Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons | |
---|---|
Opening theme | "The Mysterons"[1] |
Ending theme | "Captain Scarlet"[2] |
Composer | Barry Gray |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 32 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Gerry Anderson |
Producer | Reg Hill |
Running time | 25 minutes |
Production company | Century 21 Television Productions |
Budget | £1.5 million |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 29 September 1967 14 May 1968[3] | –
Related | |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often shortened to Captain Scarlet, is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions for distributor ITC Entertainment. It is one of several Anderson series that were filmed using a form of electronic marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation" combined with scale model special effects sequences. Running to thirty-two 25-minute episodes, it was first broadcast on ITV regional franchises between 1967 and 1968 and has since been transmitted in more than 40 other countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Set in 2068, Captain Scarlet follows the "
Captain Scarlet, the eighth of the Andersons' ten puppet series, was preceded by
Compared to Thunderbirds, Stingray, and earlier Anderson productions, Captain Scarlet is generally considered "darker" in tone and less suited to child audiences due to its violent content and themes of alien aggression and interplanetary war.[4][5][6][7] The change in puppet design has divided opinion, while the wisdom of making the protagonist "indestructible" has also been questioned.[8][9][10][11] However, the series has been praised for its use of a multinational, multi-ethnic puppet cast and depiction of a utopian future Earth.[12][13] A computer-animated reboot, New Captain Scarlet, was first broadcast in 2005.
Plot
The series begins in 2068. In the first episode, the crew of the Zero-X spacecraft are investigating the surface of Mars after mysterious radio signals are found to be coming from the planet.[N 1][E 1] The source is discovered to be an alien city, which the astronauts destroy in a missile attack after mistaking a harmless surveillance device for a weapon.[E 1] The city's inhabitants, the Mysterons, are a collective of sentient computers that possess partial control over matter and communicate in a deep, echoing voice. After using their power of "reversing matter" to rebuild their city, they swear revenge for humanity's unwarranted aggression and declare war on Earth.[E 1]
Also called "retrometabolism", reversing matter enables the Mysterons to re-create people and objects as facsimiles that they can control.[E 2] This ability is used to wage a "war of nerves" against Earth in which the Mysterons issue threats against specific targets (from world leaders and military installations to entire cities and continents) and then destroy and reconstruct whatever instruments are needed (whether human beings or objects) to carry out their plans. The presence of the Mysterons is indicated by twin rings of green light that are projected onto scenes of destruction and reconstruction. Although the aliens are able to influence events from Mars, their actions on Earth are usually performed by their replicated intermediaries.
Zero-X mission leader Captain Black becomes the Mysterons' primary agent when they seize control of his mind.[N 2][14] Prior to the events of the series, Black was an officer in Spectrum, a worldwide security organisation that mobilises its personnel, vehicles and other resources to counter the threat posed by the Mysterons. Spectrum's most senior agents hold military ranks and colour codenames and are posted to the organisation's headquarters, Cloudbase – an airborne aircraft carrier stationed 40,000 feet (7.6 mi; 12 km) above the Earth's surface – where they answer to its commander-in-chief, Colonel White.[N 3][E 3] Cloudbase is defended by Angel Interceptor fighters flown by an all-female team of pilots headed by Destiny Angel, while the base's computer systems are operated by White's assistant, Lieutenant Green.[N 4] Spectrum also incorporates a fleet of armoured Spectrum Pursuit Vehicles (SPV), which are hidden in secret locations around the world, as well as patrol cars, maximum-security transports, passenger jet aircraft and machine gun-equipped helicopters.
Over the course of the series, it is found that Mysteron reconstructions are especially vulnerable to electricity and can be identified through X-rays, which cannot penetrate their alien biology.[E 4] These discoveries allow Spectrum to develop two anti-Mysteron devices: the "Mysteron Gun" and "Mysteron Detector".[N 7][E 5] A three-episode story arc focuses on the discovery of a Mysteron outpost on the Moon, its destruction by Spectrum, and Spectrum's efforts to negotiate with the Mysterons after converting the base's salvaged power source into an interplanetary communication device.[E 3][E 6][E 7] A failed attempt to survey Mars from space,[E 8] aborted military conferences[E 9][E 10] and the sabotaged construction of a new Earth space fleet[E 11] hinder Spectrum's progress in taking the fight to the Mysterons, and the organisation twice fails to capture Captain Black.[E 12][E 13] In the penultimate episode, the Mysterons destroy Cloudbase itself, but this is later revealed to be a nightmare dreamt by one of the Angels.[E 14] The final episode is a clip show that leaves the conflict between Earth and Mars unresolved.[E 15]
Production
I thought we should make a show about the
Martians, but then there were doubts being expressed by scientists as to whether the so-called "canals" on Marswere really man-made. Since we were well into pre-production, I came up with the idea of making the Martians invisible, so if they did come up with conclusive evidence that there was no life on Mars, I could say, "Ha-ha, yes there is – but you can't see it."
– Gerry Anderson on devising the Mysterons[16]
When efforts to secure an American network broadcaster for Thunderbirds fell through in July 1966, Lew Grade, owner and financial backer of the Andersons' production company AP Films (APF), capped Thunderbirds Series Two at six episodes and cancelled the production.[17] Having overseen APF's work since the making of Supercar in 1960, Grade was keen for Supermarionation to penetrate the lucrative American market and believed that a new series stood a better chance of landing a sale than a second series of Thunderbirds.[17]
As a result of the cancellation, Gerry Anderson was forced to come up with an idea for a new Supermarionation series. He had once been inspired by the thought of creating a live-action police drama in which the hero would have unexpectedly been murdered halfway through the series and replaced by a new lead character.[18] Now giving fresh consideration to this idea, Anderson realised that a major selling point for his new production could be a character who is killed at the end of each episode and resurrected by the start of the next. This, coupled with contemporary theories about the possibility of life on Mars, led to the idea of an interplanetary war between Earth and its neighbour and a worldwide security organisation being called upon to defend humanity.[19] After further thought, Anderson decided that "Scarlet" would be a suitably unusual name for this organisation's "indestructible" agent, while his partner in the field could be called "Blue". From this, Anderson reasoned that all personnel should have colour codenames and that the organisation should be called "Spectrum".[20] Noting that white light is composed of, and can be broken down into, the colours of the spectrum, he named Spectrum's leader "White".[19][21]
Intrigued by the oft-heard phrase "life as we know it", Anderson wanted to set his alien villains apart from the conventional extraterrestrials of 1960s TV and film. Working from a basis of "life as we don't know it", he made the Mysterons a collective of sentient computers rather than a race of organic lifeforms (though their exact nature is not explicitly stated in the series itself).
Anderson's recollections of the Second World War provided inspiration for a number of design aspects. For example, he remembered that during the
Writing and filming
Adopting "The Mysterons" as their working title, Anderson and his wife Sylvia wrote a pilot script in August 1966.[27] This differed significantly from the completed first episode. Originally, it was conceived that the Mysteron reconstruction of Captain Scarlet would be resurrected using an advanced computer, after which he would no longer be a true flesh-and-blood being but a "mechanical man" akin to an android.[N 8][28] Another plan, also dropped, was for each episode to feature a "guest star" puppet voiced by a famous actor: the World President, for example, was originally intended to be voiced by Patrick McGoohan.[29][30]
With Gerry Anderson serving primarily as
Filming on the first episode, "The Mysterons", began on 2 January 1967 after two months of pre-production.[32] The budget for the series was set at £1.5 million (approximately £29 million in 2021).[33] At an average cost of £46,000 per episode, or £2,000 per minute, it was the most expensive Anderson production to date.[33] A month before, Anderson and his colleagues had dropped the name "AP Films" and renamed their company "Century 21 Productions".[32]
By the time Captain Scarlet entered production, many of the directors on earlier Anderson series – including Alan Pattillo, David Elliott and David Lane – had either left the company or were committed to the production of Thunderbird 6, the second Thunderbirds feature film. Although Lane, Brian Burgess and Desmond Saunders were able to reprise directorial duties for at least one episode each, the Andersons were forced to promote some of the junior production personnel to replace the outgoing directors. To this end, Alan Perry and Ken Turner were promoted from the camera operator and art departments.[34] Other directors were recruited from outside the company; among them was Robert Lynn, who had been assistant director on films including Black Narcissus, Dracula and The Revenge of Frankenstein.[34] Although Saunders directed only the first episode, he stayed with the production as "supervising director" to guide the new recruits.[35]
Captain Scarlet was filmed in a set of converted factory units on the
The scale model-making and
When the series began airing in September 1967, principal photography had been completed on the first 20 episodes.[44] The puppet footage for each episode usually took two weeks or 11 working days to shoot.[33][45] Although filming was originally expected to be completed in eight months, the demands of the Thunderbird 6 shoot meant that it went on until November.[46]
Puppet design
Supermarionation, a technique by which the movements of the puppets' mouths were electronically synchronised with recorded dialogue, was first employed during the production of Four Feather Falls in 1960. In all Anderson series prior to Captain Scarlet, the puppets' heads had been disproportionately large compared to the rest of their bodies as the cranium contained the solenoid that powered the automatic mouth movements. Scaling up the bodies to match the heads was not possible, as the puppets would have become too heavy to operate and there was not enough studio space to enlarge all of the sets.[9][50][51] This gave the puppets a caricatured look that frustrated Gerry Anderson, who wanted their design to reflect natural anatomical proportions.[9] Before Captain Scarlet entered production, Reg Hill and associate producer John Read created a new type of puppet with the solenoid built into the chest, thus enabling the heads to be reduced to a realistic size.[47][52]
After being sculpted in
Despite their realistic form, the new puppets were harder to animate on set, making the design ironically less lifelike than Gerry Anderson had intended.[47][56] Compared to the Thunderbirds cast, the Captain Scarlet puppets had inferior weight distribution: when standing, characters often had to be held in place with clamps and tape to prevent wobbling. The smaller heads made close-up shots difficult to obtain and because most of the wires were head‑mounted, significantly reduced the puppeteers' level of control, with the result that head movements and other actions became jerkier.[57] To reduce the amount of movement required, characters were frequently shown standing on moving walkways or sitting at moving desks: for example, Lieutenant Green operates the Cloudbase computer from a sliding chair and Colonel White's desk rotates. Puppeteer Jan King commented:
The Captain Scarlet puppets were not built to walk. They were too heavy and not weighted properly anyway ... It is virtually impossible to get a string puppet to walk convincingly on film unless it is a very caricatured puppet. In Captain Scarlet, if a puppet had to move off-screen, it was done in a head-and-shoulders shot – the floor puppeteer would hold the legs of the puppet and then move the puppet physically out of shot at the right time, trying to make the body and shoulders move as if the puppet were walking.[48]
The "under-controlled" puppets described by King had no wires and were manipulated from the waist. One advantage of this method was that a puppet could pass through a doorway without necessitating a break in the shot. For shots of characters sitting in aircraft cockpits, variations of the "under-controlled" design were made comprising only a head and torso; these were operated using levers and wires located beneath the set.[58]
Scarlet's appearance has been compared to that of his voice actor, Francis Matthews, as well as Roger Moore.[59][60] Ed Bishop, the voice of Captain Blue, believed that his character was modelled on him; Terry Curtis, who sculpted the Blue puppet said that he used himself as the template and simply added a blond wig after he learnt that Bishop would be supplying the voice.[29] Curtis, a James Bond fan, based Captain Grey on Sean Connery and Destiny Angel on Ursula Andress, Connery's co-star in Dr No (1962).[48][61][29][62] Lieutenant Green was modelled on Cy Grant, who voiced the character, while Rhapsody Angel was based on Jean Shrimpton, Melody Angel on Eartha Kitt and Harmony Angel on Tsai Chin.[29][63]
Prior to Captain Scarlet, guest characters had been sculpted in clay on an episode-by-episode basis. For Captain Scarlet; these roles were played by a "
Response to the puppets
The redesigned puppets have drawn a mixed response from crew members and commentators. Some members of the crew believed that the new marionettes lacked the charm of the previous generation due to the natural body proportions that were now being used. Sculptor Terry Curtis recalls:
The changes of expression on those puppets had to be perfect and in no way exaggerated like the old ones were. I remember when [fellow puppet designer] Tim Cooksey did
Captain Blue. I remember I did a Blue "smiler" head and people could hardly tell the difference between that and the normal one.[48]
Fellow sculptor John Blundall called the new design "ridiculous", criticising the attempts to make the puppets appear more lifelike on the basis that "we always try to do with puppets what you can't do with humans."[66] He suggested that the transition from caricature to realism was at the expense of the marionettes' "character and personality", arguing that "if the puppet appears completely natural, the audience no longer has to use its imagination."[66] Effects director Derek Meddings thought that although the new puppets were "very convincing miniature people", they were flawed in that audiences "couldn't identify one from the other. The heads were so small they didn't have any character to their faces."[67] Supervising puppeteer Christine Glanville considered the puppets "awful" from a practical perspective, recalling that their smaller, lighter heads rarely moved fluidly: "If you wanted them to turn their heads then more often than not there would be someone out of shot, with their fingers just above the puppet's head, actually turning it round."[67]
Gerry Anderson said that he pushed for the new design to satisfy the audience, regarding it not as "a case of moving to a new technique, but more a case of incorporating new ideas with existing methods."[66] In later years he expressed doubts about the wisdom of the redesign: "[T]he problem was that exact and precise movements became more vital than ever and that caused us terrible difficulties."[18]
The new design has been praised by Vincent Terrace, Jeff Evans and John Peel.[8][11][59] Applauding the transfer of the electronics from the heads to the bodies, Evans describes the puppets as "perfect in proportion", while Peel argues that the increased realism would not have put off audiences familiar with the earlier design.[11][59] A contrary view is held by Daniel O'Brien, who writes that the loss of the puppets' "idiosyncratic character" reduced them to the level of "de luxe Action Men".[68] On the costume design, Mark Bould writes positively of the series' "commitment to fashion" and singles out the design of the Angel uniforms for particular praise.[12]
Characters and voice cast
Codename | Name[N 9][69] | Nationality | Voiced by |
---|---|---|---|
Captain Scarlet | Paul Metcalfe | British | Francis Matthews |
Captain Blue |
Adam Svenson | American | Ed Bishop |
Colonel White | Charles Gray | British | Donald Gray |
Lieutenant Green | Seymour Griffiths | Trinidadian | Cy Grant |
Captain Black | Conrad Turner | British | Donald Gray[N 10] |
Captain Ochre | Richard Fraser | American | Jeremy Wilkin |
Captain Magenta | Patrick Donaghue | Irish | Gary Files |
Captain Grey | Bradley Holden | American | Paul Maxwell |
Doctor Fawn | Edward Wilkie | Australian | Charles Tingwell
|
Destiny Angel | Juliette Pontoin | French | Liz Morgan |
Symphony Angel | Karen Wainwright | American | Janna Hill |
Rhapsody Angel | Dianne Simms | British | Liz Morgan |
Melody Angel | Magnolia Jones | American | Sylvia Anderson |
Harmony Angel | Chan Kwan | Japanese | Liz Morgan Lian-Shin |
Captain Scarlet had the largest regular puppet cast of any Supermarionation production.
Francis Matthews, who supplied the voice of Captain Scarlet, had turned down offers to voice characters in Thunderbirds.[74] According to Matthews, Gerry Anderson went to great lengths to cast him after being impressed by his imitation of Cary Grant in a radio programme, and indeed the actor based the voice of Scarlet on Grant's Mid-Atlantic tones.[74][75][76] Anderson, however, stated in his biography that the Grant impression was Matthews' choice at audition, and that while it was not the voice that had been intended for Scarlet the production was happy to use it.[77]
Matthews' co-star in the film
Cy Grant, the voice of Lieutenant Green, was known to the Andersons for his appearances on Tonight, in which he sang calypsos inspired by current affairs.[79] The casting of Grant led to that of Ed Bishop as Captain Blue. Bishop, who was working in theatre and had the same agent as Grant, recalled in an interview: "And [my agent's representative] said, 'Oh, by the way, Mr Anderson, we've just taken on a new, young American actor' – shows you how long ago it was – 'a new American actor, name of Edward Bishop. And we know how much you like American voices. Would you like to meet him as well?'"[80][81][82]
The voice of Captain Ochre was provided by
Supporting character voices were performed by Anderson, Files, Hill, Maxwell, Morgan, Tingwell and Wilkin. Completing the credited cast were David Healy and Martin King. Shane Rimmer, previously heard as Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds, made a number of uncredited vocal contributions besides writing for the series. Neil McCallum voiced guest characters in four episodes but was also uncredited. After Captain Scarlet, six members of the voice cast would continue their association with Century 21. Healy voiced Shane Weston in Joe 90 and Files voiced Matthew Harding in The Secret Service. Wilkin, Morgan and King all had various supporting roles in these two series. Bishop later appeared in the lead role of Commander Ed Straker in UFO, the Andersons' first live-action series.
Character dialogue was recorded once a fortnight, at up to four episodes a session, at the Anvil Films Recording Studio (now Denham Film Studios) in Denham, Buckinghamshire.[90][L 2] Each actor was paid 15 guineas (15 pounds and 15 shillings; equivalent to £304 in 2021) per episode, plus repeat fees, no matter how many lines he or she spoke.[91] They were not given the opportunity to tour the Century 21 studios in Slough until their work was finished and therefore had no visualisation of their characters during the recording sessions.[74] This was to Morgan's regret: "We all said that we wished we had seen the puppets before doing the dialogue, as it would have been helpful to have something physical to base the voices on. I knew that Destiny was French and that Rhapsody had to be frightfully 'Sloaney', but that was about it."[88]
Music
The music for Captain Scarlet was composed by Barry Gray, who had scored all prior Supermarionation series. The opening theme – titled "The Mysterons" – was produced electronically and accompanied by a seven-note staccato drumbeat to introduce the protagonist, Scarlet.[1] Gerry Anderson, who had intended this to be more a traditional fanfare, said of his initial reaction: "I thought, 'Christ, is this all he could produce?' Looking back on it, however, I can see that what he came up with worked very well."[26][93][94] The drumbeat also had two other functions: to cut from one scene to another, with the shot alternating between the previous scene and the next in time with each beat; and to cut into and out of each episode's midpoint advert break, where it was accompanied by a zooming image of the Spectrum logo (a stylised "S" on a background of concentric rings in the colours of the rainbow).[1][26]
Two versions of the closing theme – "Captain Scarlet" – were recorded. The first version, used on the first 14 episodes, was mostly instrumental with the words "Captain Scarlet!" sung at intervals by a group of vocalists including
As well as the opening and closing themes, between March and December 1967 Gray recorded incidental music for 18 episodes.[44][98] Music for the other 14 was supplied by re-using these scores, supplemented by excerpts of music originally produced for earlier Anderson series.[44] Compared to Thunderbirds, the incidental music for Captain Scarlet was recorded using smaller ensembles: no episode featured more than 16 instruments.[99]
In their notes on the CD release, Ralph Titterton and Tim Mallett write that the Captain Scarlet soundtrack has a "
Reviewing the soundtrack, Bruce Eder of
Commercial releases
In 1967, Century 21 Records (a label founded by Century 21 and
Both CD releases' tracks are listed below.
Silva Screen Records (2003)
Captain Scarlet (Original Television Soundtrack) | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album | |
Released | 17 November 2003 (UK)[102] 9 December 2003 (US)[101] |
Length | 78:57 |
Label | Silva Screen Records |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [101] |
1:31 | |||
21. | "The Trap: Castle Glen Garry" | From "The Trap" | 4:51 |
---|---|---|---|
22. | "Attack on Cloudbase: Desert Symphony" | From "Attack on Cloudbase" | 5:14 |
23. | "Attack on Cloudbase: The Mysterons Attack!" | From "Attack on Cloudbase" | 3:13 |
24. | "Spectrum Strikes Back: Suite" | From "Spectrum Strikes Back" | 8:30 |
25. | "End Titles (Song Version)" | 1:28 | |
26. | "Main Titles (with Generic Opening Narration)" | 0:48 | |
27. | "White as Snow (Commercial Version)" | Stereo | 3:12 |
28. | "Captain Scarlet Theme (Commercial Version)" | Stereo | 2:47 |
Fanderson (2015)
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album | |
Released | 8 October 2015 |
Label | Fanderson |
Producer | Tim Mallett Kindred Productions |
No. | Title | Notes | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Century 21 Television Logo" | 0:10 | |
2. | "Captain Scarlet Main Titles – ' Special Assignment " | 1:01 | |
19. | "Blue's Blues" | From "Special Assignment" | 1:36 |
20. | "Rien Ne Va Plus" | From "Special Assignment" | 0:52 |
21. | "The Mystery of Glengarry Castle" | From "The Trap" | 5:29 |
22. | "Sitting Targets" | From "The Trap" | 4:50 |
23. | "Captain Scarlet End Titles – Original Version" | 1:22 | |
24. | "Captain Scarlet Main Titles – Music and Effects Version" | 0:45 | |
25. | "The Voice of the Mysterons – Alternate Score" | 6:03 | |
26. | "Captain Scarlet Commercial Break Sting" | 0:05 | |
27. | "Trapped in The Sky Park – Alternate Score" | 3:58 | |
28. | "Captain Scarlet End Titles – Original Version (Instrumental)" | 1:24 |
No. | Title | Notes | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Century 21 Television Logo" | 0:10 | |
2. | "Captain Scarlet Main Titles" | Standard version | 0:51 |
3. | "A New Man" | From " Seek and Destroy" | 3:59 |
8. | "Assignment in Africa" | From "Spectrum Strikes Back" | 7:19 |
9. | "Chasing Indigo" | From "Spectrum Strikes Back" | 5:45 |
10. | "Culture Shock" | From "Place of Angels" | 4:13 |
11. | "Death on the Line" | From "Avalanche" | 5:33 |
12. | "Race to Big Bear" | From "Avalanche" | 0:43 |
13. | "Phase Two" | From "Shadow of Fear" | 7:59 |
14. | "Countdown to Destruction" | From "Shadow of Fear" | 3:31 |
15. | "Slayed in Flames" | From "Fire at Rig 15" | 4:53 |
16. | "Pipeline Pursuit" | From "Fire at Rig 15" | 4:55 |
17. | "Road to Nowhere" | From "Expo 2068" | 2:28 |
18. | "Temperature Rising" | From "Expo 2068" | 0:44 |
19. | "Captain Scarlet" | Performed by The Spectrum | 1:26 |
20. | "Atomic Runaway – Stereo Mix" | From "Big Ben Strikes Again" | 1:33 |
21. | "White as Snow (Stereo)" | Also released as a 7-inch single | 1:55 |
22. | "The Mysterons Theme" | Also released as a 7-inch single | 2:16 |
23. | "Captain Scarlet" | Also released as a 7-inch single | 1:36 |
No. | Title | Notes | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Century 21 Television Logo" | 0:10 | |
2. | "Captain Scarlet Main Titles (Music Only)" | 0:37 | |
3. | "Mission to the Moon" | From "Lunarville 7" | 4:09 |
4. | "Secret of the Far Side" | From "Lunarville 7" | 5:07 |
5. | "Catwalk Angels" | From "Model Spy" | 5:15 |
6. | "Cocktails and Kidnap" | From "Model Spy" | 3:14 |
7. | "The Hand of Friendship" | From " Inferno " | 5:05 |
20. | "Valley of Fire" | From "Inferno" | 2:38 |
21. | "Captain Scarlet – Instrumental" | Performed by The Spectrum | 1:19 |
22. | "Mysteron Threat" | From "Manhunt" | 0:53 |
23. | "Black Coffee – Short Version" | From "The Inquisition" | 1:50 |
24. | "Desert Symphony (Stereo)" | From "Attack on Cloudbase" | 5:13 |
25. | "The Mysterons Attack (Stereo)" | From "Attack on Cloudbase" | 3:12 |
Title sequences and end credits
All episodes, except the first, incorporate two title sequences. The first of these, incorporating the
The sequence is accompanied by a voiceover from Ed Bishop that states:
"The Mysterons: sworn enemies of Earth. Possessing the ability to recreate an exact likeness of an object or person. But first, they must destroy... Leading the fight, one man fate has made indestructible. His name: Captain Scarlet."
A number of variations have been used. In the first episode, the voiceover runs:[E 1]
"The finger is on the trigger. About to unleash a force with terrible powers, beyond the comprehension of man. This force we shall know as the Mysterons. This man will be our hero, for fate will make him indestructible. His name: Captain Scarlet."
An alternative version, rarely used, runs: "One man. A man who is different. Chosen by fate. Caught up in Earth's unwanted conflict with the Mysterons. Determined. Courageous. Indestructible. His name: Captain Scarlet."[107] Later prints feature an additional voiceover by Donald Gray, warning the audience: "Captain Scarlet is indestructible. You are not. Remember this. Do not try to imitate him."[107][108] This served to establish the background to the series and warn younger viewers not to put themselves at risk by copying Scarlet's actions.[10][109][110] It was used either on its own or following Bishop's "One man ..." voiceover.[107]
From the second episode, "Winged Assassin", the establishing scenes are followed by a secondary title sequence introducing Captain Blue, Colonel White, the Angels and Captain Black. As the Mysterons announce their latest threat against Earth, the Mysteron rings pass over the characters in various environments, thus demonstrating the aliens' omnipresence.[106] At the same time, the characters' codenames are flashed on-screen. The Mysterons invariably begin their threats with the words: "This is the voice of the Mysterons. We know that you can hear us, Earthmen."
The titles on the series were always devised by me [...] When it came to Captain Scarlet I was frightened people would say, 'Oh, it's the same old "Crash! Bang! Wallop!" stuff again,' so I made a conscious effort to do something totally different.
The closing titles were originally intended to feature images of
In Japan, the original opening titles were replaced with a montage of action clips from various episodes accompanied by an upbeat song performed by children. This version is included in the special features of the Captain Scarlet DVD box set.[116][117]
Broadcast history
Captain Scarlet had its official UK premiere on 29 September 1967 on the
By the start of the 1968, Captain Scarlet was being broadcast in all parts of the UK.[118] The series was also shown in more than 40 other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.[46] In the United States, it aired in first-run syndication.[8] Only six episodes were shown in the Netherlands.[121]
UK
Captain Scarlet was subsequently acquired by the BBC, which on 1 October 1993 began the series' first UK-wide network run on
Reception
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons should have been one of the most successful puppet shows and it wasn't. I think it was too perfect. There was a lack of humour. It was too mechanical and needed humanising.
– Sylvia Anderson on the series[130]
Although Thunderbirds had run for two series, Grade's unexpected cancellation of that production led Gerry Anderson to assume that there was no possibility of Captain Scarlet lasting more than one.[131] In Anderson's words: "I didn't expect it to continue. I simply went to Lew and asked, 'What's the next thing you want us to do?'"[132]
Captain Scarlet is widely regarded as "darker" or more "mature" in tone than earlier Supermarionation productions.[4][5][6][7][99][133] According to Andrew Billen: "Whereas Thunderbirds was about rescuing people, Scarlet was about damnation, the soul of a resurrected man being fought for between Captain Scarlet and the equally indestructible Captain Black. It was Anderson's Gothic period."[134] Marcus Hearn writes that the series has a "militaristic" feel, with less emphasis on "characterisation and charm" compared to its precursors and Joe 90.[67] For Jim Sangster and Paul Condon, the optimism of Stingray and Thunderbirds is noticeably absent, the heroism and unqualified victories in those series being replaced by desperate games of "damage limitation" as Scarlet and Spectrum rush to counter every Mysteron move, sometimes unsuccessfully.[10] Discussion of the series' presentation of death and destruction has led some commentators to question its suitability for younger viewers: media historian Daniel O'Brien notes that Captain Scarlet is "rated by some as the most violently destructive children's show ever".[68] The horror of the Mysterons has also been recognised: in 2003, the depiction of the aliens was ranked 82nd in Channel 4's list show 100 Greatest Scary Moments.[135]
Commentators have drawn parallels with the state of international relations at the time the series was made.
To others, Captain Scarlet remains a "
The series has been criticised for its camerawork, which some view as too static due to the crew's inability to move the puppets convincingly.[39][145] Criticism has also been directed at the characterisation and writing. Sangster and Condon consider the plots uncomplicated and the characters perhaps "even more simplistic" than those of Stingray.[10] Some have blamed the return to 25-minute episodes, coming after Thunderbirds' 50-minute format, for a lack of subplots and perceived drop in the quality of the storytelling.[11][145] In a 1986 interview, script editor Tony Barwick described Captain Scarlet as "hard-nosed stuff" that lacked humour, adding: "It was all for the American market and to that extent there was no deep characterisation. [The characters] all balanced one against the other."[31] Sylvia Anderson likened the presentation to that of a "comic strip", arguing that the action format came at the expense of the character development.[146] In contrast, Jeff Evans believes the characters to be "more detailed" than before, arguing that Captain Scarlet was the first Anderson production to give them "private lives and real identities".[59] Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping praise the writing, judging it "neither as silly as previous Anderson efforts, nor as po-faced as later ones".[110]
While it would become a huge success, Captain Scarlet received a less than enthusiastic reception from critics. It caused a stir among parents, who condemned the show for its realistic carnage, and (some) children who were bemused by its gritty realism.
– Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett (1993)[147]
In a comparison to Thunderbirds, writer John Peel sums up Captain Scarlet as "better puppets, bigger action and a huge step backwards in stories", arguing that the advances in Century 21's special effects were to the detriment of the writing. He compares this to the relative failure of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom following the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark: "Anderson made the same mistake that George Lucas made, assuming that if the effects were praised in Thunderbirds, the public wanted a show with more effects."[11] Peel also finds fault with Scarlet himself, arguing that an "indestructible" hero who freely risks his safety to foil the enemy served as a poor role model for children and made the episode endings too predictable.[11] Sangster and Condon echo the latter point, writing that Scarlet's abilities weaken the suspense and make him "a difficult hero to believe in".[10]
Considered a cult programme by some,[148][149] Captain Scarlet came 33rd in a 2007 Radio Times poll to determine the greatest science fiction series of all time.[150] It was ranked 51st in Channel 4's 2001 list show 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows.[151] Cornell, Day and Topping argue that the series is perhaps Gerry Anderson's best production.[110] However, Anderson's own verdict was clear: "Nothing was as successful as Thunderbirds. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons was very successful, but once you've had a smash hit, everything tends to look less successful in comparison."[152]
Race, gender and symbolism
When I made Supercar for ATV, we put a number of black characters in an episode because the story demanded it. ATV had an American advisor at the time, and he made us take out every black character and replace them with white characters and white voices. He said he would not be able to sell it to stations in the South ... I was always very anxious to promote racial harmony, so as soon as people had become more sensible I took advantage of it.
– Gerry Anderson on racial diversity[153]
Captain Scarlet has attracted both positive and negative commentary on its use of female and mixed ethnicity characters – an aspect that according to Daniel O'Brien gives the series a "more cosmopolitan" feel compared to Thunderbirds.[68] During its 1993 re-run on BBC2, the series drew some criticism for its use of the codenames "Black" and "White" in reference to the benevolent Colonel White and the villainous Captain Black, which some commentators interpreted as a form of negative black-and-white dualism.[126][154] Defending the series against claims of racist stereotyping, Gerry Anderson pointed out that it features heroic non-white characters in the form of Lieutenant Green and Melody and Harmony Angels.[126] Green is the only black male regular character in any of the Supermarionation series.[155]
For Sellers, the inclusion of Green and especially Melody Angel, a black female character, shows that Captain Scarlet was "actually ahead of its time in respect to race relations".
The diversity of the characters in terms of race and gender has been viewed highly in academic publications.[13] Bould praises the "beautiful, multi-ethnic, female Angel fighter pilots" and "secondary roles played by capable women".[12] In a 2003 interview, Anderson noted the effort made to feature ethnic minorities: "... I think people who make television programmes have a responsibility, particularly when children are watching avidly and you know their minds can be affected almost irreversibly as they grow up. We were very conscious of introducing different ethnic backgrounds."[158]
Other media
The ATV game show The Golden Shot, hosted by Bob Monkhouse, used Captain Scarlet as the theme for its 1967 Christmas special. Broadcast live on 23 December, the programme featured guest appearances from Francis Matthews and The Spectrum.[159]
Since its first appearance, the TV series has been supplemented by merchandise ranging from toy
During the 1960s, Century 21 granted more than 60 licences for Captain Scarlet products and released a range of
Books and comics
Between 1967 and 1968, Armada Books published three Captain Scarlet children's novels by John William Jennison (who wrote under the pseudonym "John Theydon"): Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Captain Scarlet and the Silent Saboteur and The Angels and the Creeping Enemy.[170] As implied by its title, the third novel features the Spectrum Angels as the main characters. In 1993, Young Corgi Books released children's novelisations of "The Mysterons", "Lunarville 7", "Noose of Ice" and "The Launching".[171][172]
From September 1967, comic strips based on the series were printed in
The series' TV21 debut had been preceded by spin-off adventures in the sister comics Lady Penelope and Solo. In January 1967, Lady Penelope launched a comic strip about the Angel pilots; this ran until May 1968 but introduced no elements of the Spectrum Organisation until August 1967.[175] Solo printed two strips: the first from June to September 1967; the second, following a merger with City Magazine's TV Tornado, from September 1967 to February 1968. The first, The Mark of the Mysterons, bore little relation to Captain Scarlet besides featuring the Mysterons as villains; it was set in the 1960s and the presentation was similar to that of The Invaders. The second, simply titled The Mysterons, saw the aliens travelling to the Andromeda Galaxy on a campaign of conquest.[176]
After the series' discontinuation in Century 21 and City titles,
In Japan, Weekly Shōnen Sunday serialised a manga adaptation of Captain Scarlet between 1967 and 1968.[179] A separate adaptation was published in Shōnen Book from January to August 1968.[180]
Home video
The series' first VHS release in the UK was by Precision Video in 1982. Precision was later acquired by Channel 5 Video (a partnership of
Since September 2001, Captain Scarlet has also been available on Region 2 DVD in both its original mono soundtrack and new Dolby Digital surround sound.[183][184] Bonus features include audio commentaries by Gerry Anderson on two episodes, "The Mysterons" and "Attack on Cloudbase", as well as the five audio adventures from the 1960s. As with the VHS releases, the DVDs have also been released as a box set; this includes an extra disc featuring a production documentary, Captain Scarlet S.I.G., along with a set of five alternative title sequences.[129] A Region 1 box set by A&E Home Video was released in 2002.[6][16] In 2004, Imavision released a French-language box set for the Canadian market.[117]
On the series' 50th anniversary in September 2017, British company Network Distributing announced that it was releasing Captain Scarlet on
Siouxsie and the Banshees performed a version of the Captain Scarlet theme tune with extra lyrics mocking the character at their early concerts in 1977.[187]
UK remastered VHS releases by Carlton Video
Title | Episodes | Released |
---|---|---|
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Complete Series Box Set | All (also includes Captain Scarlet: The Indestructible behind-the-scenes feature) | 17 September 2001[188] |
Captain Scarlet: The Indestructible | N/A – behind-the-scenes feature | 17 September 2001[189] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 1 | "The Mysterons", "Winged Assassin", "Big Ben Strikes Again", "Manhunt" | 17 September 2001[190] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 2 | "Avalanche", "White as Snow", "The Trap", "Operation Time" | 17 September 2001[191] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 3 | "Spectrum Strikes Back", "Special Assignment", "The Heart of New York", "Lunarville 7" | 12 November 2001[192] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 4 | "Point 783", "Model Spy", "Seek and Destroy", "Traitor" | 12 November 2001[193] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 5 | "Renegade Rocket", "Crater 101", "Shadow of Fear", "Dangerous Rendezvous" | 28 January 2002[194] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 6 | "Fire at Rig 15", "Treble Cross", "Flight 104", "Place of Angels" | 28 January 2002[195] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 7 | "Noose of Ice", "Expo 2068", "The Launching", "Codename Europa" | 18 March 2002[196] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 8 | "Inferno", "Flight to Atlantica", "Attack on Cloudbase", "The Inquisition" | 18 March 2002[197] |
UK DVD first releases by Carlton Video
Title | Episodes | First released |
---|---|---|
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Complete Series Box Set | All (also includes Captain Scarlet S.I.G. behind-the-scenes feature) | 17 September 2001[198] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 1 | "The Mysterons", "Winged Assassin", "Big Ben Strikes Again", "Manhunt", "Avalanche", "White as Snow" | 17 September 2001[199] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 2 | "The Trap", "Operation Time", "Spectrum Strikes Back", "Special Assignment", "The Heart of New York", "Lunarville 7" | 17 September 2001[200] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 3 | "Point 783", "Model Spy", "Seek and Destroy", "Traitor", "Renegade Rocket", "Crater 101" | 12 November 2001[201] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 4 | "Shadow of Fear", "Dangerous Rendezvous", "Fire at Rig 15", "Treble Cross", "Flight 104", "Place of Angels" | 12 November 2001[202] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 5 | "Noose of Ice", "Expo 2068", "The Launching", "Codename Europa", "Inferno", "Flight to Atlantica", "Attack on Cloudbase", "The Inquisition" | 12 November 2001[203] |
Joe 90 / Captain Scarlet / Stingray Box Set | "The Mysterons", "Winged Assassin", "Big Ben Strikes Again", "Manhunt", "Avalanche", "White as Snow" (plus episodes of Stingray and Joe 90) | 20 October 2003[204] |
UK Blu-ray releases by Network Distributing
Title | Episodes | Released |
---|---|---|
Supermarionation Box Set | "The Mysterons", "Winged Assassin", "Treble Cross" and "Noose of Ice" (plus episodes of other Supermarionation series) | 20 October 2014[205] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 1 | "The Mysterons", "Winged Assassin", "Big Ben Strikes Again", "Point 783", "Manhunt", "Operation Time", "Renegade Rocket", "White as Snow" | 20 November 2017[206] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 2 | "Seek and Destroy", "Spectrum Strikes Back", "Avalanche", "Shadow of Fear", "The Heart of New York", "Fire at Rig 15", "The Launching", "Lunarville 7" | 29 January 2018[207] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 3 | "The Trap", "Model Spy", "Crater 101", "Dangerous Rendezvous", "Special Assignment", "Traitor", "Place of Angels", "Flight 104" | 12 March 2018[208] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Volume 4 | "Codename Europa", "Flight to Atlantica", "Noose of Ice", "Treble Cross", "Expo 2068", "Inferno", "Attack on Cloudbase", "The Inquisition" | 30 July 2018[209] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Deluxe Volume 4 | "Codename Europa", "Flight to Atlantica", "Noose of Ice", "Treble Cross", "Expo 2068", "Inferno", "Attack on Cloudbase", "The Inquisition" (with additional bonus feature documentaries compared to standard Volume 4) |
30 July 2018[210] |
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Complete Series | All | 8 October 2018[211] |
Video games
Between 2002 and 2006, three Captain Scarlet video games were released. A further game was cancelled.
Title | Platform | Genre | Studio(s) | Notes | UK release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Captain Scarlet: In the Shadow of Fear | PC | Action | Europress | Released both separately and as a double pack with Thunderbirds: Operation Volcano[212] | 31 May 2002[213] |
Captain Scarlet Activity Pack | PC | Action | Digital Workshop | 5 July 2002[214] | |
Captain Scarlet: Retaliation | PC | Strategy | Batfish Studios and Digital Workshop | Originally scheduled for 2003; cancelled due to closure of Batfish Studios the same year[215] | Cancelled[216] |
Captain Scarlet | PlayStation 2 | Vehicle combat | Blast! Entertainment and Brain in a Jar
|
5 December 2006[217] |
Later productions
Since the 1980s, the rights to the ITC catalogue have changed hands a number of times. They were acquired first by
In the early 1980s,
Plans for a live-action film adaptation of Captain Scarlet, announced by Gerry Anderson in 2000 and 2002, remain undeveloped.[224][225]
Remake
In 1999, Anderson supervised the production of a computer-animated test film, Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons, to explore the possibility of updating some of his 1960s puppet series for a 21st-century audience.[226] Produced by the Moving Picture Company under the working title Captain Scarlet – The New Millennium, the four-minute film was made using a combination of Maya animation software and motion capture technology and saw Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop reprise the voices of Captains Scarlet and Blue.[226][227] Set a few years after the Mysterons apparently cease hostilities against Earth, the film features the reappearance of Captain Black, setting the stage for a revival of the war with Mars.[2] The film was screened at a Fanderson convention in 2000 and a science lecture in 2001.[127] It was released on Blu-ray in 2017.[228]
Plans for a full computer-animated Captain Scarlet series eventually resulted in
Notes
- ^ Production documents confirm that the Zero-X is of the type introduced in the film Thunderbirds Are Go, placing Captain Scarlet in the same fictional universe as Thunderbirds (Bentley 2001, p. 59). Character biographies in Bentley's The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet also place Fireball XL5 and Stingray in this universe (Bentley 2001, pp. 46–47, 50).
- ^ Black's transformation into a Mysteron agent is indicated by a paling of his skin combined with a deepening of his voice to match that of the Mysterons.
- ^ In communications, Spectrum personnel use the expression "S.I.G." ("Spectrum Is Green") as their affirmative code. The negative, "S.I.R." ("Spectrum Is Red"), is rarely used in the series.
- ^ "Lieutenant" is generally pronounced in the British manner, /lɛfˈtɛnənt/ (lef-TEN-ənt), by all but the American characters.
- ^ In Captain Scarlet, power from many individual nations has been vested in a world government, headed by a president and possessing its own military and security forces. Spectrum is a unified operation set up to be unhindered by interdepartmental red tape, thus providing more efficient service (Bentley 2001, p. 43).
- ^ According to The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet, the Mysterons intended Scarlet's double to be "indestructible" (Bentley 2001, p. 44). This is in contrast with other reconstructions, which are permanently destroyed when killed.
- ^ In "Spectrum Strikes Back", it is stated that the Mysteron Gun is "the only gun that kills a Mysteron." However, other episodes show the Mysterons to be vulnerable to conventional bullets.
- ^ The audio play Introducing Captain Scarlet, set during the events of the first episode, indicates that Spectrum use an advanced computer to restore Scarlet's human personality.
- ^ Scarlet and Blue are the only characters whose real names are revealed in the series itself. The others originate from tie-ins.
- ^ Before he falls victim to the Mysterons in the first episode, Captain Black is voiced by Jeremy Wilkin.
References
Primary sources
- ^ a b c d e f g Written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Directed by Desmond Saunders (29 September 1967). "The Mysterons". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 1.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by David Lane (6 October 1967). "Winged Assassin". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 2.
- ^ a b Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Brian Burgess (9 February 1968). "Dangerous Rendezvous". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 19.
- ^ Written by Richard Conway and Stephen J. Mattick. Directed by Ken Turner (17 November 1967). "Operation Time". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 8.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Ken Turner (24 November 1967). "Spectrum Strikes Back". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 9.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Robert Lynn (15 December 1967). "Lunarville 7". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 12.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Ken Turner (26 January 1968). "Crater 101". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 17.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Robert Lynn (2 February 1968). "Shadow of Fear". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 18.
- The Trap". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 7.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Robert Lynn (1 March 1968). "Flight 104". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 22.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Ken Turner (12 March 1968). "Noose of Ice". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 24.
- Manhunt". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 4.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Alan Perry (23 February 1968). "Treble Cross". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 21.
- ^ Written by Tony Barwick. Directed by Ken Turner (7 May 1968). "Attack on Cloudbase". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 31.
- The Inquisition". Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Episode 32.
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Works cited
- ISBN 978-0-00-638247-8.
- Archer, Simon; Hearn, Marcus (2002). What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson. London, UK: ISBN 978-0-563-53481-5.
- Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: ISBN 978-1-84222-405-2.
- Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
- Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-048-2.
- Cull, Nicholas J. (August 2006). "Was Captain Black Really Red? The TV Science Fiction of Gerry Anderson in its Cold War Context". Media History. 12 (2). S2CID 142878042.
- ISBN 978-0-992-9766-0-6.
- La Rivière, Stephen (2009). Filmed in Supermarionation: A History of the Future. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: ISBN 978-1-932563-23-8.
- Marriott, John; Rogers, Dave; Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Supermarionation Classics: Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: ISBN 978-1-85283-900-0.
- Captain Scarlet volume originally published separately as: Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: Boxtree. ISBN 978-1-852834-03-6.
- Captain Scarlet volume originally published separately as: Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: Boxtree.
- ISBN 978-0-85965-388-6.
Production locations
- ^ Slough Trading Estate: 51°31′28″N 0°37′30″W / 51.5244°N 0.6250°W (filming and editing)
- ^ Anvil Films Recording Studio: 51°33′48″N 0°29′55″W / 51.5632°N 0.4987°W (dialogue recording)
External links
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons at the official Gerry Anderson website
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons at IMDb
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons at BBC Online
- The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History – "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: TV21, 1967–68"
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons at the BFI's Screenonline