The Village (The Prisoner)
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The Village is the fictional setting of the 1960s UK television series ''
The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'' where the main character, Number Six, is held with other former spies and operatives from various countries. The theme of the series is his captors' attempts to find out why Number Six resigned from his job and his attempts to escape from the Village and learn the identity of Number One. Ostensibly, those running the Villagethought by many to be countries around the worldbelieve that once Number Six is coerced into explaining the behind his resignation, all the state secrets he knows will come tumbling out. However, the ultimate use of these secrets is only intimated, but not overtly explored. Beyond its explicit physical setting, the Village is also viewed as an allegory for humanity and society during the Cold War era. Patrick McGoohan notes in various post-show interviews that the Village is "within all of us...we all live in a little Village...Your village may be different from other people's villages but we are all prisoners."


Description

The location of the Village is unknown until the end of the series; clues to its whereabouts are contradictory until the final episode. In " Many Happy Returns," it is said to be on the coast of Morocco or southern Portugal, possibly an island, and is located by Number Six in this area while making reconnaissance passes in an aircraft. Prior to this, in "
The Chimes of Big Ben "The Chimes of Big Ben" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Vincent Tilsley and directed by Don Chaffey and fifth to be produced. It was the second episode to be broadcast in t ...
," it is claimed to be located in the Soviet Union on the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
(the episode states "in
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, 30 miles from the Polish border"), though it is later revealed that this was a Village disinformation plot. In the alternative version of the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben," Number Six constructs a device that allows him to work out the Village's location; this scene was cut presumably to remove the reference to navigation by stars which would have allowed an estimation of the Village's general position, at the least, thereby undermining the story line of the episode (if not a key element in the entire series). This version of the episode is not considered part of the series' canon. The series final episode, " Fall Out," reveals that the Village is actually located in Great Britain as Number Six and other characters are able to drive from the Village to central London. Although a line of dialogue in "Many Happy Returns" has a character speculating that the Village is on an island, this is never confirmed in the series, and in fact all given locations (save for that in "Fall Out") should be considered unreliable evidence given the fact they are mentioned as part of a deception aimed at getting Number Six to reveal why he resigned from his secret British government job. The
Italianate architecture The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
of the Village is somewhat deceptive as the interiors of the buildings are frequently Georgian, 1960s 'mod', or in a number of instances, an oddly sparse kind of 'ultra modern' design. Throughout the Village, music plays in the background, nearly all of it alternating between rousing marching band music and lullabies, periodically interrupted by public announcements (voiced by
Fenella Fielding Fenella Fielding, OBE (born Fenella Marion Feldman; 17 November 1927 – 11 September 2018) was an English stage, film and television actress who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, and was often referred to as "England's first lad ...
). The media and signage consistently incorporate sailing and resort themes. Exactly who operates the Village is unclear. Ostensibly, the Village is run by a democratically elected council, with a popularly elected executive officer known as " Number Two" presiding over it and the Village itself, although internal dialogue indicates that the entire process is rigged. "Work units" or "credits" serve as currency in its shops, and are kept track of with a hole-punched credit card. Although various members of the community in the Village are shown to hold down jobs or even own businesses, most, including Number Six do not seem to work, though they are nevertheless given a comfortable lifestyle. The exact size of the environs of the Village is never established on screen. Besides the main Village setting, which is known to include a hospital building, there are woods, mountains and coastal areas. The Village is large enough that one episode ("
Living in Harmony Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings * Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct * Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...
") established that an entire Old West town and environs was built somewhere in the vicinity. In " Arrival", " Many Happy Returns" and other episodes, Number Six actually views the Village from the air, yet is apparently unable to spot any surrounding towns or cities. In other episodes (depending upon the camera angle), buildings can clearly be seen on the far side of the bay. Nevertheless, all maps of the Village seen in the series display little beyond the central village, indicating that it is surrounded on three sides by mountains (said mountains are seen by Number Six in "Many Happy Returns") and sea on the fourth, though the map does show a road leading off the map which may connect to the other areas, such as the Village hospital which is depicted as being in a field-like area away from the core Village (at least in some episodes like "Arrival;" in others, such as "Chimes of Big Ben," it is shown to be overlooking the central plaza of the Village).


Identification badges

For official identification purposes, all residents and staff of the Village are assigned numbers in lieu of names, and with very few exceptions the use of proper names is forbidden. A few characters as referred to by their former military rank such as general or admiral. Numbers are reassigned as and when the current holder leaves the Village. The actual population of the Village is unknown – other than that there are some residents whose numbers are in the low triple digits (and in "The Schizoid Man" a private residence is briefly seen with the number 241) and save for Number Two, the numbering appears to have no bearing on one's authority or rank within the Village. Most identification badges are white, but occasionally black. The only character never seen wearing a number badge (other than Number Six, who refuses and is only seen wearing a badge on a couple of occasions) is the unnamed butler who serves Number Two; his number (if he has one) is never revealed. Similarly, only one character – a woman in " The Schizoid Man" who befriends Number Six – is consistently identified by a proper name, and never by her number.


Penny farthing logo

Many items in the Village are branded with its logo, a canopied
penny-farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every r ...
bicycle (commonly referred to as an "Ordinary"). It appears on the masthead of the daily newspaper called the ''Tally Ho''. Almost all signs and objects are labelled in the same typeface, a modified version of the font
Albertus Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...
.


Filming locations

Scenes of the Village were filmed in the grounds of
Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architec ...
's Italianate
Portmeirion Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the co ...
, a resort near
Penrhyndeudraeth Penrhyndeudraeth (; ) is a small town and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The town is close to the mouth of the River Dwyryd on the A487 nearly east of Porthmadog, and had a population of 2,150 at the 2011 census, increased from 2 ...
in
north Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...
. Principal location shooting took place over four weeks in September 1966, with a return visit for additional, second unit-style shots for later episodes in March 1967. Sections of the resort (such as Number Six's residence interior with exterior) were sets at MGM Borehamwood Studios in England. Later episodes were shot almost entirely on the sets on MGM's sound stages and backlot and locations within easy reach of the studio at Borehamwood, (for example, in "
It's Your Funeral "It's Your Funeral" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Michael Cramoy and directed by Robert Asher and eighth produced. It was the eleventh episode to be broadcast in the UK o ...
", "
A Change of Mind "A Change of Mind" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Roger Parkes and directed by Patrick McGoohan and ninth produced. It was the twelfth episode to be broadcast in the UK on ...
", "Living in Harmony", and "
The Girl Who Was Death "The Girl Who Was Death" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Terence Feely and directed by David Tomblin and was the sixteenth produced. It was broadcast in the UK on ITV (Sco ...
"), and by reusing Portmeirion footage from earlier episodes the production company was able to save the expense that further principal photography at Portmeirion would have led to. Portmeirion had previously been used as a background in early episodes of
Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...
to show a foreign location – the episodes were "View From The Villa", "Under the Lake", "The Honeymooners", "Find and Return", "The Journey Ends Halfway" and "Bury the Dead".


Infrastructure

There is an extensive network of
tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
s and caverns under the Village, connecting many of the public buildings, and a number of secret facilities and support services (plumbing, waste disposal, observation cameras, etc.). These are generally off-limits to all prisoners above, but they appear to be extensively utilised, given the amount of motorcycle traffic observed in them in the final episode. There appears to be a large liquid-filled underground chamber that resembles a
lava lamp A lava lamp is a decorative lamp, invented in 1963 by British entrepreneur Edward Craven Walker, the founder of the lighting company Mathmos. It consists of a bolus of a special coloured wax mixture inside a glass vessel, the remainder of which ...
, probably a short distance off the coast, in which
Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...
– the Village's security guardian – resides when it is not being used. The normal background display of the large monitor in Number Two's office is a view of this chamber, and lava lamps are visible in virtually every public building in the Village. The Village is a self-contained society, and appears to be mostly self-sufficient as well, although no farming areas are ever seen, so it appears that food and supplies are shipped in from outside. It is sprawling enough to contain several hundred prisoners, in a comfort level similar to that of a hotel or a resort. As seen in "
The Girl Who Was Death "The Girl Who Was Death" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Terence Feely and directed by David Tomblin and was the sixteenth produced. It was broadcast in the UK on ITV (Sco ...
", the population includes several children, implying that some prisoners are so resigned to their fates that they have married and started families. The Village has its own daily newspaper (''The Tally Ho''), a cinema, a peripheral statue garden (though the statues are actually surveillance systems to prevent prisoners' escaping), a retirement home, a gymnasium, a fully equipped hospital, taxi service, a radio station (like
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
's
telescreen Telescreens are devices that operate simultaneously as televisions, security cameras, and microphones. They are featured in George Orwell's dystopian 1949 novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' as well as all film adaptations of the novel. In the novel a ...
s in ''
Nineteen-Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...
'', the receivers cannot be turned off), a television studio (used mostly for news reports and announcements), a restaurant, a music shop, several other stores, and its own graveyard. In addition, there are extensive recreation facilities. Although alcohol is officially outlawed in the Village, in one episode Number Six stumbles onto a hidden bar located in a cave on the beach, run by a single bartender and a home-made distillery that serves real alcohol. An old acquaintance he meets there informs him that the Village authorities tolerate its presence partially to mollify harder cases with alcohol, and because the proprietor is an eccentric genius who doodles groundbreaking equations when not serving customers, which the authorities periodically steal. The local economy functions on a credit chit system. The final episode also revealed that the Village conceals a
missile launch facility A missile launch facility, also known as an underground missile silo, launch facility (LF), or nuclear silo, is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs ...
deep underground. The exact dimensions of the Village are never explicitly defined. Although a map of the Village is shown on screen on several occasions, it only seems to show the core residential and business area of the village, which is shown as being surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges and the fourth by "the sea". The episode "
Living in Harmony Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings * Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct * Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...
" reveals that the Village is large enough to house a complete western town mock-up (presumably an area ear-marked for "official" use, and therefore not shown on the Village maps). Other episodes also indicate that the Village includes an expanse of beach and seaside cliffs (with caves). The jurisdiction of the Village over water is said to extend for several miles, or otherwise the range of Rover, the Village guardian system. There is visual evidence in many episodes that the Village also includes large areas of countryside (with residences) as these are often visible in the distance in aerial shots and views looking out to sea. The small
Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...
-like vehicles used as taxis in the Village are
Mini Moke The Mini Moke (styled "MOKE") is a small, front-wheel-drive utility and recreational convertible, conceived and manufactured as a lightweight military vehicle by British Motor Corporation (BMC), and subsequently marketed for civilian use under ...
s.


Authorities

Ostensibly, the Village is run by a democratically elected council, with a popularly elected executive officer known as "Number Two" presiding over it and the Village itself. Though most Village inhabitants seem to go along with this, internal dialogue indicates that the entire process is rigged: Whenever the council is seen, none of its members speak or move in any way. In actuality, the Village is a brutal dictatorship, best described by Number Six himself as "This farce, this 20th century
Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
that pretends to be a pocket
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...
." It is ruled by a revolving series of Chief Administrators designated "Number Two", some of whom return to the office after lengthy absences. They vary greatly in personality and in methodology: some of them are quite amiable, some are sadistic, and some are mere bureaucratic functionaries bordering on functional impotence. Number Two appears to be directly answerable to unseen superiors, the shadowy "They" or "Number One" pulling all the strings from behind the scenes, with direct contact via a red phone. It appears that Number Two is continually being observed by hidden cameras, and indeed one of the Number Twos confides to Number Six in "
The Chimes of Big Ben "The Chimes of Big Ben" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Vincent Tilsley and directed by Don Chaffey and fifth to be produced. It was the second episode to be broadcast in t ...
", "I'm as much of a prisoner here as you are. We're both lifers, my boy!" Whether Number Two literally means that he is a captive is not known for certain; several Number Twos are shown coming and going from the Village at will, and the very first Number Two, when he receives orders regarding his replacement in "Arrival", takes it calmly with understanding (as opposed to other Number Twos such as the one in "
A. B. and C. "A. B. and C." is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Anthony Skene and directed by Pat Jackson and eleventh produced. It was the third episode to be broadcast in the UK on ITV (AT ...
" who live in fear of such an order). However, when the Number Two of "Chimes of Big Ben" returns in " Once Upon a Time", it is made clear that it is against his will. In the final episode, " Fall Out", Number Two makes it clear that he had been kidnapped in much the same way as Number Six, but chose to quickly give in instead of fighting his captors. The episode "
It's Your Funeral "It's Your Funeral" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Michael Cramoy and directed by Robert Asher and eighth produced. It was the eleventh episode to be broadcast in the UK o ...
" suggests that most of the Number Twos encountered in the series are in fact only temporary appointments, standing in for an older Number Two who has been away from the Village for reasons not explained. This Old Number Two eventually returns, ostensibly in order to retire, but becomes the target of an assassination plot by the current "temporary" Number Two. Exactly who operates the Village is deliberately obscured. It sometimes appears to be run by
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
types, suggesting it is a holding cell for captured western agents, but at others it appears to be operating with some assistance from British Intelligence, implying that it is a holding area for western agents who have been compromised, or are feared to be untrustworthy by their own agencies. Several of the Number Twos in the course of the show appear to be unclear as to whom they are actually working for, and one explicitly says, "It doesn't matter 'who' Number One is. It doesn't matter which 'side' runs the Village ..both sides are becoming identical. What in fact has been created here? An ''international'' community." Another Number Two implies that both East and West are covertly operating the Village together for unknown reasons. The overall impression given by the series is that some kind of nebulous organisation is manipulating all the Cold War powers for its own ends.


Security

Weapons, alcohol, and tools are forbidden in the Village, but there are no walls or visible barriers to prevent escape, and no apparent prison guards. Indeed, aside from Number Two functioning as warden, the Village at first appears to have no real security infrastructure. This is merely a ruse, however, as subsequent episodes reveal that many of the other people in the Village are, in fact, warders planted unobtrusively in the community and reporting back to the current Number Two. It is strongly implied that "They" (the never-revealed masters of the Village) have several
plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...
s in the Village as well, whose identities are unknown to Number Two, and who report back to "Them" directly; one of the more sadistic Number Twos (seen in "
Hammer into Anvil "Hammer into Anvil" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Roger Woddis and directed by Pat Jackson and twelfth produced. It was the tenth episode to be broadcast in the UK on IT ...
") is particularly paranoid about this possibility. An underground
control room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...
monitors
closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly tr ...
cameras located throughout the Village. Observers continually spy on Villagers and foil escape attempts with the aid of Rover, a large white balloon-like device that chases would-be escapees. The perimeter of the Village is surrounded by a pleasant wooded area, including one or two caves (which may or may not connect to the network of tunnels). Beyond this, Rover patrols: if anyone ventures too far from town, they will be intercepted and nudged back towards the Village. If anyone attempts to escape, Rover will capture them and they wake up in the Village hospital. Rover has also been shown to kill on two occasions; the exact cause of death is not revealed (the target is "enveloped"/suffocated; this happens to the victims in " Arrival" and " The Schizoid Man"), however, in " Free for All", Number Six is attacked in a similar manner, but survives.


Customs

Citizens use the phrase "Be seeing you" as a farewell, accompanied by a waving
gesture A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ...
consisting of thumb and forefinger forming a circle over the eye, then tipped forward in a salute. This may be a reminder that in the Village, one is under constant surveillance; anyone may be a warder, a stooge working for Number Two – although a simpler theory of the salute could be that the fingers are formed into the shape of a number six. In their book, ''The Official Prisoner Companion'', Matthew White and Jaffer Ali state that actress Norma West said that McGoohan told her the gesture was used by early Christians; it was the sign of the fish (the documentary ''The Prisoner Video Companion'', originally released on VHS in the 1980s and later on DVD by A&E, also makes this statement). In
Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...
and ''Secret Agent'', John Drake uses that expression often. Most (but not all) guards wear the same style of resort clothing and numbered badges as the prisoners, and mingle seamlessly among the general population. Thus, it is nearly impossible for prisoners to determine which Villagers can be trusted and which ones cannot.


Fate

When last seen in the final episode, "Fall Out", the residents of the Village are evacuated by helicopter after Number Six primes a missile (located within a silo beneath the Village) to launch. The episode and the series never reveal what happens to the Village or its people after Number Six finally escapes. The Village did appear again in a
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...
mini-series based on the series published in the 1980s, which picked up the story 20 years later. In this version (published later as the
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
, '' Shattered Visage''), the Village is abandoned and falls into disrepair. Number Six seemingly never left the Village, instead choosing a hermit-like existence as its Number One. This existence comes to an end when Number Two writes a book about the Village, inspiring a joint effort by American and British agents to investigate the site. However, a young woman washes ashore before their arrival, awakening to find herself dubbed Number Six. One and Six are able to establish an odd camaraderie before Two arrives, seeking to complete unfinished business. Ultimately, in this version of the story line, the Village is destroyed in a massive explosion. In reality,
Portmeirion Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the co ...
continues to be a popular tourist attraction in north-west Wales, and frequently hosts events related to celebrating the series. It is also a popular destination for owners of Lotus/Caterham Seven cars, as driven by Number Six in the series. The building in Portmeirion shown in the series as Number Six's house was later converted into a shop selling ''Prisoner''-related souvenirs, with a penny-farthing bicycle parked outside.


In other media

In ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...
'' episode "
The Computer Wore Menace Shoes “The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" is the sixth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 3, 2000. In the episode, Homer buy ...
",
Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' short ...
is imprisoned in a location called "The Island" after accidentally uncovering a secret flu shot scheme. He escapes by stealing Number Six's raft (which he had spent thirty years building) and uses a
spork A spork is a hybrid form of cutlery taking the form of a spoon-like shallow scoop with two to four fork-like tines. Its name is a portmanteau of spoon and fork. Spork-like utensils, such as the terrapin fork or ice cream fork, have been manuf ...
to pop the Rover sent to capture him. Patrick McGoohan guest-starred in the episode, reprising the role of Number Six. It is revealed in this episode that the reason for Six's imprisonment was his invention of the bottomless peanut bag. In the '' Lupin III Part 2'' episode "The Sound of the Devil's Bells Call Lupin", Jigen and Goemon are captured and imprisoned in a village in the middle of nowhere called Gemarschaft, run by a mysterious nun called Sister Lavina, and after Jigen sends a distress call, Lupin comes to rescue them and finds out that Lavina has been using a hypnotherapy bell to brainwash the people trapped there so she can use them for a secret military project. Lavina uses Rover-like bubbles to capture people who try to escape. In
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
's crossover comic, '' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier'', The Village is stated as having been built by the Thought Police to house enemies of Big Brother. After the death of Big Brother and the collapse of the
Ingsoc In George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', the world is divided into three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia, who are all fighting each other in a perpetual war in a disputed area called the Equatorial Front. Al ...
regime,
MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
continues to operate The Village. In the comic, The Village is specifically stated as being located in Portmeirion. In the TV series ''
2Point4 Children ''2point4 Children'' is a BBC Television sitcom that was created and written by Andrew Marshall. It follows the lives of the Porters, a seemingly average, working-class London family whose world is frequently turned upside-down by bad luck and ...
'', the episode "Seven Dials" sees one of the main characters Ben played by Gary Olson wake up in the Village at a ''Prisoner'' convention, as part of an ongoing and increasingly surreal vendetta plot with rival plumber Jake Klinger, played by
Roger Lloyd-Pack Roger Anthony Lloyd-Pack (8 February 1944 – 16 January 2014) was an English actor. He is best known for playing Trigger in ''Only Fools and Horses'' from 1981 to 2003, and Owen Newitt in '' The Vicar of Dibley'' from 1994 to 2007. He later st ...
. In the TV series ''
The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devo ...
'' (2000), the episode "A Sense of Community" featured a village called "The Community" where troublesome spies were forced to 'retire' to. The Village is recreated in the late-1970s
Edu-Ware Edu-Ware Services, Inc. was an educational and entertainment software publisher established in 1979 bSherwin Steffinand Steven Pederson. It was known for its adventure games, role-playing video games, and flight simulators for the Apple II family ...
computer game, ''
The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'' and its sequel, ''Prisoner 2''. In both games, however, the location is renamed "The Island". In the 2009 remake, the Village is located in the middle of a desert, instead of by the sea, though it was later revealed that this version of The Village does not exist in reality, only in a
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), edu ...
computer environment. The area that was used for filming was
Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...
,
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
.
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...
wrote a song that appeared on their 1982 release of '' The Number of the Beast'' called "The Prisoner". The group later wrote a second composition that appeared on the ''
Powerslave ''Powerslave'' is the fifth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 1984 through EMI Records in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in North America. It was re-released by Sanctuary and Colum ...
'' album called "Back in The Village". In the second volume of the '' Tales of the Shadowmen'' anthology series,
Xavier Mauméjean Xavier Mauméjean (born 30 December 1963) is a French writer. He teaches philosophy at a high school in Valenciennes, Northern France. Books in French * ''Les Mémoires de l'Homme-Eléphant'', Le Masque (2000) * ''Gotham'', Le Masque (2002) * '' ...
's short story "Be Seeing You!" describes the origin of The Village. It was established in 1912 by
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, the original Number 1, to interrogate his enemies, including
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
. In the science fiction TV series ''
Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...
'', the culture of the
Psi Corps The list of ''Babylon 5'' characters contains characters from the entire ''Babylon 5'' universe. The Babylon station was conceived as a political and cultural meeting place. As such, one of the show's many themes is the cultural and social intera ...
organization pays homage to aspects of ''The Prisoner'', including a modified salute and use of the phrase "Be seeing you".


References


Further reading

*Britton, Piers D. Simon J. Barker (2010). ''Reading between Designs: Visual Imagery and the Generation of Meaning in The Avengers, The Prisoner, and Doctor Who''. University of Texas Press. .


External links


Official Portmeirion village website

''The Prisoner'' and Portmeirion News and Articles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Village, The Fictional populated places in the United Kingdom Fictional prisons The Prisoner