Evil goatees, facial ticks and eyepatches…
Remember these classic takes on TVs evil twin trope?
It ramps up the fun and fantasy, or delivers a fabulous freak-out moment.
Science fiction feels like the natural habitat of doubles.
The audience is already suspending their disbelief, so whats one more?
Hands-down one of the best uses of twins (or multiples) is from the 2004 reboot ofBattlestar Galactica.
Ad content continues below
Grace Park played the two Cylon humans called Sharon (Boomer & Athena).
Boomer was programmed on sabotage-and-mind-wipe mode, causing problems for everyone right from the get-go.
In the season one cliff-hanger, Boomer landed on a Cylon basestar.
Staring her in the face were half a dozen more of her.
It was a terrific payoff.
It wasnt just digital trickery for the sake of it, this plot twist had huge ramifications.
If a Cylon wasnt behaving as programmed, or died, there were plenty more where they came from.
Jumping into the WABAC machine,Star Trek:TOSembraced the evil twin trope like a long-lost brother.
His double was a morphing bad guy, who made himself identical to the captain in every way.
Who does Spock shoot?
The 1960s were a golden age for actors performing double duty.
Samanthas prankster cousin Serena inBewitchedlivened things up no end.
Keeping step withBewitchedwasI Dream Of Jeannie, where Barbara Eden played Jeannie and her dastardly sister .
Even the mum was called Jeannie, also played by Barbara Eden.
Would you believe… the comedy that dished out one of the best double deliveries wasGet Smart.
The perfectly crazy season three opener,The Spy Who Met Himselfis a classic.
In season one, it was the Chiefs turn (Edward Platt) forToo Many Chiefs.
Here in Casa McKenna, weve started re-watchingStar Trek:TNGwith our little geek.
Only Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) can tell the difference.
Then Mom, Dr Crusher (Gates McFadden) tells him to shut up.
(More celebration!)
Although Wesley was irritating to adults, he appealed to the kids.
It turns out the producers knew what they were doing after all.
If youre normally blonde, your doppelganger must be dark.
Fast-forward to 2011 with a two-part twin dilemma withThe Rebel FleshandThe Almost People.
Matt Smith is The Doctor investigating a vat of doppelganger soup.
The story is creepy and wonderful and oh so emotional, especially the ending…
Evil twins and doppelgangers dont always work though.
One of the most bizarre cases of evil twinning was inThe Brady Bunch.
Did they use split-screen?
I cant tell (curse you geoblocking!)
And sometimes you just have to scratch your head and wonder what they were thinking.
This time, the evil twin wasnt a person, it was another car.
A replica of K.I.T.T.
who was bad to the er… battery.
In the season 3 episode,K.I.T.T.
vs K.A.R.R., beachcombers uncover a foul-tempered vehicle who at first looks just like K.I.T.T.
I never really knew if I was supposed to take that show seriously or not…
I mean, one talking car is enough of a suspension of disbelief, but two?
I feel Ive barely touched the tip of the identical twin iceberg.
There are so many doppelgangers on television, who are some of your favourites?
Ebony McKenna is the award-winning author of the 4-part Young Adult series of novels Ondine.
Find out more at:ebonymckenna.com.
