Appreciative examination
The Schizoid Man - Der Doppelgänger
"The
Schizoid Man" was made during the initial production period. However,
it does not benefit from footage shot on
location in 1966. Apart
from some stock footage scenes it was shot completely in the former Borehamwood
studio (more...).
Keeping that in mind it is a good example to prove that the use of original
locations doesn't automatically result in quality stuff. Apart from some
Portmeirion stock footage the (exterior) action of the episode was shot
entirely in the studio of Borehamwood (more...).
But the story's outset, visually and intellectually, is intriguing: The
character Number Six
is doubled, or split up, one of them is the goodie the other one
is the baddie, with gaping philosophical profoundness, or shallowness,
that may reach back to the early silent DER STUDENT VON PRAG (1913). "The
trouble with science is that it can be perverted" says Number
Six, also a McGoohan credo, when asked by Number Two to have his identity
checked by some technical means. Employing a manipulation lasting over
a period of time, the Village hopes to confuse Number Six and overwhelm
his self-confidence as they confront him with himself, apparently. Due
to some crucial detail and the time factor the plan is ultimately foiled.
And once again we have the usual plotline of trying to outwit Number Two
and a chance for the Prisoner to get away from the Village. But it's the
plot of the "Schizoid" episode that provides a rather black
twist in aiming at nothing less as to undermine the basic concept of the
very
series: that Number Six is an individual. Now, here Number Six has to
prove that he is a number!
NUMER
TWO TAKES NO CHANCES, NO BULLETS, FULLY ELECTRONIC: NUMBER SIX AND "THE
ECONOMY PACK"
AT THE SHOUT-OUT CONTEST, BUSY TO DETERMINE WHO'S THE REAL ONE.
The episode's tone is quite serious although there is also some irony. There ist a correspondence in contrariness of this episode and "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling". In "The Schizoid Man" Number Six' person and personality are doubled, or duplicated, they are split in "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling". But there is a contradicton: Number Six' double/duplicated personality causes a split personality or, at least, identity crisis. On the other hand, the split personality of Number Six (in "Forsake") causes the existence of a doppelganger, a second entity of his partial identity. As the English expression double in connection with personality means split personality. A mind-boggling - schizoid and schizophrenic - thing that is. Thanks to Michael Brüne for this observation
As
far as special effects and acting are concerned "The Schizoid Man"
was the most demanding of the whole PRISONER series. A double role
for McGoohan, and intricate split-screen technique was used and Frank
Maher who always stood in for McGoohan and did the stunts had to learn
fencing. One less convincing moment, on the other hand, we find as to
how Number Six regains control over his physical handicap. A car chase
and a fistfight with his adversary, the "economy pack", were
not included in the final cut of the episode. And one thing that every
TV addict would have expected, that scriptwriter Terence Feely says he
did deliver but McGoohan wasn't willing to accept - something that still
resides in the subtext of the story: an affair with a woman.
Alison, one of the few people in the Village with proper names who practises
for a mindreading contest with Number Six, must be the love interest
of the show that never came into being. It is said that McGoohan
in person cared for the fact that there never ever was a way from the
substitution plot of reading the thoughts of others to emotion let alone
kissing Alison, or even more.
It was only until the release of the DVD box that German audiences witnessed the elaborate dialogues of Number Six and his doppelgänger-enemy Number Twelve.
