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story identification - 70s TV miniseries: antagonist gets followers to his pacifist ideology through mind control devices


I am trying to recall the name of TV-series that was aired in the 70s (possibly only in selected European countries?). IIRC it was a French production. The bad guy was using some kind of mind control devices. He was gradually getting more and more people as followers to his pacifist ideology (it was the cold war era, and pacifism might have struck a chord even without mind control).


His modus operandi was to send a dozen or so (mind-controlled) cronies to surround a new victim. They would form a square around the helpless target, forcing him to walk into a building, where mind control devices were surgically installed.


The protagonists were trying to organize a resistance movement. IIRC they failed, as the bad guy had good intelligence about their plans.



Answer



Le Mutant? (The Mutant, 1978, France)


From Wikipedia, translated:



The various nations of the world have decided to make peace and destroy their weapons, while society's control over all activities through video surveillance is increasing. A mysterious scientist leads this pacifist movement through these Peace Legions. But the apparition of a Mutant, endowed with powers that go beyond nature, will call everything into question.



The series is entirely organized in flash-back. An investigation is conducted on this Mutant, and each episode consists of examining the memories of a witness, using a memory sounder to display the memories on a screen.



This forum (French) mentions "a guy taking control of people by putting a weird thing in their necks". They're referred to as "les implantés" (the implanted).


All six episodes (50 minutes each) are on YouTube:






Found with the Google query "mini serie" science fiction francaise site:fr.wikipedia.org (french "miniseries" science fiction site:fr.wikipedia.org).


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