Number Six (The Prisoner) - Is The Prisoner John Drake?

Is The Prisoner John Drake?

Many fans of The Prisoner believe that Number Six is really John Drake, the character that McGoohan played in Danger Man from 1960 to 1962 and then again from 1964 to 1966, but the actor always denied this. Further in a 1966 interview in The Los Angeles Times, with reporter Robert Musel, McGoohan stated that "John Drake of Secret Agent is gone." Further McGoohan stated in a 1985 interview that No.6 is not the same character as John Drake, further adding that he had originally wanted another actor to portray the character. However, script editor, George Markstein, who co-created the series with McGoohan, always claimed that Number Six is John Drake. According to Markstein, he conceived the Prisoner show-format as a revamp of Danger Man when McGoohan resigned. In Markstein's mind, The Prisoner was a sequel. Markstein's spy thriller concept was then melded with McGoohan's Kafka-esque ideas, which McGoohan had been developing since he first saw Portmeirion during the shooting of a Danger Man episode in 1959.

Official novels based on the series also make this connection, specifically those written by Thomas Disch and David McDaniel, although these are generally not considered canonical.

In fact, Number Six's real name is never given or learned, even in episodes when he has met old colleagues or friends in the village, or in episodes where he comes into contact with his former superiors, coworkers or people in his life, they never refer to him by name, and such episodes appear to go out of their way to avoid anyone actually speaking his name.

In addition to this, the character of Fotheringay is played by Richard Wattis, who played one of Drake's superiors on Danger Man. Also, Christopher Benjamin plays a secret service contact named Potter in both Danger Man and "The Girl Who Was Death" episode of The Prisoner. However, Wattis' character on Danger Man was named Hardy, not Fotheringay, and Christopher Benjamin appears in early episodes of The Prisoner as an assistant to several Number Twos without being identified as Potter. The significance of Wattis and Benjamin's appearances is uncertain, especially as Potter appears only in a story being improvised by Number Six.

While John Drake and Number Six look identical and have the same moral integrity, the same profession, the same skills, and the same mannerisms, some differences are noteworthy. Drake is a less emotional, more restrained character while Number Six has a tendency to be outraged and furious as well as superior and condescending. Drake is a regular smoker of cigarettes and cigars, while Number Six smokes only twice in The Prisoner, despite the ready availability of tobacco in the Village. (During the production of The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan smoked constantly, which suggests that Number Six's only occasional smoking is a deliberate characterisation.) Drake is seen frequently consuming alcoholic beverages (or at least appearing to do so in the course of his undercover work) while Number Six claims to rarely drink.

Drake seems to prefer business suits with ties while Number Six's clothing of choice is a dark button-down sweater beneath a dress-jacket. However, the choice of clothing available to Number Six is limited to what was available in The Village.