“The Prisoner” — The First Great TV Cult Series

Bob Dylan. Andy Warhol. Marilyn Monroe.

It feels like a 60s Reunion Week around here these days. Let’s end the week with a look at another cultural milestone.

The Prisoner was a surrealistic 17-episode British TV series that was released in the US during the traumatic summer of 1968.

The set-up was simple: In the introduction, a British agent angrily resigns from his job and prepares to leave the country. Before he can make his departure, he’s gassed and kidnapped. He wakes up in The Village.

We don’t know which agency or government is behind The Village. We don’t even know what country it’s in. Instead of names, the residents of The Village are identified by numbers; The Prisoner is “Number Six”. it’s almost impossible to tell which of the residents are prisoners and which are administrators, with the exception of the apparently powerful Number Two, who is played by a different actor in each episode.

 And nobody can leave The Village.

I identify The Prisoner as the “First Great TV Cult Series” because it meets the criteria for a cult citation. It didn’t attract a huge audience, but its admirers were obsessed with it. The word “fan” is derived from “fanatic”, which accurately describes the show’s more devout followers. It looks unlike anything else on television. It’s cooly cerebral, and leaves you with more questions than answers.

I think it ranks with the gorgeous and ultra-violent Utopia on the list of Great TV Cult Series.

Here’s the first episode.