"The Prisoner" was a British show that aired in 1967, but only for one season, about a secret agent who continually tries to escape from a mysterious island where he is being held. The agent in question (played by Patrick McGoohan), known only as "Number 6," has been exiled to The Village--an Orwellian community overseen by a succession of leaders known as "Number 2". Here, everyone is referred to by numbers and every move is watched. Number 6 was abducted and sent to The Village after resigning from his hush-hush job for unknown reasons (in fact everyone in the village who is not a member of authority is a potential security risk). A mysterious, unseen head honcho, Number 1, controls The Village and calls the shots, but Number 1's right-hand man or woman, Number 2, (a new person takes on the title of Number 2 from episode to episode) is the de facto authority. Number 2's goal in each episode is to discover why Number 6 resigned; Number 6's goal in each episode is to escape and return home. His task is constantly obstructed by the machinations of Number 2, by spies, and by Rover, a giant beach ball that pursues escaping prisoners and drags them back to The Village.