Rover (The Prisoner)
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The Rover is a fictional entity from the 1967 British television program known as The Prisoner. It was largely responsible for the security of The Village, which was the place the Prisoner was being held. Its form consisted of a large, white, round shape like a balloon which would often be spawned in water; both in the fountain and outside the Village in the water surrounding. It appeared to have some sense of intelligence, and would without fail pursue and subdue anyone who was attempting escape. It was capable of stunning or killing, presumably by means of suffocation. The Rover constantly produced a bleep-like sound and is capable of roaring. It moves seemingly by bouncing across either water or land. It is unclear whether it was supposed to be a machine, a living being or something else entirely.
In early versions of the script, Rover was a robotic, wheeled device with a siren. However, filming difficulties made this version of the creature impractical. According to legend, the more familiar version of Rover was inspired by a weather balloon seen above Portmeirion by Patrick McGoohan.
Rover was only actually named onscreen in one episode, The Schizoid Man. However, the name appears throughout the scripts.
It has become an icon of the series, and has been referenced numerous times in popular culture, such as in the Simpsons episodes The Joy of Sect and The Computer Wore Menace Shoes. A much-used joke in these references consists of a character using a sharp object to pop it.
