Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) is persuaded to run for election for the job of Number Two, which the current Number Two (Eric Portman) wants him to do. Number Six is suspicious, but he figures he can escape if he is in charge. Number Fifty-eight (Rachel Herbert), a newly arrived young woman with an unidentified Slavic accent, is assigned as Number Six’s assistant. He’s not thrilled, but she is. There are a pair from the Press that distort everything he says and obviously printed it up before even interviewing him. The voters seem to be as fickle as the citizens of Springfield on the Simpsons. Number Two and Number Six compete for the office and Number Six offers freedom to the electorate, but he makes a break for it in the middle of the election by stealing a motorboat. He is taken by Rover.

Number Six and Number Two hang out in a cave with a forbidden still, and after a few drinks Number Two confesses that he hates the Village. Number Six is drugged and coerced into seriously running, and despite the fact that he seems sometimes not to be in his right mind, he wins the election. He and Number Fifty-eight go to the Green Dome to take command, but she brutally slaps him with great strength, then stuns him with bright lights. He tries to broadcast to the Village that they can leave but is beaten by a gang of mechanics and taken to the hospital. Number Fifty-eight, suddenly speaking perfect English, reveals that she is now Number Two. As the previous Number Two leaves on a helicopter, she tells him to give her regards to the homeland.

This episode was directed by Patrick McGoohan and written by him under the name of Paddy Fitz. It was the second episode to be produced but aired fourth in the UK. McGoohan’s photograph on the election posters was his official publicity picture and appears in the opening credits. The scene of him being brutally beaten was censored but restored for reruns and video. The Village pub is called The Cat and Mouse. The chant of the Number Six voters sounds like Six, Six, Six.

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