It was the ninth episode to be broadcast in the UK on ITV (ATV Midlands and Grampian) on Friday 24 November 1967 and first aired in the United States on CBS on Saturday 17 August 1968.

[3] Number Six is persuaded to participate, as the white queen's pawn, in an oversized game of chess using people as pieces.

They attempt an escape by making a two-way radio out of various pilfered electronic parts and then hailing a passing ship with a Mayday distress call, pretending to be a crashing airliner.

The episode's original title was to be "The Queen's Pawn", a play on the fact that Number Six had recently been in "Her Majesty's service".

[6] However, Number Six discovers, as usual, that his trust is misplaced and the distinction between prisoner and warder remains blurred.