Out of the Unknown: The Man in My Head starts as a platoon of British soldiers wake up in a small shed like building, they are all unaware of why they are there or even how they got there. Even Brinson (Tom Chadbon) doesn't know the purpose of their mission, then a woman named Ira (Marianne Benet) enters the shed & leads them to an enemy base which the soldiers break into with Ira's help. It turns out that the enemy base is a hydro electric plant that needs to be blown up, the team of soldiers have been subconsciously programmed & even they don't know what they are until they are activated by a signal from a radio device. Because of the uncertainty of where they are & what they are supposed to be doing paranoia & doubt set in to the soldiers minds & they start to rebel & crack under the pressure as they question themselves, but is this dissent & uncertainly all part of their programming anyway?
Episode eight from season four of the British produced sci-fi television series Out of the Unknown this was directed by by Peter Cregeen & is the last surviving episode from the series & although shifts away from the supernatural horror that dominated the fourth season The Man in My Head feels a bit pointless & I struggle to see who it was meant to appeal to. The script by John Wiles has a solid & original plot in which a team of soldiers are sent to blow up an enemy hydro electricity plant but have their orders subconsciously hidden & those orders are only activated when they hear a certain signal which seems rather illogical to me but there you go. Much of this episode is made up of the various soldiers doubting themselves & arguing as none of them have a clue what is going on which is precisely why the basic concept is flawed & just wouldn't work in reality. There is nothing at stake because we, the viewer, don't know the mission or the purpose behind it either & as a result I think The Man in My Head lacks any real tension or urgency. The ending is also a great disappointment, after all the time spent watching things unfold it all adds up to absolutely nothing in a very unsatisfying cop-out climax in which it's revealed it was all just a training exercise. The episode moves along at a decent pace & it retains ones interest I suppose but the character's are bland, the story goes nowhere & seems implausible to say the least while the safe ending just feels like the makers ran out of ideas.
Originally broadcast during June 1971 the final three season four episodes no longer exist so that's it for Out of the Unknown. While I would like to think more episodes from this series might turn up I am realistic enough to concede that they are gone forever, hardly anyone know's about the missing episodes & even less care so the chances of anymore turning up are next to zero which is a shame as there are some great sounding episodes & considering some of the less than great episodes that do still survive it's very frustrating. There are some really bad CSO special effect shots in this, also why is the chamber they base themselves in bright red? It's rather garish & alarming but the set looks quite spacious even if the studio sound is far too wooden & creaky. The cast are alright, the costumes & production design are also pretty good actually.
The Man in My Head is an odd episode that doesn't really fit the season or the show as a whole, it's not terrible & has a decent enough story but the silliness & impracticality of it makes it hard to take seriously & the the ending which just fizzles out with a convenient reset button left one very unsatisfied.
Episode eight from season four of the British produced sci-fi television series Out of the Unknown this was directed by by Peter Cregeen & is the last surviving episode from the series & although shifts away from the supernatural horror that dominated the fourth season The Man in My Head feels a bit pointless & I struggle to see who it was meant to appeal to. The script by John Wiles has a solid & original plot in which a team of soldiers are sent to blow up an enemy hydro electricity plant but have their orders subconsciously hidden & those orders are only activated when they hear a certain signal which seems rather illogical to me but there you go. Much of this episode is made up of the various soldiers doubting themselves & arguing as none of them have a clue what is going on which is precisely why the basic concept is flawed & just wouldn't work in reality. There is nothing at stake because we, the viewer, don't know the mission or the purpose behind it either & as a result I think The Man in My Head lacks any real tension or urgency. The ending is also a great disappointment, after all the time spent watching things unfold it all adds up to absolutely nothing in a very unsatisfying cop-out climax in which it's revealed it was all just a training exercise. The episode moves along at a decent pace & it retains ones interest I suppose but the character's are bland, the story goes nowhere & seems implausible to say the least while the safe ending just feels like the makers ran out of ideas.
Originally broadcast during June 1971 the final three season four episodes no longer exist so that's it for Out of the Unknown. While I would like to think more episodes from this series might turn up I am realistic enough to concede that they are gone forever, hardly anyone know's about the missing episodes & even less care so the chances of anymore turning up are next to zero which is a shame as there are some great sounding episodes & considering some of the less than great episodes that do still survive it's very frustrating. There are some really bad CSO special effect shots in this, also why is the chamber they base themselves in bright red? It's rather garish & alarming but the set looks quite spacious even if the studio sound is far too wooden & creaky. The cast are alright, the costumes & production design are also pretty good actually.
The Man in My Head is an odd episode that doesn't really fit the season or the show as a whole, it's not terrible & has a decent enough story but the silliness & impracticality of it makes it hard to take seriously & the the ending which just fizzles out with a convenient reset button left one very unsatisfied.
