"Living in Harmony" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, The Prisoner.

It was broadcast in the UK on ITV (ATV Midlands and Grampian) on Friday 29 December 1967 and was not screened in the United States on CBS during the initial network run.

[1][2] The episode differs from most others in the series as it does not begin with the show's standard opening credits sequence.

The episode begins with a Western paraphrase of the regular opening sequence, with Number Six, dressed as a Sheriff, turning in his badge and his gun (i.e., resigning).

Leaving town, without a horse but still carrying his saddle, he is attacked by several men in the countryside as the episode title "Living in Harmony" appears on screen, where one would expect to see the series' name.

The Judge arrives with several armed men and upon learning of Kathy's death gives Number Six the ultimatum to work for him or be killed.

[3] As CBS would only purchase the series as a summer filler, they made a compromise and decided upon seventeen episodes as evidenced by the October 1966 CBS Press release: "the network recently purchased a British adventure series titled The Prisoner.

The series stars Patrick McGoohan of Secret Agent and consists of 17 hour shows in color.

[5][6] As McGoohan would later state, the goal of "Living in Harmony" and other padding episodes, was to "make them as visually exciting as possible but still retaining within them part of the theme of violence doesn't pay off".

Music editor Eric Mival submitted two ideas ("Friend or Foe" and "Ticket to Eternity"), and assistant editor Ian Rakoff, film librarian Tony Sloman, and assistant director John O'Connor one each.

[10] The idea of a sheriff refusing to bear arms was directly inspired by an incident that occurred while Rakoff was in South Africa, when during a night out he had the intention of shooting a man he considered to be a racist but was stopped by another group member.

[6] According to Rakoff, Tomblin was able to do so in absence of McGoohan, who was in the United States filming Ice Station Zebra.

[16][10][18] Instead, they argue that the network feared Number Six's refusal to carry arms could be interpreted as an anti-war statement.

[16][19][20] As the plot was recognisably American, being a Western, they argue, the network banned the episode in fear that it carried with it a message against US involvement in the Vietnam War.

[16][18][20] Other writers have since claimed that the episode's implied war commentary was why it was not shown during its original US run;[10] however, CBS executive Henry Colman claimed in an interview that the decision was his alone, and that a story in the news that week would have made it insensitive to air the episode.