Production order: 17 | ITC code: 5124 | Airdate order: 19 | DVD order: 22
Those Responsible
Writer: Harry W Junkin
Director: Paul Dickson
Where & When
The Foreign Office, London, England: February 16th
The Inexplicable Mystery
A man leaves the Foreign Office with a diplomatic bag and goes home to pack a few personal items, phoning a woman to tell her "It's tonight." He boards a plane as its only passenger - only for the aircraft to explode over the English Channel. However, the woman receives a visitor: the plane's erstwhile passenger, who when told that she thought he was dead replies: "But I am dead."
The Mystery Explained
Anthony James Harvey was a double agent, spying for the Russians while at the same time feeding intelligence on their British agents back to MI5, but wanted out and faked his own death by parachuting from the plane before it exploded. He plans to start a new life under a new identity with his girlfriend May, certain that shaving off his moustache and changing his hairstyle will make him completely unrecognisable to anyone who might be looking for him.
Review
Stop me if you've heard this one before: a high-ranking Foreign Office official is a mole for the Soviets. Russian agents recognise Department S's finest and follow them around London as they investigate the case, getting into a car chase with Annabelle, but are unable to stop our heroes from finding the truth. Unfortunately, the head of MI5 (played by Basil Dignam) would rather the spy die than be publicly exposed in order to save the government from a scandal, and the episode has a downbeat ending after the mole meets an untimely death that Department S was unable to prevent, Stewart taking the loss as a personal defeat.
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| "Joel, the laugh you did in 'The Man From X'? That, only twice as fake, please." |
Yes, 'The Duplicated Man' - the second of the show's anti-authority tales - has an awful lot in common with 'The Perfect Operation'... the previous episode. And the peculiarities of broadcast order or DVD formatting can't be blamed this time, as they could with some of the earlier cases of story similarity - 'The Duplicated Man' was filmed straight after 'The Perfect Operation'! So did nobody notice, or nobody care? (By this late point in the show's production, and considering the general tiredness of many of the scripts, I suspect the latter.)
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| "It's a tactical turtleneck, Jason. A tactalneck." |
But where 'Operation' was merely dull, 'Duplicated Man' is dull and pointless. There is no bizarre mystery to be solved, and literally no reason for Department S to be called in. MI5 head Smith has been told by a defector that Harvey is a double agent and is convinced he faked his own death to evade arrest, so why wouldn't he use his own agents - of whom you'd think he would have at least one or two going spare - to hunt him down? Instead, he brings in Interpol (which doesn't answer to the British government) and a lead investigator who has every reason to detest him after their previous encounter, as well as an amateur who uses the cases he works on as plots for his best-selling novels. No danger of any embarrassing leaks there!
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| The ever, yep, subtle and understated Mr Jason King. |
As if the premise isn't contrived enough, the investigation is just plain boring. Soldiers searching fields, names being checked on lists and old ladies serving tea do not make for riveting television, and on the rare occasions when it looks as if something exciting might be about to happen, the brakes are firmly slammed on. The most thrilling moment in the entire episode is when Annabelle runs a red light. (Jason makes a parachute jump, but since it's exactly the same footage first used in 'Handicap Dead' it doesn't really count.)
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| The moment the selfie was invented: sadly 35 years before the smartphone. |
Joel Fabiani does his best to get some emotional mileage out of the finale, when Stewart finds Harvey on a rooftop about to jump - now that Department S has unwittingly exposed his new identity, he'll either be arrested by the British or killed by the Russians - and desperately tries to convince the suicidal spy to accept his protection from both. But then the episode runs out of time, so Harvey accidentally slips and falls to his death, leaving Stewart nothing to do but sigh despondently. Which is really the most suitable response to the whole sorry affair.
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| When bondage games go horribly, horribly wrong. |
Sigh.
Fancy Quotes
[Even Jason has a problem with the episode's premise]
Jason: I thought we specialised in the unsolvable.
Stewart: Sir Curtis offered our services.
Jason: Your services; I have to be in the States in three days.
[Annabelle has spoken to Harvey's mother]
Annabelle: She's read one of your books.
Jason: One of them? And did she, er...
Annabelle: She said it showed warm promise.
Jason: I'll send the rest of them to her!
Annabelle: Mrs Harvey was very worried about Anthony at Cambridge.
Jason: What was it? Drink? Girls? [pause] Boys?
Annabelle: Marxism.
Harvey: Everything's easy with money.
(No) Cheers!
The only drink Jason has in the whole episode is a cup of tea! No wonder he seems in such a stroppy mood throughout.
Author! Author!
Her Majesty Regrets involved Mark Caine faking his own death; Jason's research means he knows just how hard this actually is to pull off.
This Looks Familiar
What devilry is this? It's clearly the usual Department S corridor, but... they've changed the ceiling! This is just not right.
Annabelle has bought herself a little red Lotus Elan. And by "bought", I mean "confiscated from Kate Mortimer from 'The Shift That Never Was' on the grounds that she won't be needing it in prison."
