Sunday, November 11, 2007
Modern Steampunk Notables: Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner

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!
Labels:
Steampunk Notables
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4 comments:
Skusting Dagger
said…
Always loved this series, though its been years seen I’ve seen any episodes.
And the mystery still remains: Is Number Six John Drake? (McGoohan always says no)
November 12, 2007 at 8:26 AM
Zoe Connolly
said…
One of my favorite series of all time! Well done Dr Fabre!
November 12, 2007 at 11:45 PM
Eggberta Echegaray
said…
I “studied” The Prisoner when I was in community college for Tv and Film Production. The an entire class was dedicated to watching the episodes and then writing essay’s on them. Still have the essays too! It was the most brilliant college class I had taken! Funnily enough, my New Babbage Bow Street Police badge is “number 6” hehe! Good article Dr! 🙂 Very enjoyable read!
November 13, 2007 at 10:56 AM
Dr. Rafael Fabre
said…
@ Mr. Dagger – No one knows! (lol)!
@ Miss Connolly – Quite welcome, madam!
@ Miss Echegaray – A class where you “had” to watch the Prisoner? I could only dream of that! (I have those badges on my list, madam.. haven’t forgotten…)
November 13, 2007 at 9:52 PM
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