“Hammer into Anvil” is episode ten of The Prisoner.
Number Two is interrogating Number Seventy-three in the hospital after she slashed her wrists. He wants to know where her husband with and claims he isn’t being faithful to her. Number Two has photos. Number Six is outside the hospital when he hears the woman screaming. He heads in and is restrained, just as she jumps out of the window. Number Two tells Six he will pay for this. Six says that no, Number Two will.
Six is at home when Number Two calls him, wanting Six to visit him immediately. Six refuses. He’s outside when he’s ambushed by a car full of men and taken to see Number Two. Two has things to discuss. Six suggests the girl Two murdered. No; about Number Six. Two has a sword hidden inside the stool the Number Twos carry. He wants to know what’s going on in Number Six’s mind. Then hits him in disgust. Two quotes German, Goethe, about the hammer and the anvil. And he’s going to hammer Six. The phone rings and Two answers it. No, everything is under control, he doesn’t need assistance. Two tells Six he will break him, then calls the Supervisor for special surveillance on Number Six. Report any unusual behaviour.
Six heads to the shop. He buys a copy of the Tally Ho, then asks about some new records. Six wants to try all the copies of Georges Bizet’s “L’Arlésienne”, listening to them in the listening booth in the shop, playing each for a few seconds, looking at his watch and finally making notes before returning them all. He leaves his Tally Ho as well, with the word ‘security’ ringed and a question mark on it. The shop keeper rings Number Two.
Number Two is told that Six was listening, timing and writing something. Two watches Six in his cottage, where he writes something on his pad then takes it. Number Fourteen is sent to get the next leaf of the pad. Two finds a message, addressed to X.O.4. about his query on the record. Number Two’s instability is confirmed; detailed report to follow.
That night, Six slips out of his cottage after curfew with an envelope. Two and Fourteen follow. Six heads into the cabin on the Stone Boat, and leaves without the envelope. Two takes it back and opens it, finding nothing but blank sheets of paper. He calls a tech, saying he wants the paper testing. For whatever is written on it, insisting there is something.
The techs find nothing. Two doesn’t believe them; why hid blank sheets of paper in the stone boat? Two accuses the tech of hiding something, of being in league with Number Six.
Six then places a personal ad in the Tally Ho. A quote from Don Quixote, in Spanish. One word is the Spanish for ‘village.’ He then calls the hospital’s psychiatric head for the report on Number Two. The man denies knowing anything and Six says he can understand why he’d rather not talk on the telephone. Probably very wise. Six will see him later. Two plays the recording back to the head, who denies knowing anything.
Number Six starts doing more things, all suggesting that he’s communicating with someone about Number Two. Number Two starts randomly accusing people of being in the plot, becoming increasingly paranoid as Number Six does more and more things that seem to have a hidden meaning, but don’t. Apart from the hidden meaning of trying to drive Number Two insane with paranoia.