Special Assignment
Encyclopedia
"Special Assignment" is the tenth 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, Captain Scarlet
appears to betray Spectrum after the Mysteron
s threaten to destroy North America
.
s threaten to destroy the whole of North America
, Captain Scarlet
is dismissed
from Spectrum for gambling
on duty. Broke, and owing $5,000 to a casino, Scarlet moves into an Arizona
hotel. He is soon approached by Steele and Kramer, the two men who have been killed and reconstructed by the Mysterons to carry out their threat, and agrees to provide them with a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle
for "private use" if they rid him of his debt
. Steele and Kramer will use the vehicle to penetrate Nuclear City in Nevada
. They will then detonate a nuclear device, creating a chain reaction
powerful enough to obliterate the whole North American continent.
Captain Blue
, suspicious of Scarlet's uncharacteristic gambling and the manner of his dismissal, has been tracing his friend to find out the truth behind events. When Blue arrives at the desert
ranch house where the details of the Mysteron plan are being revealed, Scarlet shoots his friend to reassure the Mysteron agents that he is on their side. Blue, however, is hit only with a sedative
dart, and after regaining consciousness is informed by Colonel White
that Scarlet has been operating undercover
to infiltrate the Mysteron plot. Blue learns that Nuclear City is being targeted via a map left at the ranch. The Angels are launched from Cloudbase
as Scarlet and the Mysteron agents speed towards Nuclear City in a commandeered SPV. Driving, Scarlet emits smoke from the vehicle to signal the Angels to attack it. Realising Scarlet's betrayal, Steele shoots Scarlet, but the officer ejects from the SPV before it is hit and explodes, thwarting the Mysteron threat.
's script and the final edit of the episode. At the earliest stage of development, the episode was to open with Captain Scarlet
losing at the casino. Modifications to the script added a prelude depicting the death and reconstruction of Steele and Kramer, who are killed in a vehicle accident. For the completed episode, the death sequence is expanded with a garage mechanic, Mason, being murdered by Captain Black
, reconstructed himself and then sabotaging the brakes of Steele and Kramer's vehicle, which later loses control and flies over a cliff edge, killing the men. Although the Steele and Kramer reconstructions are destroyed by the end of the episode, the fate of the duplicated Mason is left unspecified.
As Captain Blue
arrives at the ranch house, he is shown to be driving an unmarked car in a long-distance shot which changes to a Spectrum Saloon
in a close-up shot. "Special Assignment" also marks one of the few occasions in the series in which Colonel White
is shown to be away from Cloudbase
, for a closing scene at the casino. The only other cases are his undercover departure in "White as Snow", attending the conference in "Spectrum Strikes Back
" and piloting a Spectrum Jet with Captain Scarlet in "Flight to Atlantica
". All the music in this episode is re-used from a track library of previously recorded pieces. Notable among the recycled music is the TVR-17 tune "White as Snow", which can originally be heard in the episode of the same name and features here during the opening sequence set at Mason's garage.
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, Captain 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....
appears to betray Spectrum after 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 threaten to destroy North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Plot
Shortly after 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 threaten to destroy the whole of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Captain 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....
is dismissed
Military discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...
from Spectrum for gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
on duty. Broke, and owing $5,000 to a casino, Scarlet moves into an Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
hotel. He is soon approached by Steele and Kramer, the two men who have been killed and reconstructed by the Mysterons to carry out their threat, and agrees to provide them with a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle
Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle
The Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle is a fictional pursuit and attack vehicle from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons .-Appearance in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons:...
for "private use" if they rid him of his debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
. Steele and Kramer will use the vehicle to penetrate Nuclear City in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. They will then detonate a nuclear device, creating a chain reaction
Nuclear chain reaction
A nuclear chain reaction occurs when one nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more nuclear reactions, thus leading to a self-propagating number of these reactions. The specific nuclear reaction may be the fission of heavy isotopes or the fusion of light isotopes...
powerful enough to obliterate the whole North American continent.
Captain 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....
, suspicious of Scarlet's uncharacteristic gambling and the manner of his dismissal, has been tracing his friend to find out the truth behind events. When Blue arrives at the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
ranch house where the details of the Mysteron plan are being revealed, Scarlet shoots his friend to reassure the Mysteron agents that he is on their side. Blue, however, is hit only with a sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
dart, and after regaining consciousness is informed by 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...
that Scarlet has been operating undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
to infiltrate the Mysteron plot. Blue learns that Nuclear City is being targeted via a map left at the ranch. The Angels are launched from 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:...
as Scarlet and the Mysteron agents speed towards Nuclear City in a commandeered SPV. Driving, Scarlet emits smoke from the vehicle to signal the Angels to attack it. Realising Scarlet's betrayal, Steele shoots Scarlet, but the officer ejects from the SPV before it is hit and explodes, thwarting the Mysteron threat.
Production
Several scripting changes were made between the original version of Tony BarwickTony Barwick
Tony Barwick was a British television scriptwriter who worked extensively on series created and produced by Gerry Anderson....
's script and the final edit of the episode. At the earliest stage of development, the episode was to open with Captain 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....
losing at the casino. Modifications to the script added a prelude depicting the death and reconstruction of Steele and Kramer, who are killed in a vehicle accident. For the completed episode, the death sequence is expanded with a garage mechanic, Mason, being murdered by Captain Black
Captain Black (Captain Scarlet)
Captain Black is the fictional nemesis of Captain Scarlet and recurring Mysteron agent in the 1960s British supermarionation science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its CGI remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet...
, reconstructed himself and then sabotaging the brakes of Steele and Kramer's vehicle, which later loses control and flies over a cliff edge, killing the men. Although the Steele and Kramer reconstructions are destroyed by the end of the episode, the fate of the duplicated Mason is left unspecified.
As Captain 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....
arrives at the ranch house, he is shown to be driving an unmarked car in a long-distance shot which changes to a Spectrum Saloon
Spectrum Saloon Car (SSC)
The Spectrum Patrol Car or Spectrum Saloon Car is a fictional vehicle that appears in Gerry Anderson's science-fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and in revamped form in the remake series Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet .-Appearance in Captain Scarlet and the...
in a close-up shot. "Special Assignment" also marks one of the few occasions in the series in which 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...
is shown to be away from 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:...
, for a closing scene at the casino. The only other cases are his undercover departure in "White as Snow", attending the conference in "Spectrum Strikes Back
Spectrum Strikes Back
"Spectrum Strikes Back" is the ninth 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 Ken Turner....
" and piloting a Spectrum Jet with Captain Scarlet in "Flight to Atlantica
Flight to Atlantica
"Flight to Atlantica" is the 30th 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 Leo Eaton....
". All the music in this episode is re-used from a track library of previously recorded pieces. Notable among the recycled music is the TVR-17 tune "White as Snow", which can originally be heard in the episode of the same name and features here during the opening sequence set at Mason's garage.
Reception
Critics Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett discuss the unusual nature of the plot of "Special Assignment", writing that it "contains more than one red herring" in the case of its characters.External links
- "Special Assignment" 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...
- "Special Assignment" at CliveBanks.co.uk
- "Special Assignment" at TheVervoid.com