Writer: Terence Feely
Director: Pat JacksonCast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six/Number Twelve), Anton Rodgers (Number Two), Angelo Muscat (The Butler), Jane Merrow (Alison), Earl Cameron (Supervisor), Gay Cameron (Number Thirty Six), David Nettheim (Doctor), Pat Keen (Nurse), Gerry Crampton (First Guardian) & Dinney Powell (Second Guardian)
Number Six is alarmed to find a doppelgänger has arrived in the Village, and he's being referred to as Number Twelve now..."You are the goodie Number Six and I am the baddie
who is supposed to be proving you wrong, is that it?"
who is supposed to be proving you wrong, is that it?"
-- Number Twelve (Patrick McGoohan)
The Schizoid Man is the first episode (in broadcast order) that actually feels at home, as episodes 2-4 suffered from being shuffled out of narrative order. It's a question of personal identity for Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) this week, as Number Two (Anton Rodgers) tries to convince him he's a double-agent (known as Number Twelve; six doubled, see?) and has an operative installed as "the real" Number Six...
It's a mind-bending episode that finds McGoohan playing two versions of his character, with each one insistent he's the real Number Six. Our hero must try to hold onto his sense of self-identity, despite the fake-Six proving his own identity in a variety of challenges: shooting, fencing and... telepathy?
Yes, in the episode's one misstep, a Villager called Alison (Jane Merrow) is earlier seen socializing with Number Six in his cottage, proving she's psychically attuned to Six's mind by correctly guessing symbols on hidden cards he looks at (wavy lines, squares, circles, etc.) It's an element of the script that's shoehorned into the story rather badly, serving only to distress real-Six when Alison later fails to reproduce her mind-reading abilities with him in front of Number Two – until imposter-Six tries his hand, and passes with flying colours.
But forgiving that storytelling lapse, The Schizoid Man is great fun and the mind-games being played on Six (he's "brainwashed" to use his left hand, and change his eating habits) are more insidious than usual. Unlike many schemes concocted by Number Two, even as a viewer you begin to doubt who the real Number Six is – particularly when watching the show 40 years later, where a big twist would be typically employed by modern TV shows. But, rather than suckering viewers into believing the hero was actually the villain all along, Schizoid Man takes the easier option. The man protesting to be Six is always telling the truth.
Production-wise, the tricks used to have McGoohan act opposite himself are generally good, with only the occasional use of McGoohan-double noticeable for some fight sequences. The standard trick of overlaying two performances into the same frame (still the easiest, fastest way of doing it) isn't distracting and works very well. The silhouette shooting range and zap-guns might inspire giggles these days, but The Prisoner is actually very accurate in its depiction of weapons training. It's not a million miles away from light-guns on a Playstation either, is it?
I enjoyed Anton Rodgers' performance as a more youthful, charming, "friendlier" Number Two, and almost forgot this was the same actor who became a household name as the star of 80s sitcom Fresh Fields (and who sadly passed away just last December.) Rodgers' Number Two (or the scheme he was controlling) is certainly one of the more successful, and only really failed because Number Twelve let it all slip when confronted by a violent Six at home.
Overall, The Schizoid Man is the best-paced episode so far, and one of The Prisoner's most intriguing ideas. The notion of the Village finding a duplicate-Six requires some suspension of disbelief (a remake would include cloning, no doubt), and I found the telepathy sideline with Alison rather idiotic, but the central dilemma and nightmarish unease of the situation really captures the imagination. In the dying moments, when Number Six seizes his chance to escape the Village (by impersonating his impersonator, then hitching a ride aboard a helicopter), the cruel way Number Two scuppers his plan was particularly delightful...
Trivia
-- This is the only episode in which Patrick McGoohan plays a dual role.
-- The name of the guardian sphere, Rover, is revealed in this episode – but never mentioned again.
-- Alison is unusual, in that she's a Villager referred to by name by Number Six and Number Two. She is also one of the only female characters to have any sort of relationship with Number Six, in which Six reciprocates (although the episode stops short of suggesting anything romantic.)
First Aired: 29 October 1967
