Number Six in the Village
Perhaps an unlikely choice for a “Modern Steampunk” notable, Mr. McGoohans brilliant series, The Prisoner, stands out for two reasons. First, the Village, where he is held, has a very Neo-Victorian atmosphere to it, albeit with a good number of 60s modifications (perhaps a “mod-Victorian” Im certain the British readers will be rolling their collective eyes at that comment)! The residents of said Village dress in Victorian attire (with some modern changes, such as updated materials in clothes, and streamlining some attires appearance), and engage in numerous social events, but speak in modern speech modes, (hmm sounds like SL (lol))!
The show logo, with its iconoclastic penny farthing
Secondly the technology. It is quite 60s (e.g. the mini-mokes jeep/taxis, strange telephones), but there is quite a dose of “Unexplainable Technology” (e.g. a teletype that continues to work even after it has been riddled with bullets, mind transference technology, cloning (not called that, but essentially that)). Again, era-specific (one episode has a computer the size of Mt. Everest an antiquated idea compared to todays computer systems), but much is unexplained, and remains unexplained technology akin to Steampunk, with electronics instead of gears.
An example of the attire in the Village (note the lady’s pin – it designates her number… because everyone has a number…)
Of course, I note the Prisoner for these reasons only as Steampunk-ish the writing of the Prisoner is genius. Even today, the episodes never fail to enthrall viewers (as Im certain our brethren across the water will attest). If you have the opportunity to see even one episode, do so! Youll be fascinated not only by the overarching story line, the conflicts with number twos, and the astoundingly superb writing (a fresh reprieve from todays treadworn stories), but the subtle nuances from this series that have intertwined into modern culture that only a Prisoner fan would recognize!
A nice map of the Village
Be seeing you!
For further information, please see…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner
http://www.netreach.net/~sixofone/
http://www.anorakzone.com/prisoner/
http://www.theprisoneronline.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/prisoner/
http://songweaver.com/tv/prisoner/prisoner.html
http://www.stylezilla.com/2005/04/how-i-could-just-kill-man-for-verner.html
** The first episode, “Arrival”, is on YouTube in five ten minute portions the first one is below, with the best television intro ever
*** Also, Ive been trying to locate the font-type used in the Prisoner If anyone has the information, Id be very appreciative!
