The Last Lonely Man

The ability to transfer memories and personalities into the minds of host 'contacts' guarantees immortality to anyone who has previously arranged such 'contacts' (but oblivion to those who have not); however, the ramifications of multiple 'minds' in a single body have yet to be fully understood. The satirical fable borders on the irrational as the government, keen on distracting people from 'real' concerns such as the economy, vigorously endorses the technology despite the obvious problems that will arise when bodies house more than one person (or worse: one women proposes that she and her dog be contacts) - presumably, the promise of life after death is the ultimate 'opiate of the masses' (people go to 'pre-contract' movies to literally laugh at death). Patrick Wilson (Peter Halliday), the titular lonely man, is one of the poor souls who doesn't have a contact and, terrified that he might die 'permanently' at any moment, convinces a very drunk James Hale (George Cole) to serve. Needless-to-say, this all goes wrong and soon Hale's wife (June Berry) has no idea to whom she is speaking as her husband becomes more and more obsessed with avoiding risks. Based on a story by dystopian author John Brunner, the sketchily laid-out premise is too fanciful to be taken as 'science fiction' but the story is a fun example of a 'what if...' fable as people realise that mismatched contacts will ultimately lead to a nation of schizophrenics, bisexuals and, ironically, thanatophobics (as people realise that their own perpetual existence depends on their contacts staying alive).