The Subject Episode Guide

8/14/2019 The Subject Episode Guide

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THE SUBJECT

The Complete Guide

By Jack Knoll


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Foreword

The Subject was created as a tribute to Patrick McGoohans classic cult series The Prisoner and later Patrick McGoohan himself

when he died in January 2009 during the production of episode 10, Killswitch Engage. The series was also created to be a way for

me to release my frustrations with society and life as a young teenager in the 21st century. It was this combination and by way of

my own imagination, that created what is said to be the best web series on YouTube. The Subject was in production and

released between July 2008 and February 2009. Only 13 episodes were produced so that the simple format remained interesting

and unpredictable. I made this series with the help of my production company J3P Films. We had previously only made a very

poor quality science fiction film under the title of Space Station 5. The Subject proved to be a great step forward for us. We hope

that The Subject has helped us to step forward even further.

This episode guide provides a specially written synopsis of each chapter in the series; notes about the production of the episode,

the people involved, deleted scenes, original concepts and other trivia. There is also a section in some episodes which describes

how it has a link to The Prisoner.

Enjoy the guide!

Jack Knoll

June 2009


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Cast and Crew

Jack Knoll The Subject/The Secretary

Jacob Senior James (Ep 4, 9, 13)

Zack McAuley Mr. Z (Ep 10)

Andrew Prendergast Killers (Ep 10)

Adrian Sherlock SOCRAD voices (Ep 11)

Nick Carter Guards (Ep 13)

Edd Sutch The Administrator (Ep 13)Robert Havinden The Professor (Ep 13)

Patrick Murphy Subject C (Ep 13)

Theme Music Cyril Stapleton (Ep 1-5)

Volker Holz (Ep 6-13)

Additional Music Ron Grainer (Ep 1)Rick Clarke (Ep 2-13)

Writer Jack Knoll (Ep 1-4, 6, 8, 12-13)

Patrick Murphy (Ep 5, 7, 9)

Zack McAuley (Ep 10)

Adrian Sherlock (Ep 11)

Stunts Zack McAuley (Ep 10)

The Fight Song Marilyn Manson (Ep 10)

Director Jack Knoll

and Zack McAuley (Ep 10)

Producer Jack Knoll

Dedicated to Patrick McGoohan RIP (Ep 10-13)

Series Distributed by J3P Films


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Episode 1:

Home and AwayWritten by Jack Knoll

Released 31/07/08

NotesActor/Writer/Director/Producer Jack Knoll uses the

pseudonym ofJason Falconburger. This episode is

unique as it does not feature any loyalty free music

by Rick Clarke. It took two days to shoot this

episode, the first being used to shoot the walking

down the garden sequence which was used as the

first trailer for the series; the second being used to

shoot the rest of the episode. A short piece of Ron

Grainers theme for The Prisoner is the only piece of

incidental music in the episode.

Links to The Prisoner

This episode is similar to that of the opening episode

Arrival. The opening titles are heavily inspired by the

opening titles of The Prisoner.

As he goes to sleep a teenage boy isshot by a strange laser which knocks

him out. As he wakes up he discovers

that although his bedroom is the

same, the rest of the house is

completely different and all the

surrounding area. He walks around to

investigate his new surroundings. After

discovering envelopes simply

addressed to The House, a family

photo with only him in it and a voice

from the telephone telling him to

contact The Secretary. The boy goes

down to meet The Secretary only to

discover that he is a human

experiment run by an illusivegentleman known only as The Author.

And The Subjects only form of

company is The Secretary, who is an

exact clone of himself, working for The

Author!


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Episode 2:

Freedom of LawWritten by Jack Knoll

Released 03/09/08

NotesThis is the first episode to feature musical pieces by

Rick Clarke although re-uses a piece from The

Prisoner theme music. The cartoon that The Subject

is forced to watch is I Rocketby Black Maria

Productions. The Secretary is seen as slightly more

casual in a new jacket but with a t-shirt and tie.

There are a few sound problems in the scenes in the

garden because of the wind. The original title of this

episode was Freedom from Law.


The famous farewell be seeing you is uttered by

The Secretary during the phone call at the beginning

of the episode.

The Subject has started to settle intoroutine a little in The House but is still

trying to rebel. After being forced to sit

and watch television that enriches his

mind, The Subject is told by his clone

The Secretary that it is time for his first

test. Whilst The Secretary is being

given orders from The Author, The

Subject tries to make an escape over a

fence. But to The Subjects surprise

The Secretary encourages him. There

is a flash of blinding light and having

jumped over the fence to freedom,

The Subject discovers he is sitting in

the middle of the garden. The

Secretary was actually testing whetherone could have true freedom whilst

there are still natural boundaries.

Concluding that the test proved

nothing The Subject decides he may as

well be back under the rules. But was

it a wise move?


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Episode 3:

Mind ExposureWritten by Jack Knoll

28/09/08

NotesThe Secretarys costume changes again in this

episode, he is now wearing a yellow shirt which isnt

exactly tasteful to say the least! The dream

sequences were shot on green screen. This made

editing of this episode taking a much longer than

normal, two weeks. A majority of the incidental

music in this episode was originally used in Doctor

Who but the composers are not credited.


This episode is inspired by the episodeA, B and C in

which No. 6 has his memories of a party altered and

observed by No. 2.

Whilst he is relaxing, The Subject ismade to take a pill and go to bed. He

falls asleep and begins to dream about

being on a beach. But The Secretary is

watching his dreams on the television

and tries to control them to make him

accept the situation in the House and

make him work better, but The

Subjects subconscious proves to be

too powerful. The Secretary then tries

to put himself into the dream!


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Episode 4:

Best of EnemiesWritten by Jack Knoll

Released 18/10/08

NotesThis is the first appearance of the character of James

in the series, as played by Jacob Senior. Jacob Senior

is also given top billing on the end credits. This

episode under ran by several minutes but could not

be corrected during edited. This also happened in All

You Need is Love in which Jacob Senior also

appeared. The Secretary is now back in his regular

costume originally seen in Freedom of Law. This is

the only episode to feature a scene before the

opening titles although it was a feature which Jack

Knoll wanted to continue throughout the series.


This episode is partly inspired by the episode Do Not

Forsake Me Oh My Darling in which No. 6 wakes up

in a new body back in his home in London.

The Subject wakes up to discover hisentire body has been transformed into

that of his old friend James. The

Secretary refuses to give an intelligent

explanation for what has happened.

The Subject starts to have disturbing

memories of when he and James used

to be friends. The Subjects mind

suddenly flips as he goes to the

kitchen and picks up a heavy rolling

pin and goes out to kill The Secretary.

But is The Subject really who he thinks

he is?


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Episode 5:

VampiresWritten by Patrick Murphy

Released 27/10/08

NotesThis is the first episode to feature a script not written

by Jack Knoll. However, Knoll is still uniquely credited

as Script Editor. He is not credited for this role for the

rest of the series. Patrick Murphys other scripts for

the series are The Lateral Line and All You Need Is

Love. This is the last episode to use Cyril Stapletons

theme music for Department S on the opening and

closing titles. After the completion of this episode,

the editing computer was infected by a virus which

stopped production of the series for about a month.

When The Subject goes downstairs forsupper one evening, The Secretary

reveals that he has just consumed a

chemical that removes all liquid that

he drinks from his system. The

Subjects body slowly starts to

dehydrate and weaken bringing him

close to death. But suddenly The

Subject makes a glass of water for The

Secretary and seems to offer it to him

out of good will. But does he have a

more cunning plan...?


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Episode 6:

Born and BredWritten by Jack Knoll

Released 29/10/08

NotesThis is the first episode to feature Volker Holzs

theme music on the opening titles and end credits.

A scene deleted from the final edit of this episode

featured The Subject pulling a compass he had

hidden in a drawer. The needle goes wild, and in

anger The Subject throws it away, leaving a note

saying Youll have to try better than that. The

scene was deleted to reduce the episodes running

time. The knife thrown by The evil Subject was

originally scripted to end up in the wall. However a

suitable effect could not be found.

Links

The theme of this episode was inspired by the novel

The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine which explored the

concept of the nature/nurture theory.

The Subject has finally decided to takepart in an experiment to show his

interpretation of heaven and hell.

However, The Secretary, disapproves

of the results as The Subject just uses

it as an excuse to protest about his

imprisonment. Later on The Secretary

begins to question The Subject about

his views on murder. The Secretary

then gives The Subject the chance to

kill him. However, The Subject cant

bare the guilt. But The Secretary

reveals that this was another test to

see whether we are born with an evil

streak or whether we develop it

through life. But The Secretary has onemore test planned...


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Episode 7:

The Lateral LineWritten by Patrick Murphy

Released 06/12/08

NotesThis is Patrick Murphys second script for the series.

This episode was the only one to shot before the

previous episode (Born and Bred) was released. This

was due to a virus on the editing computer which

required fixing whilst production continued. A

majority of the episodes of The Subject were shot

during autumn and winter which meant that

conditions outside were often cold. This meant that

the lead actor had to have his feet up against a

radiator after crawling in the grass outside!

The Secretary begins to explain theseven senses of a shark before forcing

The Subject to take a pill. This starts to

cause The Subject to behave in very

peculiar ways. He starts to detect the

electrical signals of insects in the

garden in the same way a shark can.

The Subject then thrown into a fit and

his eyesight starts to seeing these

electrical signals. This is the sense

known in sharks as the lateral line. The

Subject demands to have his sense

restored to normal, but it could come

at a cost...


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Episode 8:

Eternity of SilenceWritten by Jack Knoll

Released 21/12/08

NotesThis was the last episode of The Subject to be

written. This is one of only three episodes to feature

no end credits and instead features credits over the

opening scene. The other episodes are The FaultyBatch and Final Assessment. The slot for the eighth

episode was almost filled with a completely different

story. The idea in the original 13 episode plan of

the series is called No place like home which

would have featured The Subject escaping The

House into a changed world. The second idea wascalled Knowledge is Power which would have

featured The Secretary becoming a teacher to The

Subject and would have analysed todays education

system.


This episode takes its inspiration from the episode

Hammer into Anvil where No. 6 tries to drive No. 2

insane by doing a series of strange yet suspicious acts.

When asked to take part in a test byThe Secretary, The Subject gives no

reply. He appears to have taken a vow

of silence. The Secretary gives him 24

hours to change his mind. He begins to

observe The Subject only to find he is

not giving in. In the middle of the night

he receives a phone call from The

Author summoning him to the

garden...


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Episode 9:

All You Need is LoveWritten by Patrick Murphy

Released 10/01/09

NotesThis is the second of Jacob Seniors three

appearances in the series as James. This is the last of

Patrick Murphys scripts for the series. The original

title of the script was Still Waiting. The original

intention was that the end credits were to feature

All You Need Is Love by The Beatles but Rick

Clarkes more gentle ambient music was used

instead. This was the first episode to be filmed in the

2009 production block which had been scheduled to

last just six weeks to complete the remaining five

episodes of the series.

The Subject starts to have memories ofhis girl friend Sophie. He begins to get

angry with The Secretary for his

imprisonment in The House. The

Secretary is forced to tranquilize The

Subject who begins to hear other

voices when he wakes up. When he

goes downstairs he discovers that The

Secretary is talking to James!


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Episode 10:

Killswitch EngageWritten by Zack McAuley

Released 25/01/09

NotesThe script for this episode was written by Zack

McAuley who had never actually seen a single frame

of The Subject before. The script was also very close

to being late and as such a new script was

commissioned to be written by Edd Sutch (who

appeared in Final Assessment). Nick Carter (also

appeared in Final Assessment) was originally

supposed to appear as one of the robots but was

unable to attend filming. Andrew Prendergast took

both roles although this is not clear in the finished

episode. Zack McAuley and Andrew Prendergast

both previously appeared in J3P Films first

production Space Station 5.

The Subject wakes up to discover astrange person standing over him. The

Secretary reveals that he is harmless

and called simply, Mr. Z. The Subject

goes downstairs and finds another

new arrival in The House. They are two

un-programmed humanoid robots. Mr.

Z is then revealed to be the leader of

the robots and announces that a test is

starting soon. Number One comes in

with a shovel and reveals that The

Subjects challenge is to survive...


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Episode 11:

Damon DarkWritten by Adrian Sherlock

Released 01/02/09

NotesCreator of Damon Dark, Adrian Sherlock wrote this

episode especially for The Subject. Sherlock used an

idea he had developed for Damon Dark in 1996during its creation and adapted it into an episode

for The Subject. However, Damon Dark had to

replace a script by Patrick Murphy called Mind Your

Manners. This story featured The Secretary trying to

teach The Subject by reversing times every time he is

rude. This episode was never filmed because Jack

Knoll insisted that the series ran to no more than 13

episodes.


This episode was inspired by the episode Living inHarmony where No. 6 is convinced he is living in a

western which turns out to be a set at the back of

the Village.

A young version of transdimensionalcontrol agent Damon Dark arrives in

The House, only to be met by The

Secretary holding a camera shouting

cut! The Secretary reveals that Damon

Dark is just The Subject playing the

part in a short film. But he still keeps

up the belief that he is Damon Dark.

Suddenly, everything seems to return

to normality. But then the chilling

voice of the alien SOCRADs threaten to

destroy the Earth! Only Damon Dark

can save the day!


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Episode 12:

The Faulty BatchWritten by Jack Knoll

08/02/09

NotesThis is the first part of the story to conclude the

series. The episode originally went under the title of

The Survival Game. During the production of thisepisode the United Kingdom had its heaviest

snowfalls in 18 years which provided some very

dramatic shots. The rest of the episode is filmed in

front of a green screen with a white background

being added in. It was originally intended that this

10 minute dialogue scene be shot in the shed which

is where it appears to take place. However the shed

was far too crammed with junk at the time.


This episode is heavily inspired by the episode OnceUpon A Time where No. 2 decides that either he or

No. 6 can survive and spends a week acting through

No. 6s life in order to work out why he resigned.

In the middle of the night TheSecretary comes for The Subject but

has to hypnotise him to obey. The

Subject wakes up in complete

whiteness and is confronted by The

Secretary about the troubles with his

life. They discuss what the problems

with The Subject are and why he was

brought to The House. But does The

Secretary have other intentions?


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Episode 13:

Final AssessmentWritten by Jack Knoll

Released 01/03/09

NotesAs this was the absolutely final episode of the series, the episode ran to

half an hour with an extra long script. Jack McCabe (previously in Space

Station 5) was originally cast as The Administrator and then The

Professor but was unable to attend filming. The episode was shot mostly

on green screen with sets being built on a computer. The opening of this

episode is unique as it does not use the regular opening titles butinstead uses the guard and The Subject walking up the garden to a

slowed down version of the theme music. The ending of this episode

(and the series) was unscripted. The ending did in fact change twice. The

first ending featured The Subject reuniting with Sophie, his girl friend but

before she turns round she has the face of The Secretary. A mock up of

this was shot with Edd Sutch playing Sophie from behind. The second

ending featured The Subject arriving at Sophies house, only to be met by

The Secretary. Parts from each of these endings was used in the finishedepisode. Jack Knoll usually explains the meaning of each episode and his

intention for writing it when asked, but this final two part story is the

only one where he refuses and demands that the viewer works it out for

his/herself.


This episode is heavily inspired by the final episode Fall Out where

No. 6 watches the peculiar trials of No. 48 and a revived No. 2. He thengets a chance to meet No. 1 who is also a replica of himself. However Jack

Knoll was not merely copying The Prisoner in this incident and used the

idea with different intentions.

After The Secretarys death, TheSubject is taken by a guard to a strange

assembly hall. Here a man called The

Administrator informs The Subject,

that The Secretary was just another

experiment and had no authority. The

Subject then demands to see another

one of these test experiments who is

known as Subject C. The boy is shut in

an unlocked room and appears to be

too stupid to get out. But after a long

time he manages it and leaves with

The Subject. After another meeting

with the unhelpful Administrator, The

Subject decides to hunt down the man

who has been running the wholeoperation... The Author....


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Documents

The Subject Episode Guide