Shadow of Fear
Encyclopedia
"Shadow of Fear" is the 18th episode of the Supermarionation
television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Tony Barwick
and directed by Robert Lynn
.
In this episode, a Spectrum operation to survey the planet Mars
with a space probe
is threatened when one of the scientists attached to the project is taken over by the Mysteron
s. The episode prominently features
the Martian moon
Phobos
. Footage from "Shadow of Fear" was re-edited and used in Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
, a Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons compilation film.
s and Mars
, Spectrum has set up "Operation Sword". The objective is to place a space probe
in orbit around Mars to take detailed images of the surface
. Although the Mysterons destroy one probe, the Mini-Sat 5 lands
on the Martian moon
Phobos
to carry out its surveillance. After Phobos has completed one orbit of Mars, the captured images will be transmitted to Earth
for reception at K14 Observatory
in the Himalayas
at 3 a.m. local time. Since K14 is beyond the range of the Spectrum Angels, Cloudbase
is moved into Himalayan airspace
on its horizontal jets. Captains Scarlet
and Blue
have been assigned to K14 to oversee astronomer
s Carter, Breck and Angelini. To the astronomers, the Mini-Sat 5 was able to land on Phobos with the aid of the "shadow of fear": "phobos", the name of an attendant
of Mars
in Greek mythology
, means "fear" in Greek
, and the probe avoided detection by the Mysterons by approaching the moon from behind.
That night, a few hours before the transmission, Breck is looking at Mars through a telescope
when the planet begins to flash brightly. Overcome by the dazzling light, he is killed and duplicated by the Mysterons. Knowing that K14's aerial
will have to be retuned before reception, his reconstruction fixes an explosive device
to the rotation gear, set to detonate when the machinery traps it, and then hides in the rocks above K14. With the help of Melody Angel and Captain Grey
in a Spectrum helicopter, Scarlet and Blue find and confront the reconstruction minutes before 3 a.m. Firing on the officers, the duplicate is killed by Scarlet, but not before revealing its sabotage
. However, before Scarlet and Blue can warn Carter and Angelini, the men turn the aerial and the device detonates. The damage tears the aerial down onto the observatory, obliterating all of K14. However, although Carter and Angelini are dead, and Earth has missed the reception for the images, Colonel White
states that Operation Sword will continue.
for "Shadow of Fear" was recorded on by an orchestra of 15 musicians under the supervision of Barry Gray
. Running to four hours, the same session included recording for the episode "Fire at Rig 15
". The score for "Shadow of Fear" is praised by Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett in their guide to Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, in which they write that the space sequences involving the Mini-Sat 5 and its landing
on Phobos
are made suitably "eerie" by the electronic music
. Parts of this score can be heard in the later Gerry Anderson
production, "UFO
".
, the British Board of Film Classification
describes "Shadow of Fear" as containing "infrequent, very mild" violence.. This is the last episode recorded to feature Charles Tingwell
and Paul Maxwell
as members of the regular voice cast. After this episode the characters of Dr Fawn (Tingwell) and Captain Grey
(Maxwell) made non-speaking appearances. Tingwell's voice is included in the later broadcast "Dangerous Rendezvous
" (as Lieutenant Dean in flashback
), "Traitor" (as Helicopter A42 pilot in flashback) and "The Inquisition" (as Macey in flashback). Maxwell's voice features again in "The Inquisition" ( 1st police officer in flashback).
Supermarionation
Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...
television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Tony Barwick
Tony Barwick
Tony Barwick was a British television scriptwriter who worked extensively on series created and produced by Gerry Anderson....
and directed by Robert Lynn
Robert Lynn (director)
Robert Lynn was a British film and TV director.He was the son of actor Ralph Lynn.-Selected filmography:* Information Received * Postman's Knock * Victim Five * Coast of Skeletons...
.
In this episode, a Spectrum operation to survey the planet Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
with a space probe
Space probe
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...
is threatened when one of the scientists attached to the project is taken over by the Mysteron
Mysteron
The Mysterons are a fictional race of extraterrestrials, native to the planet Mars, which appear in the British science fiction Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, symbolised by ubiquitous projected green rings and the deep...
s. The episode prominently features
Phobos and Deimos in fiction
Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars, are locations frequently mentioned in works of science fiction.-Phobos:*In part 3 chapter 3 of Jonathan Swift's famous satire Gulliver's Travels, a fictional work written in 1726, the astronomers of Laputa are described as having discovered two satellites...
the Martian moon
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
Phobos
Phobos (moon)
Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...
. Footage from "Shadow of Fear" was re-edited and used in Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars is a 1981 television film incorporating re-edited footage from the 1967 British Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Created by ITC Entertainment's New York offices, the film is a compilation of the original episodes "Shadow of...
, a Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons compilation film.
Plot
To learn more about the MysteronMysteron
The Mysterons are a fictional race of extraterrestrials, native to the planet Mars, which appear in the British science fiction Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, symbolised by ubiquitous projected green rings and the deep...
s and Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, Spectrum has set up "Operation Sword". The objective is to place a space probe
Space probe
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...
in orbit around Mars to take detailed images of the surface
Spy satellite
A spy satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications....
. Although the Mysterons destroy one probe, the Mini-Sat 5 lands
Lander (spacecraft)
A lander is a spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. For bodies with atmospheres, the landing is called atmospheric reentry and the lander descends as a re-entry vehicle...
on the Martian moon
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
Phobos
Phobos (moon)
Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...
to carry out its surveillance. After Phobos has completed one orbit of Mars, the captured images will be transmitted to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
for reception at K14 Observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
at 3 a.m. local time. Since K14 is beyond the range of the Spectrum Angels, Cloudbase
Cloudbase
Cloudbase is the fictional skyborne headquarters of international security organisation Spectrum, from Gerry Anderson's science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons .-Appearance in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons:...
is moved into Himalayan airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
on its horizontal jets. Captains Scarlet
Captain Scarlet (character)
Captain Scarlet is the fictional main character in Gerry Anderson's British Supermarionation science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its CGI remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet....
and Blue
Captain Blue (Captain Scarlet)
Captain Blue is a character in the 1967 Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He is a senior officer of the Spectrum organisation and a close friend of Captain Scarlet....
have been assigned to K14 to oversee astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
s Carter, Breck and Angelini. To the astronomers, the Mini-Sat 5 was able to land on Phobos with the aid of the "shadow of fear": "phobos", the name of an attendant
Phobos (mythology)
Phobos is the personification of horror in Greek mythology. He is the offspring of Ares and Aphrodite. He was known for accompanying Ares into battle along with his brother, Deimos, the goddess Enyo, and his father’s attendants. Timor is his Roman equivalent...
of Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, means "fear" in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, and the probe avoided detection by the Mysterons by approaching the moon from behind.
That night, a few hours before the transmission, Breck is looking at Mars through a telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
when the planet begins to flash brightly. Overcome by the dazzling light, he is killed and duplicated by the Mysterons. Knowing that K14's aerial
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
will have to be retuned before reception, his reconstruction fixes an explosive device
Explosive device
An explosive device is device that relies on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Explosive devices have applications as demolition devices and as weapons in the military....
to the rotation gear, set to detonate when the machinery traps it, and then hides in the rocks above K14. With the help of Melody Angel and Captain Grey
Captain Grey
Captain Grey is a characters in the 1960s Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He is a senior officer of the Spectrum organisation, but seldom leaves Cloudbase....
in a Spectrum helicopter, Scarlet and Blue find and confront the reconstruction minutes before 3 a.m. Firing on the officers, the duplicate is killed by Scarlet, but not before revealing its sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
. However, before Scarlet and Blue can warn Carter and Angelini, the men turn the aerial and the device detonates. The damage tears the aerial down onto the observatory, obliterating all of K14. However, although Carter and Angelini are dead, and Earth has missed the reception for the images, Colonel White
Colonel White
Colonel White is a character in the 1960s Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He is the commander-in-Chief of Spectrum, the security organisation dedicated to defending Earth against the Mysterons from Mars...
states that Operation Sword will continue.
Music
Incidental musicIncidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for "Shadow of Fear" was recorded on by an orchestra of 15 musicians under the supervision of Barry Gray
Barry Gray
Barry Gray was a British musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson.-Life:...
. Running to four hours, the same session included recording for the episode "Fire at Rig 15
Fire at Rig 15
"Fire at Rig 15" is the 20th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Bryan Cooper and directed by Ken Turner....
". The score for "Shadow of Fear" is praised by Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett in their guide to Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, in which they write that the space sequences involving the Mini-Sat 5 and its landing
Lander (spacecraft)
A lander is a spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. For bodies with atmospheres, the landing is called atmospheric reentry and the lander descends as a re-entry vehicle...
on Phobos
Phobos (moon)
Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...
are made suitably "eerie" by the electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
. Parts of this score can be heard in the later Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
production, "UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
".
Reception
Passing the episode "U"History of British film certificates
-Overview:The UK's film ratings are decided by the British Board of Film Classification and have been since 1912. Previously, there were no agreed rating standards, and local councils imposed their own - often differing - conditions or restrictions...
, the British Board of Film Classification
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
describes "Shadow of Fear" as containing "infrequent, very mild" violence.. This is the last episode recorded to feature Charles Tingwell
Charles Tingwell
In 1941, aged 18, he volunteered for war service overseas with the Royal Australian Air Force. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, personnel from Commonwealth air forces were part of a joint training and assignment system. Consequently, Tingwell trained as a pilot in Canada during 1942...
and Paul Maxwell
Paul Maxwell
Paul Maxwell was a Canadian actor who worked mostly in British television and films, in which he was usually cast as an American...
as members of the regular voice cast. After this episode the characters of Dr Fawn (Tingwell) and Captain Grey
Captain Grey
Captain Grey is a characters in the 1960s Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He is a senior officer of the Spectrum organisation, but seldom leaves Cloudbase....
(Maxwell) made non-speaking appearances. Tingwell's voice is included in the later broadcast "Dangerous Rendezvous
Dangerous Rendezvous
"Dangerous Rendezvous" is the 19th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Brian Burgess...
" (as Lieutenant Dean in flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
), "Traitor" (as Helicopter A42 pilot in flashback) and "The Inquisition" (as Macey in flashback). Maxwell's voice features again in "The Inquisition" ( 1st police officer in flashback).
External links
- "Shadow of Fear" at Fanderson.org.ukFandersonFanderson is the official appreciation society for the works of Gerry Anderson. It is a not-for-profit organisation endorsed by Anderson Entertainment Ltd, Gerry Anderson Productions plc and ITC Entertainment Group Ltd...
- "Shadow of Fear" at CliveBanks.co.uk
- "Shadow of Fear" at TheVervoid.com
- "Shadow of Fear" at the Gerry Anderson Wiki