Cult Television Classics
Some television shows are so different to anything that has come before, so challenging and yet entertaining at the same time, that they transcend television norms and become cult classics. A forum on the Universal Playback website, http://www.universal-playback.com/forum/twin-peaks/437-among-prisoner-x-files-twin-peaks-one-do-you-think-had-bigger-cult.html, is debating which programme had the bigger cult following: The Prisoner, Twin Peaks or The X-Files.
As a committed fan of all of these programmes it was hard to make an initial judgement, and opinion seems to be divided on the form itself, but after some thought I have managed to find a clear cult winner.
The Prisoner is the earliest of the shows and first aired in the UK in 1967. Only two series were made but it has been repeated throughout the world since 1968. The Prisoner set the standard for cult television to come; it did not rely on large budgets or special effects but was sharply scripted and created an atmosphere of menace through sharp camera work and the use of the incredible real life design and scenery of Port Meirion, a village in Wales that had been designed in an outlandish Italian style. Such was the enduring success of The Prisoner that a remake was aired in 2009, starring Jim Cavazel, but as so often happens this could not match the character and intrigue of the original and received a mixed reception from critics and viewers alike.
Twin Peaks came next in 1990 and again ran for two series. The series was the brainchild of acclaimed film Director David Lynch and he was very successful in bringing his quirky, disconcerting view to the small screen. The underlying menace of the show, and the use of visual conceits such as bizarre dream sequences and backwards-One series that seems clearly influenced by Twin Peaks is The X-Files. The main male talking dwarfs had a huge impact on both spellbound viewers and on television to come.character, David Duchovny’s laconic investigator Fox Mulder seems indebted to Kyle MacLachlan’s Dale Cooper and both series revel in forcing their viewers to suspend their disbelief and to accept the exrtraordinary as everyday.
The X-Files was the longest running of the three series but many viewers felt that it lost its way in the later series. Both Twin Peaks and The X-Files spawned cinematic sequels (strictly a prequel in the case of Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me) but they did not achieve the success of the original show.
Whilst all three shows are hugely entertaining, and have pushed the boundaries of television, influencing the shows that were to come later, it seems to me that we are most indebted to The Prisoner as the original cult classic: it showed that storylines could be complex, even baffling at times, without alienating viewers. It has even spawned its own society, Six Of One, who dress and act as if they were in The Prisoner as well as bringing phrases such as “I am not a number, I’m a free man!” into the public domain.
In my opinion then, whilst The X-Files may be the most popular currently due to its relative newness it is The Prisoner which has, and will continue to have, the most enduring cult appeal. Be seeing you!