes, "Then how very uncomfortable for you, old chap!"
Additional guest cast
- Town crier - Aubrey MorrisAubrey MorrisAubrey Morris is a British actor perhaps best known for his appearances in the cult 1970s films A Clockwork Orange and The Wicker Man....
- Psychiatrist - Bee Duffell
- Day supervisor - Camilla Hasse
- Dutton - Alan White
- Night supervisor - Michael NightingaleMichael Nightingale-Selected filmography:* The Man Who Watched Trains Go By * Man in the Shadow * Ice-Cold in Alex * The Stranglers of Bombay * Watch Your Stern * The Young Jacobites * The Silent Weapon...
- Night maid - Patsy SmartPatsy SmartPatsy Smart was an English actress who is best remembered for her performance as Miss Roberts in the 1970s ITV television drama Upstairs, Downstairs....
- Maid - Denise Buckley
- Postman - George MerrittGeorge Merritt (actor)George Merritt was a British film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* The W Plan * The Lodger * I Was a Spy * Crime on the Hill * The Silver Spoon...
- Flowerman - John FrawleyJohn Frawley (actor)John Frawley was an Australian actor with a number of film, television and stage credits to his name. After a television career in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, which included episodes of The Prisoner and The Avengers, Frawley appeared mainly in Australian films during the 1970s...
- Lady in corridor - Lucy GriffithsLucy Griffiths (actress born 1919)Lucy Griffiths was a British character actress whose work spanned from the early 1950s through to the early 1980s....
- Doctor - William Lyon Brown
- The Announcer/Telephone Operator: Fenella FieldingFenella FieldingFenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...
(voice only)
Trivia
- The music box theme heard throughout is the original theme from Josette du PresJosette du PresJosette du Pres was a character played primarily by Kathryn Leigh Scott during the 1795 flashback on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows.-Josette and Barnabas:...
' music box in the classic gothic soap Dark ShadowsDark ShadowsDark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
. - Although this is not the only episode in which a female Number Two is seen, it is the only one in which her voice is heard in the opening dialogue.
- The small transistor radio that Number 6 listens to is a Juliette brand 7 transistor model.