“Arrival” is episode one of The Prisoner.
A man arrives at an office and hands in his resignation. He leaves and his car is followed by another. His details are put into a drawer marked ‘Resigned’. At home, the man is packing when the other car pulls up outside. Gas is pumped in and he collapses.
He wakes in a strange room in a strange place. He leaves and sees a woman in a bell tower. He climbs it, but she is gone. Down below, he spots a cafe opening. At The Cafe, he asks a woman where he is. The Village. They don’t have a police station, and The Cafe lacks a phone. There’s a phone box around the corner. Lifting the receiver, a woman asks for his number. No number, no call.
Leaving the phone box for an information booth, pressing a number summons a taxi. The driver wants to know where he’s going. She says it’s only a local service. She’s wearing a badge with a number. The taxi drops him off outside a shop. The charge is two units; he can pay next time.
Inside the shop – the shopkeeper and a customer are wearing numbers – the man asks for a map. There’s a black and white one and a colour one. Both show The Village, surrounded by mountains. No larger area beyond The Village; there’s no demand for them. No self-drive cars either; only taxis.
The man leaves the shop. He sees a maid where he started and heads back there. The sign outside says ‘6’ and the door opens as he arrives. The maid is gone and the phone rings. He’s asked if his number is 6. There’s a call for him. From Number 2; join him for breakfast. Green dome.
The man arrives at 2; a butler shows him in to what looks like a control room. Number 2 emerges from the floor. A table and chair follow suit. The butler brings breakfast; it looks like he knew what the man would want. Number 2 wants to know why the man resigned. A lot of people are curious. The man says he’s leaving, but the door closes. Number 2 has something he thinks will be of interest; photos of the man’s life. There isn’t much they don’t know, but they’d like to know everything. It looks like they were spying on him at home.
Number 2 says the man will eventually tell him. Eventually, he’ll want to. If he tells, this could be a very nice place. The man won’t make deals. He resigned; his life is his own. They won’t hold him. Number 2 disagrees. Ge says he will show him.
The butler flies them in a helicopter over the Village; Number 2 indicating points of interest. They land again and take a taxi, heading to the town hall. In the open area. Number 2 calls out through a megaphone and tells everyone to stop. A balloon-like object appears in the fountain. A man tries to run, but the thing grows larger and swallows him up, heading off.
The man is in a very confusing place. Nothing appears to make a lot of sense. Some people have apparently been there for years. The man’s room he woke up in is actually a house, and it doesn’t appear to be easy to escape. He is determined to, though, and refuses to explain why he resigned. By the end, he’s been given a number, over his objections. He is Number 6.