The Village (The Prisoner)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Village is the fictional island-town in the 1960s UK television series The Prisoner, where the main character, Number Six, was interred with other former spies and operatives. The theme of the series was his attempt to escape.
Contents |
[edit] Fictional and filming locations
In the story, the Village is located in an unknown country. In one episode, its location is hinted as being somewhere in Morocco; in another, somewhere in eastern Europe (on the Baltic coast). However, the series' finale suggests it may be much closer to home, on the mainland of the British Isles, not terribly far from London. A fan theory suggests that there may have been several identical villages in different locations around the globe, and that Number Six may have been unknowingly shuffled back and forth between these on occasion. There is nothing overt in the series to support this notion, but it is plausible given the overall tone of the series.
In reality, location shooting for the series took place in Wales, mainly in the Italianate resort village of Portmeirion, and Penrhyndeudraeth. Interiors were filmed at Borehamwood Studios in England, using camera trickery to make the place look larger than it is.
[edit] Village infrastructure
The Italianate architecture 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. There is an extensive network of tunnels 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 looks similar to a lava lamp, probably a short distance off the coast, in which Rover resides when it is not being utilised. 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, giving rise to the speculation that these lamps may have functioned as some extension of Rover itself. This was never directly referred to on screen.
The name, "the Village", may punningly refer to Marshall McLuhan's concept of the global 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. The Village has its own daily newspaper, (The Tally-ho), a cinema, a statue garden, a retirement home, a gymnasium, a fully equipped hospital, a radio station (like Orwell's telescreens in Nineteen-Eighty-Four, the receivers can never 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 were extensive recreation facilities. The local economy functions on a credit chit system. For no adequately explained reason, there was also one very large missile launch facility (the rocket type appears to be USAF Titan 3-C).
[edit] Village 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:
|
Number Six: "Where did you get this bunch of tailor's dummies?" (indicating the Council) Number Two: "I dunno. They were here when I got here." |
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 Bastille that masquerades as a pocket democracy." It is ruled by a revolving series of Chief Administrators designated "Number 2", some of whom return to the office after lengthy absences. They vary greatly in personality and in methodology, some of them being quite amiable, some are sadistic, and some are mere bureaucratic functionaries bordering on functional impotence. Number 2 appears to be directly answerable to unseen superiors, the shadowy "they" pulling all the strings from behind the scenes, with direct contact via a red hotline phone. It appears that Number 2 is continually being observed by hidden cameras, and indeed one of the Number 2s confides to Number Six, "I'm as much of a prisoner here as you are. We're both lifers, my boy!"
Exactly who operates the Village is unclear and deliberately obscured. At first glance, it appears to be run by Communist types, suggesting it is a holding cell for captured western agents. Later on 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 which side we're working for, my boy! This is the future: one great big happy global Village." 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. Some fans have suggested that in view of the advanced technology apparent in the Village that it may have been run by aliens, but there is nothing in the show to suggest this, and it is not widely supported.
[edit] Village security
Weapons, alcohol, and tools are forbidden in the Village for obvious reasons, but there are no walls or visible barriers to prevent escape, and no apparent prison guards. Indeed, aside from Number 2 functioning as an obvious warden, the Village at first appears to have no real 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 inobtrusively in the community and reporting back to the current Number 2. It is strongly implied that "they" have several plants in the Village as well, whose identities are unknown to Number 2, and who report back to them directly. One of the more sadistic Number 2s seemed particularly paranoid about this possibility. As Number 2 has said, "Stone walls do not a prison make."
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 underground tunnels). Beyond this, Rover patrols. If anyone ventures too far from town, Rover will intercept them and nudge them back towards home. If anyone attempts to escape, Rover will capture them and they wake up in the Village hospital. It appears that if an escapee is of no further use to the masters of the Village, Rover will simply kill them, as it has done once on-screen.
[edit] Allegory
The producers of the series always intended the Village to be first and foremost an allegory for the world at large, rather than as a traditional dramatis loci. Thus many of the contradictory elements seen in the Village are expressions of its allegorical nature.
The time of its formation is unknown, but it was strongly implied in one episode to have been founded during World War I, or immediately thereafter.
It is possible that there are other, similar Villages elsewhere in the world, but nothing can be said for certain.
