The XYY Man: Introduction
Content warning: torture
The XYY Man (broadcast over two series in 1976 to 1977) is a series which has been re-released to a less than enthusiastic reception, but I think is a show which just requires some understanding. It is about a man called 'Spider' Scott, who is released from serving a prison sentence at the beginning of the series, and it is about his new life and encounters with police and the Secret Service. This is by way of an introductory post but I do aspire to do posts about some of the individual episodes (not promising, though).
The premise sounds simple enough but straight away we hit the first problem with this show, which is that in the plot, Spider is depicted as being especially prone to crime because he has the XYY syndrome. In reality the symptoms of the extra Y chromosome in men with the condition are unusual height, small genitals and an increased likelihood of learning disabilities. The problem we have is that the show is built around the (even then) discredited idea that men with XYY syndrome were genetically predisposed to crime, and both the police and the state are after him for different reasons because habitual criminals are both suspicious but can also be useful.
I was originally going to write this post and say that basing the show on this discredited notion is a major flaw. However the show was still going to appear here because honestly it's worth watching this show for the seventies milieu. If you read the frankly terrible reviews on IMDb you will find that one of them is that the show was too up to date at the time and as a result it hasn't aged well. I disagree with that: honestly, if you watch this show for nothing but the 1970s reminiscence, you won't be disappointed.
I have changed my mind that basing the plot around the myth that XYY syndrome equals criminality is a major flaw. The key to this is temporarily just to take the flawed understanding of XYY syndrome at face value and watch the show as is: as a show about a man who was supposed to be genetically predisposed to crime. This wasn't necessarily the understanding when originally broadcast, and I have read that there were announcements that the premise of this show wasn't true, so on broadcast the show was intended to be treated as fiction. The premise means that the man amongst the cast who is notionally predisposed to crime is seen against a cast of public servants whose motives and actions are at best shady and usually quite dodgy. The criminal in the cast is therefore actually the most moral one, and contrasted directly with the forces of law and order. As a fictional exercise in ethics and values, this is honestly one of the better shows you could wish for.
I said that the key was to take this show at face value temporarily. If we then return to reality, and remember that the premise of this show is a complete misunderstanding of a genetic condition, which has been genuinely believed in the past, that adds yet another layer of meaning. Not only is the character who is supposed to be predisposed to crime contrasted to murky morals in the establishment, but the real twist is that he isn't even genetically predisposed to crime at all. This realisation adds a whole layer of injustice, and I have to say that this isn't one of your light 1970s dramas. It will already have been apparently that there are some weighty matters going on here and I can't over-stress that this is not light entertainment.
A further area in which I think this show might be best approached as unreal or as a purely fictional exercise in ethics, is the almost magical way in which Spider is set up in his new life after prison. We are not talking about the boarding houses and dodgy jobs that Frank Marker gets in Public Eye. Spider moves straight back in with his girlfriend, and every interior that we see in this show is up to the minute 1970s style. In part of the show he becomes part owner of an aeroplane (not a cheap thing to do at any time in history) and I haven't been able to spot how he does this. His life is just too smooth and comfortable for an ex-con who is supposed to be predisposed to crime: people in those circumstances in relaity tend to live quite uncomfortable, chaotic lives. I'm not suggesting that this is a flaw, however I'm suggesting that it is a way the show avoids unecessary detail and goes straight into the focus of each episode.
The final way in which this show needs some work to understand it, is that each episode is not a discreet adventure. The first series of three episodes is based on a novel, with the plot spread across the whole series. The second series consists of stories written for the show, and I have read that each adventure is spread across three episodes. If this were strictly true I would expect the show's full number of episodes to be a multiple of three and the simple fact is that it isn't. This is therefore my only real criticism of this show, that its plot is somewhat labyrinthine, and I think that's what's actually prevented me posting about it for the years I've had the boxed set.
It's a bot difficult to give a direct comparison to another seventies show. Possibly if I said it is set in the world of The Sweeney or The Professionals but more cerebral, I think that would capture it. It's not completely lacking in violence, including at one point depicting Spider actually getting water boarded. It's also not lacking in nudity and sexy stuff, in the manner of the time. Watch out for the brown bath, which just makes me wonder what people were thinking.
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