The Girl Who Was Death

For the Devil Doll album, see The Girl Who Was... Death.

"The Girl Who Was Death"
The Prisoner episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 15
Directed by	David Tomblin
Written by	Terence Feely
Original air date	18 January 1968
Guest stars
Schnipps: Kenneth Griffith Sonia: Justine Lord
Episode chronology
← Previous "Living in Harmony" Next → "Once Upon a Time"

"The Girl Who Was Death" is a television episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 18 January 1968. According to several sources, including The Prisoner by Robert Fairclough, this episode was adapted from an unused, two-part script originally commissioned for Danger Man.

Plot summary

The basic plot appears to be Number Six on a past assignment, before he went to The Village. He has to track down Professor Schnipps, a mad scientist who wants to destroy London. Number Six dresses up in various disguises, including "Sherlock Holmes" with moustache, side whiskers and attitude, and tracks down a seductive woman called Sonia, alias "Death", who sets a series of deadly traps for him.

Eventually, after faking his death, Number Six tracks Sonia to a lighthouse where Schnipps and his associates are based. The villains all appear to have a Napoleon complex, dressing up as the Emperor himself. Captured, Number Six is tied up and left inside the rocket as it is about to launch, but he escapes and the rocket blows up, killing the villains.

In the end, it turns out that Number Six was telling some children a bedtime story in the Village nursery. Number Two (who looks like Schnipps) and his assistant (who looks like Sonia) were hoping that he would drop some clue as to why he resigned. But Number Six, after putting the children to bed, turns to the camera and cheekily wishes: "Good night, children...everywhere."

Additional guest cast

• Number Two/Schnipps: Kenneth Griffith
• Sonia/Assistant: Justine Lord
• Potter: Christopher Benjamin
• Killer Karminski: Michael Brennan
• Boxing M.C.: Harold Berens
• Barmaid: Sheena Marsh
• Scots Napoleon: Max Faulkner
• Welsh Napoleon: John Rees
• Yorkshire Napoleon: Joe Gladwin
• Bowler: John Drake
• Little girl: Gaynor Steward
• Little boy: Graham Steward
• Little boy: Stephen Howe
• Photographer: Alexis Kanner (uncredited)

Bibliography

• Fairclough, Robert, ed. The Prisoner: The Original Scripts. vol. 2. foreword by Roger Parkes. Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 978-1903111819. OCLC 61145235.  - script of episode

External links

• The Prisoner: The Girl Who Was Death at the Internet Movie Database