The father of the notorious Big Brother meme, George Orwell, was under surveillance by British police for several years, Guardian Unlimited writes July 18
Even though Orwell probably never found out himself, inspiration for the notion of Big Brother in his famous novel 1984 could have come from being under surveillance by British police. Under suspicion for communist activities, caused by Orwell’s research for a book on the conditions of the working class, British police put Orwell under close inspection for over 12 years. The surveillance probably stopped when Orwell himself supplied a list of 86 “Stalinist fellow travelers” to an anti-communist propaganda unit. Article in Guardian Unlimited: http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1530801,00.html