The Schizoid Man (The Prisoner)

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“The Schizoid Man”
The Prisoner episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 5
Written by Terence Feely
Directed by Pat Jackson
Guest stars Number Two - Anton Rodgers
Alison - Jane Merrow
Original airdate October 29, 1967
Episode chronology
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"Free For All" "The General"

The Schizoid Man is an episode of The Prisoner.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Number 2 brings Number 12 to The Village, in order to impersonate Number 6. Number 12 has been made up or surgically altered to look exactly like Number 6. Meanwhile, Number 6 has undergone aversion therapy under hypnosis in order to alter his habits and tastes. Number 12 then sets out to prove to Number 6 that he is the true Number 6, and that Number 6 is actually Number 12, in order to find out why Number 6 decided to resign.

[edit] Additional guest cast

  • Supervisor: Earl Cameron
  • Number Thirty-Six: Gay Cameron
  • Doctor: David Nettheim
  • Nurse: Pat Keen
  • Guardian: Gerry Crampton
  • Guardian: Dinney Powell

[edit] Notes

  • The character of Alison is unusual in that she is a Village resident/inmate yet is referred to by name not only by Number 6 but by Number 2 as well. She is also one of the only female characters in the series to have any sort of relationship with Number Six, in which Number Six actually reciprocates (although the episode stops short of suggesting anything romantic).
  • This is the only episode in which Rover is referred to by name. Prior to this, the device was never referred to by any name, although scripts and the spin-off novels refer to it as the Guardian.

[edit] Trivia

  • The title of this episode was later reused in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode of the same name, as Patrick McGoohan (Number Six) was set to guest star as Dr. Ira Graves.
  • One reason that Number 12 is the impersonater because he is Number 6's "double" and 6 doubled is 12
  • As the episode featured a doppelganger of McGoohan’s Number Six character Mcgoohan's stunt double on the show Frank Maher has a lot of screen time in this episode alongside the ‘real’ Number Six.
  • The helicopter scene at the end briefly shows the helicopter without pontoons.
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