# The Prisoner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883 "2003-01-20T23:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/41 "2003-01-22T08:14:38Z")
My father was a fan of Prisoner… nothing really fanatical, but a fan. He got me into it by taping Dr. Who on the same tape he had some Prisoner episodes on. One day we were watching his taping of the Doc and it ended, jumping into “The Girl Who Was Death” about 10 minutes in. I sat, riveted, to the TV. I have the whole set on DVD, and have been saving my watching them for a time when I can invite my dad over, crack him a beer and sit with him to watch the shows. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/42 "2003-01-22T12:13:42Z")
Back when I was single, I used to do my laundry at a place called **The Laundry**. I thought **The Village** must have started to franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/43 "2003-01-22T12:15:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by panamajack \* > \*\*Rover was originally supposed to be a little car (like a lunar rover, maybe more similar to Mars Pathfinder) but I think they lost control and it sank, so they switched to the balloon. > > Does anyone else own the four-part graphic novel (made as a ‘sequel’)? \*\* The story about the mechanical Rover was thought by many people to be a myth … except, the DVD set includes production stills, among which are, indeed, pictures of the mechanical Rover prop. I’ve got the graphic novel. And the Prisoner Companion. And the omnibus edition of the three Prisoner novels (one by Tom Disch and two not). God, I’m a geek. I’ve even got the GURPS: Prisoner RPG supplement lurking about somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/44 "2003-01-22T13:37:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > **And the omnibus edition of the three Prisoner novels (one by Tom Disch and two not)** You’ve got my attention here. If you can remember or find them, what are the names and authors of the other 2 novels (not the Disch one), and how good were they? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/45 "2003-01-22T13:47:51Z")
[Link to Amazon UK](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842225316/qid=1043243122/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_0_3/202-0565018-6755867) for the omnibus edition. For anyone unable to click the link - the other two books were _Who is Number 2?_ by Hank Stine, and _A Day in the Life_ by David McDaniel. How good were they? Average. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/46 "2003-01-22T15:36:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Violet \* > \*\*Yes! Also a fan of Franz Kafka and Eugene Ionesco. 😉 \*\* Kafka I know and love. Who is Eugene Ionesco?😕 I remember reading “the Penal Colony” when I was quite young - some adult had given me a book of Kafka short stories as ‘great, mind-improving literature’ (knowing the adult in question, I am _certain_ she had not actually read them:p ). I was so impressed with its graphic descriptions of ‘meaningful’ tortures that I insisted on reading them to my mom at bedtime - only to have the book confiscated. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/47 "2003-01-22T15:47:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Who is Eugene Ionesco? Absurdist playwright. Most famous piece was probably **Rhinoceros** ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/48 "2003-01-22T17:04:29Z")
> [@](#): > > I remember reading “the Penal Colony” when I was quite young - some adult had given me a book of Kafka short stories as ‘great, mind-improving literature’ (knowing the adult in question, I am _certain_ she had not actually read them ). I was so impressed with its graphic descriptions of ‘meaningful’ tortures that I insisted on reading them to my mom at bedtime - only to have the book confiscated. I confess that I read “In the Penal Colony” at the age of 10 because I thought it was about penises. Remember those golf cart taxis that would take you on an exciting 50-yard trip? “Local service only.” I haven’t seen the whole series. Do we ever find out if The Village was run by “our” side or “theirs”? Never mind. Patrick McGoohan’s shows (“Secret Agent Man” and “The Prisoner”) had no on-screen kissing. Just part of McGoohan’s moral code. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/49 "2003-01-22T18:51:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baldwin \* > \*\*Do we ever find out if The Village was run by “our” side or “theirs”? Never mind. > \*\* I think one or two clues in the last show indicate that the whole world is the Village, but that The Prisoner has achieved a kind of emancipation. No side runs the Village – more like the Village runs them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/50 "2003-01-22T19:10:41Z")
Yes, the world is the village. Lots in the last episode to indicate that. How about the theme song? One of the best ever on TV. We want information. Well you won’t get it! ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/51 "2003-01-22T19:58:46Z")
A friend point out a possible double-meaning to the dialog “Who is number 1?” “You are number 6” “I am not a number, etc.” Which could be alternatively parsed as follows: “Who is number one?” “YOU are, number 6” [slap hand to forehead] I think about all those episodes where I wondered who number one could be, when all along they had been telling us. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883/52 "2003-01-22T20:07:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FranticMad \* > \*\*A friend point out a possible double-meaning to the dialog > > “Who is number 1?” > “You are number 6” > “I am not a number, etc.” > > Which could be alternatively parsed as follows: > > “Who is number one?” > “YOU are, number 6” > > [slap hand to forehead] I think about all those episodes where I wondered who number one could be, when all along they had been telling us. \*\* Holy Sh-t! You are right! :smack: Very clever … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prisoner/149883.md?page=2)