The XYY Man

Granada Television’s The XYY Man, first broadcast in 1976, is a compelling blend of espionage thriller and character study, adapted from the novels of Scottish author Kenneth Royce. At the heart of the series is William "Spider" Scott, played with wiry intensity by Stephen Yardley — a former cat-burglar freshly released from prison, trying to go straight but inevitably pulled back into the shadows by both criminals and the British secret service.

The series takes its name and thematic premise from a controversial genetic theory. According to a 3 July 1976 article in TV Times, an “XYY man” refers to a male born with an extra Y chromosome — a condition initially believed to be linked to increased height and criminal tendencies. This belief stemmed from early research in prisons and high-security mental institutions, including work by Patricia Jacobs at Carstairs hospital. Hundreds of incarcerated men were found to have this chromosomal anomaly, leading to a spate of scientific and popular interest in the potential link between genetics and aggression.

However, the XYY hypothesis was later discredited, as further research exposed serious flaws in the interpretation of correlation as causation. The early studies failed to account for social and environmental factors, and the simplistic connection between genetics and violent behaviour did not hold up under scientific scrutiny. Yet, The XYY Man was conceived at a time when the myth still held cultural currency, and this pseudo-scientific premise provided a unique, if problematic, narrative hook.

Ivor Marshall’s Granada adaptation begins with a faithful three-part retelling of Royce’s first novel, where Spider, fresh out of prison, is coerced by the shadowy MI5 figure Fairfax (Mark Dignam) into breaking into a foreign embassy to recover an incriminating photograph. What follows is a tense cat-and-mouse game involving foreign agents, shifting loyalties, and high-stakes espionage. Spider's attempt to outwit Fairfax by trying to sell the photograph to rival agents creates a web of danger he can barely navigate.

Yardley’s performance is the anchor of the series — equal parts twitchy and charismatic, always conveying the sense of a man with a criminal’s instincts and a conscience that won’t stay buried. Mark Dignam is suitably enigmatic as Fairfax, manipulating from the margins, while Don Henderson’s gravel-voiced DS George Bulman and Dennis Blanch’s DC Derek Willis provide both antagonistic tension and grounded police presence. Bulman and Blanch became such breakout characters that they were spun off into their own series, Strangers, in 1978 — itself successful enough to lead to another series, Bulman, in 1985.

While the science underpinning the series’ title has long since been debunked, The XYY Man holds up as a stylish, sharply-written slice of 1970s British television. The series deftly blends psychological drama with Cold War spy intrigue, and the moral ambiguity of its central character gives it a richness not always found in genre fare of the period.

Ultimately, The XYY Man stands as a fascinating time capsule — not only of television storytelling but also of a cultural moment when fears about genetics and criminality made headlines and shaped fiction. If its premise is now scientifically outdated, its storytelling remains taut and compelling.