Rover (The Prisoner)
Encyclopedia
Rover is a fictional entity from the 1967 British television program The Prisoner
, and was an integral part of the way 'prisoners' were kept within The Village
. It was depicted as a floating white ball that could coerce, and, if necessary, disable inhabitants of The Village, primarily Number Six
. In one incident, it even killed a person, but it is not clear whether the ability to kill was a normal feature of Rover or if this incident was a malfunction. Several aspects of the Rover device were not explained, presumably left to the imagination/speculation of the viewer.
Rover was only named onscreen in one episode, "The Schizoid Man
", but the name appears throughout the scripts. Number Six also once refers to Rover as "The Headmaster". In the novel The Prisoner: Number Two by David McDaniel
, based upon the series, the name Guardian was used instead of Rover.
from its interior. Once released, Rover could bounce and glide across the land and sea for a long range and at high speed, faster than a vehicle or boat.
Rover is apparently a self-aware and/or semi-intelligent being, and could interact with its surroundings, adjusting to and anticipating the actions of Number 6 and other characters. No apparent direct control was ever shown to be exerted over it by the controllers of the Village, other than to release it. Rover would occasionally be seen outside of its normal environment, sitting placidly in rooms, in Number 2's chair, roaming the streets of The Village, or being studied by unidentified persons in "secret" areas of The Village.
Rover possessed considerable strength, and was able, if necessary, to incapacitate people either by blunt force impacts, or through suffocation
by pinning the subject down.
the rest of the villagers appear to freeze in time while Rover attacks an unidentified man. This happens again at the start of "Checkmate," the ninth episode.
The use of Rover appeared to be both intimidatory and functional. Following encounters in the early episodes, where Rover physically interacts with prisoners, the Number 6 character gradually gives up trying to defeat Rover directly, and its mere presence is often enough to achieve its objectives.
While Rover primarily prevented escapes, it also served as a guard agent or herder when a character was required to take a certain action or direction, or to prevent their access to some part of the Village. In the cases where Rover incapacitated a prisoner, it also appeared that it had the capability of transporting their limp body. Occasionally, if attacking somebody in the water, the incapacitated victim (including Number 6 on one occasion in "Free for All"), would be carried back to the shore by what appeared to be three smaller Rovers.
Rover could be summoned at the direction of the control room, with a stock scene of its inflation shown before its appearance, although this sequence could also be omitted with Rover appearing spontaneously. It would be inflated beneath the sea, although its first appearance came as being inflated from the Village fountain. No explanation was ever made as to where Rover went after its mission had been completed, aside from a single scene in "Free For All" where Rover appears to return to the bottom of the sea (simply a reverse reel of the spawning sequence).
Open questions surrounding Rover suggest that its use in the series was a variation of the deus ex machina
type of plot device
, used as a means to give a reason as to why the Village is so successful in coercing the inhabitants and preventing escape, without having to waste unnecessary screen time explaining this method. The other methods of control of the Village, such as surveillance, mind-control and double agents, are explored in much more detail in the TV series than Rover.
during the initial stages of filming.
The final version of Rover was inspired by a weather balloon
seen above Portmeirion by Patrick McGoohan
. The balloon was dragged across the set with wires, with the wires and the attachment point sometimes being visible. Several approach scenes were filmed through the use of reversing a film of the balloon being towed away from the camera, although the balloon was often also filmed from the side being towed in direction of travel.
Rover is last seen in "Fall Out
". While the rocket is being launched, Rover drops down a hole to an underground 'cave' like area, where it shrinks to a small size and becomes still as if it is deactivating itself now that it is no longer needed in The Village. However, this scene was not in the script and was inserted to give Rover its finale.
episodes "The Joy of Sect
" (where it envelops Hans Moleman
) and "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
" (in which Homer simply pops it with a plastic spork, thus prompting Number 2 to question its effectiveness). The DVD box set of the series includes an advert for Renault cars (not Rover cars, as has been widely reported), in which a man in Prisoner style clothing escapes from The Village by outmaneuvering a version of Rover depicted not as a balloon, but a large solid white ball.
The writers of the television series Lost
have made mention on numerous occasions that the Rover was the inspiration for the "Smoke Monster."
Rover appeared in the 1984 CP/M edition of Crowther, Woods' Colossal Cave
text adventure game http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/cpm/cpm-advent-b03.zip, either in the Vault (player gives wrong magic word) or the Computer Center (player takes posters from the wall).
In Mystery Science Theater 3000
's presentation of Laserblast
, Tom Servo identifies an inflated white pool toy as "Rover from The Prisoner!"
In Xavier Mauméjean
's short story, "Be Seeing You!", from the second volume of the Tales of the Shadowmen
anthology series, the original Rover from 1912 is made of metal and propelled by steam, and is stated as being designed by the character of Cavor from H. G. Wells
' novel The First Men in the Moon
.
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
, and was an integral part of the way 'prisoners' were kept within The Village
The Village (The Prisoner)
The Village is the fictional setting of the 1960s UK television series The Prisoner where the main character, Number Six, is held with other former spies and operatives...
. It was depicted as a floating white ball that could coerce, and, if necessary, disable inhabitants of The Village, primarily Number Six
Number Six (The Prisoner)
Number Six is the central fictional character in the 1960s television series The Prisoner, played by Patrick McGoohan. In the AMC remake, the character is played by Jim Caviezel, renamed "Six"....
. In one incident, it even killed a person, but it is not clear whether the ability to kill was a normal feature of Rover or if this incident was a malfunction. Several aspects of the Rover device were not explained, presumably left to the imagination/speculation of the viewer.
Rover was only named onscreen in one episode, "The Schizoid Man
The Schizoid Man (The Prisoner)
The Schizoid Man is an episode of The Prisoner.-Plot:In an extremely complex plot of bluff and double bluff, Number 2 brings a lookalike of Number 6, referred to as "Number 12", to The Village. Number 12 is not a clone, but an "agent" of The Village who happens to bear a very strong resemblance to...
", but the name appears throughout the scripts. Number Six also once refers to Rover as "The Headmaster". In the novel The Prisoner: Number Two by David McDaniel
David McDaniel
David Edward McDaniel was a US science fiction author, who also wrote spy fiction, including several novels based upon the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..- Biography :...
, based upon the series, the name Guardian was used instead of Rover.
Characteristics
Rover was depicted as a large white inflatable balloon, not quite fully inflated, with a flexible skin. Rover would often produce a muffled roar sound when attacking. It would also sometimes emit a strange light display / luminescenceLuminescence
Luminescence is emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat; it is thus a form of cold body radiation. It can be caused by chemical reactions, electrical energy, subatomic motions, or stress on a crystal. This distinguishes luminescence from incandescence, which is light emitted by a...
from its interior. Once released, Rover could bounce and glide across the land and sea for a long range and at high speed, faster than a vehicle or boat.
Rover is apparently a self-aware and/or semi-intelligent being, and could interact with its surroundings, adjusting to and anticipating the actions of Number 6 and other characters. No apparent direct control was ever shown to be exerted over it by the controllers of the Village, other than to release it. Rover would occasionally be seen outside of its normal environment, sitting placidly in rooms, in Number 2's chair, roaming the streets of The Village, or being studied by unidentified persons in "secret" areas of The Village.
Rover possessed considerable strength, and was able, if necessary, to incapacitate people either by blunt force impacts, or through suffocation
Suffocation
Suffocation is the process of Asphyxia.Suffocation may also refer to:* Suffocation , an American death metal band* "Suffocation", a song on Morbid Angel's debut album, Altars of Madness...
by pinning the subject down.
Operation
In the first episodeArrival (The Prisoner)
"Arrival" is the title of the first episode of the British science fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner. It originally aired in the UK on ITV on 29 September 1967 and was first broadcast in the United States on CBS on 1 June 1968....
the rest of the villagers appear to freeze in time while Rover attacks an unidentified man. This happens again at the start of "Checkmate," the ninth episode.
The use of Rover appeared to be both intimidatory and functional. Following encounters in the early episodes, where Rover physically interacts with prisoners, the Number 6 character gradually gives up trying to defeat Rover directly, and its mere presence is often enough to achieve its objectives.
While Rover primarily prevented escapes, it also served as a guard agent or herder when a character was required to take a certain action or direction, or to prevent their access to some part of the Village. In the cases where Rover incapacitated a prisoner, it also appeared that it had the capability of transporting their limp body. Occasionally, if attacking somebody in the water, the incapacitated victim (including Number 6 on one occasion in "Free for All"), would be carried back to the shore by what appeared to be three smaller Rovers.
Rover could be summoned at the direction of the control room, with a stock scene of its inflation shown before its appearance, although this sequence could also be omitted with Rover appearing spontaneously. It would be inflated beneath the sea, although its first appearance came as being inflated from the Village fountain. No explanation was ever made as to where Rover went after its mission had been completed, aside from a single scene in "Free For All" where Rover appears to return to the bottom of the sea (simply a reverse reel of the spawning sequence).
Plot device
Several aspects of how Rover worked were never revealed in the series beyond the primary actions in subduing prisoners, in which task it was apparently extremely effective.Open questions surrounding Rover suggest that its use in the series was a variation of the deus ex machina
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
type of plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
, used as a means to give a reason as to why the Village is so successful in coercing the inhabitants and preventing escape, without having to waste unnecessary screen time explaining this method. The other methods of control of the Village, such as surveillance, mind-control and double agents, are explored in much more detail in the TV series than Rover.
Production
Rover was originally supposed to have been a robotic, wheeled device with a siren. It resembled a circular inflatable swimming pool topped with a black-and-white segmented dome. Although a prop was constructed, it did not work properly, and sank in the waters off PortmeirionPortmeirion
Portmeirion is a popular tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village and is now owned by a charitable trust....
during the initial stages of filming.
The final version of Rover was inspired by a weather balloon
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
seen above Portmeirion by Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
. The balloon was dragged across the set with wires, with the wires and the attachment point sometimes being visible. Several approach scenes were filmed through the use of reversing a film of the balloon being towed away from the camera, although the balloon was often also filmed from the side being towed in direction of travel.
Rover is last seen in "Fall Out
Fall Out (The Prisoner)
"Fall Out" is the seventeenth and final episode of the allegorical British science fiction series The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan as the incarcerated Number Six...
". While the rocket is being launched, Rover drops down a hole to an underground 'cave' like area, where it shrinks to a small size and becomes still as if it is deactivating itself now that it is no longer needed in The Village. However, this scene was not in the script and was inserted to give Rover its finale.
Cultural references
Rover has become an icon of the series, and has been referenced numerous times in popular culture, such as in the SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episodes "The Joy of Sect
The Joy of Sect
"The Joy of Sect" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons ninth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 8, 1998. In the episode, a cult called the "Movementarians" takes over Springfield, and Homer and the rest of the Simpson family become members...
" (where it envelops Hans Moleman
Hans Moleman
Hans Moleman is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared in the episode "Principal Charming". He normally appears in a running gag, where he usually suffers unfortunate, nearly fatal, events...
) and "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
“The Computer Wore Menace Shoes” is the sixth episode of The Simpsons twelfth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 3, 2000. In the episode, Homer buys a computer and creates his own website to spread gossip...
" (in which Homer simply pops it with a plastic spork, thus prompting Number 2 to question its effectiveness). The DVD box set of the series includes an advert for Renault cars (not Rover cars, as has been widely reported), in which a man in Prisoner style clothing escapes from The Village by outmaneuvering a version of Rover depicted not as a balloon, but a large solid white ball.
The writers of the television series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
have made mention on numerous occasions that the Rover was the inspiration for the "Smoke Monster."
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
Rover appeared in the 1984 CP/M edition of Crowther, Woods' Colossal Cave
Colossal Cave Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure gave its name to the computer adventure game genre . It was originally designed by Will Crowther, a programmer and caving enthusiast who based the layout on part of the Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky...
text adventure game http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/cpm/cpm-advent-b03.zip, either in the Vault (player gives wrong magic word) or the Computer Center (player takes posters from the wall).
In Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
's presentation of Laserblast
Laserblast
Laserblast is a 1978 American science fiction film about an unhappy teenage loner who discovers an alien laser cannon and goes on a murderous rampage, seeking revenge against those who he feels have wronged him. The low-budget film was directed by Michael Rae and produced by Charles Band, who is...
, Tom Servo identifies an inflated white pool toy as "Rover from The Prisoner!"
In Xavier Mauméjean
Xavier Mauméjean
Xavier Mauméjean is a French writer born in 1963. He teaches philosophy at a college in Valenciennes, Northern France.-Books in French:* Les Mémoires de l'Homme-Eléphant, Le Masque * Gotham, Le Masque...
's short story, "Be Seeing You!", from the second volume of the Tales of the Shadowmen
Tales of the Shadowmen
Tales of the Shadowmen is an annual anthology of short stories edited by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier, published by . As of 2010, seven volumes have been released, with a eighth slated for late 2011...
anthology series, the original Rover from 1912 is made of metal and propelled by steam, and is stated as being designed by the character of Cavor from H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' novel The First Men in the Moon
The First Men in the Moon
The First Men in the Moon is a 1901 scientific romance novel by the English author H. G. Wells. The novel tells the story of a journey to the moon undertaken by the two protagonists, the impoverished businessman Mr Bedford and the brilliant but eccentric scientist Dr. Cavor...
.