Solo is kidnapped and replaced by a surgically-created double whose mission is to transport the secret combination lock of a high-security vault in Austria, that protects a powerful energy source designed to fight back against a potential alien invasion from outer space.
SAY WHAT???
UNCLE season 1 generally features the best writing, directing and acting in the entire run of the series. NOT THIS ONE, though.
The plot involving a Thrush doctor (Harold Gould, who's got more charisma than any other guest-actor in this episode) creating a fake Solo (too bad Robert Vaughn didn't get paid double for playing 2 parts, heh), the fake exhibiting virtually NO personality whatsoever (shouldn't anyone have noticed this, especially Waverly, his boss, and Ilya, who was good friends withy him in seasons 1 & 4), is problematic enough.
It's the "McGuffin" part of the plot that makes this fall right thru the floor. Every step-by-step as they go dealing with the security for the code, the attache case, the airplane, the entrance to the base, the descent into the vault area, the techs in charge, the EXPLANATION of what the vault is keeping secure, what it's for, how it "works", what it does if you accidentally aren't wearing protective glasses... it's all INSANE. It is the single WORST writing, directing & acting in the whole of season 1. (I don't even want to compare it to seasons 2, 3 & 3B, they had an entirely-different kind of problem.)
I looked up Clyde Ware. This was one of his earliest scripts, it was his ONLY episode of UNCLE, and the one thing he did the most of was 17 episodes of GUNSMOKE. I'd say he was completely out of his depth here. I also looked up John Newland. AHA. His main claim to fame was the series ONE STEP BEYOND. I wasn't surprised. The whole "Project Earthsave" plot did NOT fit on this show, it felt like it was a rejected VOYAGE script, or a script leftover from the 2nd season of THE OUTER LIMITS. This gives me the impression that Newland was more responsible for the content of this story than the writer was.
I also get the feeling this may have been filmed earlier than it was broadcast, since Ilya has so little to do with the story, it may have been written before they began to expand David McCallum's part on the show.
I've read that this was filmed IN COLOR in order to expand it into a Euro feature film (THE SPY WITH MY FACE). One very odd thing, watching it on DVD, is that somehow, the entire soundtrack sounded like it had been BADLY dubbed onto the episode. The sound quality was so "harsh", I couldn't escape the feeling that something strange had gone on technically behind-the-scenes before it was aired. (I wonder if it was like this back in 1964?)
SAY WHAT???
UNCLE season 1 generally features the best writing, directing and acting in the entire run of the series. NOT THIS ONE, though.
The plot involving a Thrush doctor (Harold Gould, who's got more charisma than any other guest-actor in this episode) creating a fake Solo (too bad Robert Vaughn didn't get paid double for playing 2 parts, heh), the fake exhibiting virtually NO personality whatsoever (shouldn't anyone have noticed this, especially Waverly, his boss, and Ilya, who was good friends withy him in seasons 1 & 4), is problematic enough.
It's the "McGuffin" part of the plot that makes this fall right thru the floor. Every step-by-step as they go dealing with the security for the code, the attache case, the airplane, the entrance to the base, the descent into the vault area, the techs in charge, the EXPLANATION of what the vault is keeping secure, what it's for, how it "works", what it does if you accidentally aren't wearing protective glasses... it's all INSANE. It is the single WORST writing, directing & acting in the whole of season 1. (I don't even want to compare it to seasons 2, 3 & 3B, they had an entirely-different kind of problem.)
I looked up Clyde Ware. This was one of his earliest scripts, it was his ONLY episode of UNCLE, and the one thing he did the most of was 17 episodes of GUNSMOKE. I'd say he was completely out of his depth here. I also looked up John Newland. AHA. His main claim to fame was the series ONE STEP BEYOND. I wasn't surprised. The whole "Project Earthsave" plot did NOT fit on this show, it felt like it was a rejected VOYAGE script, or a script leftover from the 2nd season of THE OUTER LIMITS. This gives me the impression that Newland was more responsible for the content of this story than the writer was.
I also get the feeling this may have been filmed earlier than it was broadcast, since Ilya has so little to do with the story, it may have been written before they began to expand David McCallum's part on the show.
I've read that this was filmed IN COLOR in order to expand it into a Euro feature film (THE SPY WITH MY FACE). One very odd thing, watching it on DVD, is that somehow, the entire soundtrack sounded like it had been BADLY dubbed onto the episode. The sound quality was so "harsh", I couldn't escape the feeling that something strange had gone on technically behind-the-scenes before it was aired. (I wonder if it was like this back in 1964?)