Once upon a time, there was a man known as the Prisoner, and some very strange thing happened to him when he was held captive in a beautiful but remote village. This might well be the opening to the "The Prisoner" episode "The Girl Who Was Death", which is quite the most unusual fairy tale of all time, though just why cannot be explained without giving away the secrets contained in a story which takes the "Prisoner" into the realms of high comedy as well as more action-packed thrills than have ever before been crammed into a single hour show.