Is No.1 Mad? asks our own reporter

    As we discovered in’ Fall Out’ Number 1 turned out to be the alter ego of No.6 all the time. A Mr Hyde to No.6's Dr. Jekyll, if you prefer. There is good and evil in all of us, and we cannot live without either, remove the evil other self and we are the weaker for it. The evil side helps us make those difficult decisions we might prefer not to have to make. And the good, to keep in check that side of us which would do evil to others, well that's the principle of the idea, it doesn't always work as history has proved, it is so easy to give into our "darker side."

    But what about those masks worn by Number 1 which Number 6 had to remove to reveal the face behind the mask, the mad, cackling face of Number 1. The black and white mask could be representative of those faceless men, as of the members of the assembly seen during ‘Fall Out,’ who are supposed to govern us so wisely! The ape mask, a form of representative regression, or was Number 1 simply monkeying around?

    So if Number 1 was Number 6 all the time, then Number 2 must surely have been aware of this. After all Number 2 spoke to Number 1 on the telephone often enough. And that brings us nicely to that moment during ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ when the broken Number 2 begs Number6, who he sees to be a "plant" sent to spy on him and the village, not to report him. "I don't intend to. You are going to report yourself." But had No.6 taken the opportunity afforded to him to actually speak with Number 1, then who's voice would he hear? Presumably his own, but then the secret of who Number 1 was, would be revealed, if at that time McGoohan knew who No.1 was, which I seriously doubt. Because even by the time of ‘Fall Out’ no one knew who No.1 would turn out to be, least of all Patrick McGoohan. Some of the production crew thought it would turn out to be Lew Grade, Sir Lew Grade as in later years he became. And why should any of the production crew think Lew Grade would turn out to be Number 1? Well because he controlled ATV, and no ITC television series was made without Lew's say so. He did the deals, everyone at the time wanted to work for Lew Grade....... but as we know that is not how things turned out inside the Control Room of that rocket. It was in fact Noumber 6 alter ego who was Number 1, his alter ego, his evil side which he was trying to beat, or at least subdue!

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