Number Two (The Prisoner)
Encyclopedia
Number Two was the title of the chief administrator of The Village
The Village (The Prisoner)
The Village is the fictional setting of the 1960s UK television series The Prisoner where the main character, Number Six, is held with other former spies and operatives...

 in the 1967-68 British television 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...

. More than 17 different actors appeared as holders of the office during the 17-episode series (some episodes featured more than one "Number Two", most notably "It's Your Funeral" which featured two Number Twos in major roles and images of two others).

The first episode, "Arrival
Arrival (The Prisoner)
"Arrival" is the title of the first episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 29 September 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS on 1 June 1968....

", established that the person assigned to the position is frequently changed. There are two Number Twos with repeat appearances: Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...

 appeared in three episodes, and Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...

 in two. With the exception of "Fall Out
Fall Out (The Prisoner)
"Fall Out" is the seventeenth and final episode of the allegorical British science fiction series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as the incarcerated Number Six...

", this was the result of the actors performing their roles in two consecutive episodes filmed back to back. Colin Gordon was filmed in "The General
The General (The Prisoner)
The General is the sixth episode of the television series The Prisoner. The central themes of this episode are rote learning and indoctrination.-Synopsis:...

" followed immediately with "A. B. and C.
A. B. and C.
"A. B. and C." is the title of the third episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 13 October 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS on 22 June 1968....

" McKern was featured in the series' second transmitted episode, "The Chimes of Big Ben
The Chimes of Big Ben (The Prisoner)
"The Chimes of Big Ben" is the title of the second episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 6 October 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS on 8 June 1968....

," and then featured in the next production episode to be filmed "Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (The Prisoner)
"Once Upon a Time" is the title of the 16th episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan as Number Six...

." Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker.-Early life:He was born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Six months after his birth his parents split up and left Tenby, leaving Kenneth with his paternal grandparents, Emily and Ernest, who immediately adopted...

, Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill was a British actor known for his role on the British television sitcom Father, Dear Father.-Career:...

 and Georgina Cookson
Georgina Cookson
Antoinette Georgina Cookson was a British film, stage and television actress. She died in Sydney, aged 92, on 1 October 2011.-Family:...

 also appeared in more than one episode each: Griffith as the Judge in "Fall Out," Cargill as Thorpe in "Many Happy Returns," and Cookson as a woman at the party which Number Six
Number Six (The Prisoner)
Number Six is the central fictional character in the 1960s television series The Prisoner, played by Patrick McGoohan. In the AMC remake, the character is played by Jim Caviezel, renamed "Six"....

 hallucinates in "A, B and C". However, there is no indication as to whether their characters in these episodes are the same people as their Number Two characters.

The various Number Twos make use of several symbols of authority. One of these—the Seal, a large golden medallion, somewhat in the style of a mayoral chain, with the penny-farthing
Penny-farthing
Penny-farthing, high wheel, high wheeler, and ordinary are all terms used to describe a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel that was popular after the boneshaker, until the development of the safety bicycle, in the 1880s...

 logo and the official title "Chief Administrator"—is only seen in the episode "It's Your Funeral". Two more visible signs are a multicoloured scarf (similar in style to a British academic scarf
Academic scarf
The wearing of academic scarves is a tradition found at many British and Irish colleges and universities. Sets of two or more coloured stripes have traditionally been used as part of the distinctive visual identity of these institutions. The scarves are usually made of Saxony Wool and about 2...

) and a colourful seat stick umbrella (used as a cane). Most, though not all, Number Twos use these symbolic objects. Each Number Two is also served by the same diminutive, silent manservant.

Only two Number Twos were removed as a punishment for failure: Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill was a British actor known for his role on the British television sitcom Father, Dear Father.-Career:...

 in "Hammer Into Anvil
Hammer Into Anvil
"Hammer into Anvil" is an episode of the 1960s television program The Prisoner. It is one of the minority of episodes that do not deal with Number Six attempting to escape or the Village authorities attempting to coerce him into revealing information....

" is manipulated by Number Six into reporting his own incompetence, and Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...

 in "A, B and C" is repeatedly warned over the telephone about the consequences of failure. In the episode "Free for All" the Village holds an election for Number Two, and the serving Number Two (Eric Portman
Eric Portman
Eric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor...

) insists to Number Six that Number Twos are "democratically elected by the people". However, this election turns out to be another ploy to break Number Six. In contrast, the Number Two of "The Chimes of Big Ben" (played by Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...

) ended the story with an agent on loan to the Village promising to report favorably to his superiors on his almost successful plan to trick Number Six into confessing.

In the comic-book miniseries Shattered Visage, established as a sequel to The Prisoner, the Number Two featured is the version played by McKern, with the permission of McKern. In The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

episode "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
“The Computer Wore Menace Shoes” is the sixth episode of The Simpsons twelfth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 3, 2000. In the episode, Homer buys a computer and creates his own website to spread gossip...

", Number Two was voiced by Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...

. In the 2009 remake of the series, Number Two was played by actor Sir Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...

 in all six episodes. In Xavier Mauméjean
Xavier Mauméjean
Xavier Mauméjean is a French writer born in 1963. He teaches philosophy at a college in Valenciennes, Northern France.-Books in French:* Les Mémoires de l'Homme-Eléphant, Le Masque * Gotham, Le Masque...

's short story "Be Seeing You!", from the second volume of the Tales of the Shadowmen
Tales of the Shadowmen
Tales of the Shadowmen is an annual anthology of short stories edited by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier, published by . As of 2010, seven volumes have been released, with a eighth slated for late 2011...

anthology series, Denis Nayland Smith is the original Number 2, in 1912.

List of actors who played Number Two

Actor Episode(s)
George Baker
George Baker (actor)
George Baker, MBE was an English actor and writer. He was best-known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.-Personal life:...

 
"Arrival"
David Bauer
David Bauer (actor)
David Bauer was an American actor, a Chicagoan, who was based primarily in Britain. He was chosen as the most promising actor at Washington University and his professional career began immediately after graduating...

 
"Living in Harmony"
Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill
Patrick Cargill was a British actor known for his role on the British television sitcom Father, Dear Father.-Career:...

 
"Hammer into Anvil"
Georgina Cookson
Georgina Cookson
Antoinette Georgina Cookson was a British film, stage and television actress. She died in Sydney, aged 92, on 1 October 2011.-Family:...

 
"Many Happy Returns"
Guy Doleman
Guy Doleman
Guy Doleman was a New Zealand actor.He is perhaps best known for his role as "Count Lippe" in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball, and as "Colonel Ross" in the three film adaptations of Len Deighton's "Harry Palmer" novels, starring Michael Caine, in the 1960s...

 
"Arrival"
Clifford Evans
Clifford Evans
Clifford Evans was a Welsh actor. As a conscientious objector he served in the Non-Combatant Corps in World War II.During the summer of 1934 he appeared in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Open Air Theatre in London....

 
"Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling"
Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...

 
"The General"
"A. B. and C."
Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker.-Early life:He was born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Six months after his birth his parents split up and left Tenby, leaving Kenneth with his paternal grandparents, Emily and Ernest, who immediately adopted...

 
"The Girl Who Was Death"
Rachel Herbert "Free for All"
Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...

 
"The Chimes of Big Ben"
"Once Upon a Time"
"Fall Out"
Mary Morris
Mary Morris
Mary Morris was a British actress.-Life and career:She was the daughter of Herbert Stanley Morris, the botanist, and his wife Sylvia Ena de Creft-Harford. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.She made her stage debut in Lysistrata at the Gate Theatre, London, in 1935...

 
"Dance of the Dead"
Derren Nesbitt
Derren Nesbitt
Derren Nesbitt is an English actor. Possibly his best known role was as SS Major von Hapen in Where Eagles Dare.In 2008 he was writing a book on "biblical myths and falsehoods".-Acting career:...

 
"It's Your Funeral"
Eric Portman
Eric Portman
Eric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor...

 
"Free for All"
Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film and in television dramas and sitcoms.-Life and career:...

 
"The Schizoid Man"
John Sharp
John Sharp (actor)
John Sharp was a British television actor.He made more than 100 appearances in television and occasionally films between 1949 and 1991. Sharp began as a film actor in 1949 and appeared in films throughout the 1950s...

 
credited as "John Sharpe"
"A Change of Mind"
Andre Van Gyseghem
Andre Van Gyseghem
André van Gyseghem was an English actor and theatre director who also appeared in many British television programmes.- Early life :...

 
"It's Your Funeral"
Peter Wyngarde
Peter Wyngarde
Peter Paul Wyngarde is an Anglo-French actor best known for playing the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two British television series in the late 1960s and early 1970s: Department S and Jason King .-Biography:He was born Cyril Goldbert in Marseilles, France, the...

 
"Checkmate"


Colin Gordon, Leo McKern, Mary Morris and Peter Wyngarde were the only Number Two actors whose voices featured in the title sequences of the episodes in which they appeared. The openings of "Arrival", "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", "Living in Harmony" and "Fall Out" did not include dialogue. In the title sequences of the remaining seven episodes the voice of Number Two was that of Robert Rietty.
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