Prisoner, The Easter Egg - No 7's Ever

The Prisoner also provided inspiration for an absolutely blinding Iron Maiden song of the same name. Love it!

The Prisoner is now available on dvd.It's not an egg but i'm sure you'll care.

The absence of the number 7 is true. In interviews, Patrick McGoohan has claimed that there was no symbolic meaning or significance to this, but I have always thought that it might be because McGoohan is a notorious religious fanatic, and 7 is a sacred number in Judeo-Christian mythology. Or, it may be because "The Prisoner" was conceived as a 7-issue mini-series. (The original 7 episodes were "Arrival," "Free for All," "Dance of the Dead," "Checkmate," "Chimes of Big Ben," "Once Upon a Time," and "Fallout." The producer asked for 24 episodes, so that the series could be sold to an American network, and McGoohan and some friends managed to brainstorm ideas for the other episodes. In addition to the 17 episodes filmed, 2 additional episodes were planned, but never filmed, as the series was abruptly canceled.)

re: song, if you listen to the words the same can be said of the Genesis song "Home By The Sea".

The Prisoner was also the inspiration for another Iron Maiden song: "Back in the Village" from Powerslave.

Well... almost. It's true that the Village information post, covered with numbered buttons, is devoid of all "7's." However, in the episode "Hammer Into Anvil," there is a prisoner named Number 73. Though she wears no badge displaying her number, there is a scene showing Number 6 kneeling by her grave which is marked quite clearly "73." Interestingly, in another episode, Number 6's former code name is revealed and it contains the number 73! (We don't see it written, however.) In "Many Happy Returns," Number 6 is shown writing "DAY 7" on a sheet of paper. There may be other instances of "7's" appearing in the series, but these are the only ones which spring to mind. So why hide all the "7's" in the first place only to be inconsistent with it? It's possible that there was some meaning originally but in the course of production some errors were made. My pet theory -- if there is a meaning at all -- is that it was done because six and one make seven. Since we are constantly left wondering who Number 1 is (and who Number 6 really is), this business with "7's" is either a clue or a red herring, depending on your point of view.

Actually, there are two overt instances of the number 7, both in "Once Upon a Time." The first occurs when Number Six approaches a man in the courtyard, demanding to know what number he is. Number Six asks, "What number are you? One? Two? Three? Four? Five? Six? Seven?..." and gets all the way up to twelve or so. The second instance is during the bombing sequence in the Embryo chamber. Number Two plays the part of a bomber pilot who is counting down distance to target, and Number Six must repeat these numbers back. They pass through seven, but Number Six won't say the number six.

In 1987 a show called "the laughing prisoner" by stanley Ulwin aired on channel 4. Hosted by Stephen fry as number 2, had footage of the original series in as cut scenes, it had music etc in it too(to kind of break it up a little) artists such as magnum performed in "prisoner" attire. It was quite good really, check it out if you have chance

Interesting thing about number 73 and the grave is that "73" is amateur radio (ham) lingo for goodbye.

And lets not forget that outside The Village he drove a Lotus Seven but the car never made it to The Village