prior episode "The Chimes of Big Ben". The bust was created for the art exhibition in that episode. The twist ending is similar to The Twilight Zone episode "The Old Man in the Cave" (1963). Entering the Village broadcast studios required a token to be inserted into a Thing money box. This was a toy bank from which a "Thing" hand emerged to snatch coins which were placed in a slot at the front. Reception Chris Gregory believes the episode to be "memorable" and "highly melodramatic". He describes the ending as "[fitting in] well with the subtext of the series", but also say "the revelation that 'The General' is a powerful computer is a stock science fiction device." Alain Carrazé and Hélène Oswald compare the ending of the episode to the story of David and Goliath. The fact that the Prisoner defeats the General with a single word is like David killing Goliath with a sling. They describe the music used during scene involving the Prisoner, Number Two and the Professor's wife as "one of the strangest musical themes in the series". Broadcast The broadcast date of the episode varied in different ITV regions of the UK. The episode was first shown at 7:30pm on Friday 3 November 1967 on ATV Midlands and Grampian Television, on Sunday 5 November on ATV London, Southern Television, Westward Television and Tyne-Tees; on Thursday 9 November on Scottish Television, on Friday 10 November on Anglia Television, on Thursday 23 November on Border Television and on Friday 1 December on Granada Television in the North West. The aggregate viewing figures for the ITV regions that debuted the season in 1967 have been estimated at 9.8 million. In Northern Ireland, the episode did not debut until Saturday 10 February 1968, and in Wales, the episode was not broadcast until Wednesday 11 February 1970. References Sources – script of episode External links 1967 British television episodes Fictional computers The Prisoner episodes it:Episodi de Il prigioniero#Il generale