“The Chimes of Big Ben” is episode two of The Prisoner.
After the opening scene first seen in “Arrival”, Number Six has a bit where the new Number Two is asking for information.
Number Six wakes to the radio saying that there is an arts & crafts competition in a few weeks. Number Two says that Number Six puts on a dressing gown with a gesture of defiance. Number Two is told there are methods they haven’t tried yet. Number Two wants Number Six to give in wholeheartedly. As Number Six puts the radio in the fridge. Number Two says that once Number Six tells why he resigned, the rest will follow.
Number Two then contacts the control room and asks about the helicopter; he wants to meet it. Number Six is playing chess as the helicopter descend. His opponent is considering making a chess set for the competition. And there’s no point fighting battles you can’t win. Number Two arrives; he tells Number Six they must play. Number Six agrees – by post. An unconscious woman is taken from the helicopter. Number Two says she suffers from nervous tension and is there to recuperate.
Back at Number Two’s the butler brings them tea. Number Two asks Number Six if he really thinks he can escape. Better; he will escape, come back and obliterate the place. Filling his tea with sugar cubes that his file says he doesn’t take. Number Two will cure him of his persecution complex.
They watch as the woman, the new Number Eight – there was no funeral for the previous one; there isn’t always a body – awakens as Number Six’s neighbour. Her place is an exact replica of her own. The view outside is not. Number Two rings and invites her for lunch. Then says if Number Six will say why he resigned, he will be free to go.
On the way back, Number Eight speaks to Number Six, asking where Number Two’s place. And where she is. She’s in the Village. Number Six agrees to take her. No, the only cars are taxis. They will take you anywhere you want as long as you come back here. Number Eight asks who these people are. Why are they here? Number Six asks why is she there. She asks who Number Two is. He asks who Number One is. Number Eight says all she did was resign.
Number Eight returns at evening. Number Six invites her for a nightcap. Non-alcoholic whiskey or non-alcoholic vodka. No names; he is Six, she is Eight. Is she Russian? Estonian. Russian then. Number Eight says they don’t think so. She suggests that Number Six is Number Two’s assistant. She says her name is Nadia Rokovsky. And she’s been interrogated enough for one day.
The next day, Number Six watches as Nadia heads to the beach. Number Two joins him. According to Number Two, there are two types of people. Those who talk and leave and those who don’t and stay. Number Six suggests Number Two is a prisoner too. Number Two says of course he is. As to which side runs the Village, both sides are becoming identical. The Village is the pattern for the future. Nadia has headed out into the water.
Number Two returns and reads Nadia was an international swimmer. Olympic bronze medallist. The control room tells him she’ll be out of range of video soon. He orders the ball thing released. She’s caught and dragged back to the beach, seemingly dead, as Number Six watched. She’s then taken away. Number Two calls Number Six and asks him to come to the hospital.
Nadia is refusing to talk. Number Two seems willing to use more forceful means on her than on Number Six. And it seems Nadia knows the location of the Village. She may be able to help Number Six escape. Number Six plans to use the arts & crafts competition as cover.