'The Prisoner' Village Recreated In SL

There was a cult television series, which ran in the UK from 1967 to 1968, called ‘The Prisoner.’ It starred Patrick McGoohan and it was about a secret agent who was held captive in a little village by Government forces, while ‘big brother’ techniques were used to watch him. He didn’t have a name in the village, but was referred to by his captors as ‘Number Six.’ The whole thing was surreal with the quirky characters in the seaside setting.

The program was filmed in North Wales (UK) in the village of Portmeirion, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd, of which it is rumoured that the designer, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, based the design of the coastal village on Portofino in Italy, although Williams-Ellis denied this, the architecture has a unique Mediterranean style to it. The beautiful little village of Portmeirion became quite a tourist attraction because of the show.

Portmeirion has been re-created in SL and includes references to ‘The Prisoner’ including a giant chess board just inside the entrance, McGoohan’s famous Caterham 7 car from the series, and photos of Mr McGoohan. It’s a nicely built virtual village and it slopes down to the pretty harbour below.

I took one of the buggies that are free to rez, to explore the site, and found I could actually control this one, not like my other cars that get away from me! so I took a ride around the village. I was enjoying my ride in the buggy so much that I didn’t want it to end, there is so much detail in the buildings and it’s quite a tranquil setting. On reaching the harbour I quite expected one of those giant white balloons to engulf me that had stopped McGoohan escaping each time he tried to leave (a weapon used in the series to capture Number Six, the massive balloons blocked his escape, catching him and trapping him).

One of the owners, Kalique Pichot, who is also the Media and Public Relations Director for the sim, kindly sent me some details behind this spectacular build. The Second Life location is the virtual base for ‘Six of One, The Prisoner Appreciation Society.’ The idea to create the sim originated in January 2008 and building began in May, then it was opened in August of the same year. It was the brainchild of devildev Oh. The original owners were devildev Oh, Higbee Protagonist, Jayalli Hawthorne, Kalique Pichot, Kasianni Nikolaidis and Sly Pienaar.

The current owners are devildev Oh, FlutterGirl Looming, Kalique Pichot, Kasianni Nikolaidis and Sly Pienaar. The Village was recreated by Higbee Protagonist, Anaraxis Romulus and Red Prometheus (being built by Higbee Protagonist) and continued development is being carried out by Balls Constantine.

This virtual village appears to have been put together with love and enthusiasm to copy as closely as possible one of the prettiest places in the UK. Even if you have never heard of the television show ‘The Prisoner’, it is still a great place to visit to admire the wonderful SL architecture.

Janey Bracken
















For more information please contact
Media & Public Relations Director
Kalique Pichot [kaliquepichot@portmerionsl.co.uk]

Website: http://www.portmerionsl.co.uk/
Twitter: PortMerionSL

SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Port%20Merion/120/242/50