“At this moment individuals are being drained of their personalities and being brainwashed into slaves.”—Patrick McGoohan
“I am not a number, I am a free man” was the mantra chanted by Number 6 in every episode of The Prisoner—the British television series that intrigued a generation. Regarded by many as the finest dramatic series ever broadcast, The Prisoner is especially relevant in today’s advertisement-driven, image-preoccupied, television-saturated, frenetically hustling consumer society that is propelled by post-9/11 paranoia and fear and dominated by government scare tactics.