This is a list of episodes of the British science-fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, filmed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's production company Century 21 for distribution by ITC Entertainment. The series ran for 32 episodes and was first broadcast between 1967 and 1968 on the Associated Television network.
Main series (1967–68)
All episodes are of 25 minutes duration. Episodes are listed in the official order published by ITC.[1] Air dates are the original broadcast dates in the ATV Midlands area unless otherwise stated.[2]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [2] | Prod. code [2] | Prod. no. [3] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Mysterons" | Desmond Saunders | Gerry and Sylvia Anderson | 29 April 1967 (test transmission, ATV London) 29 September 1967 (official premiere, ATV Midlands) | SCA 1 | 1 |
When their city on Mars is attacked by human astronauts under the command of Spectrum's Captain Black, the Mysterons vow to destroy all life on Earth. The aliens' first objective is the assassination of the World President. | ||||||
2 | "Winged Assassin" | David Lane | Tony Barwick | 6 October 1967 | SCA 2 | 2 |
No longer under the Mysterons' control, but retaining their power of "retro-metabolism", Captain Scarlet joins Spectrum's operation to protect the aliens' next target – the Director General of the United Asian Republic. | ||||||
3 | "Big Ben Strikes Again" | Brian Burgess | Tony Barwick | 13 October 1967 | SCA 3 | 3 |
The Mysterons target London with a stolen nuclear bomb. | ||||||
4 | "Manhunt" | Alan Perry | Tony Barwick | 20 October 1967 | SCA 4 | 5 |
After Captain Black inadvertently exposes himself to radiation, thus making himself detectable on long-range Geiger counters, Spectrum mobilises its forces to apprehend the Mysterons' primary agent. | ||||||
5 | "Point 783" | Robert Lynn | Peter Curran and David Williams | 22 December 1967 | SCA 5 | 4 |
The Mysterons threaten to assassinate the Supreme Commander of the Earth Forces. | ||||||
6 | "Operation Time" | Ken Turner | Richard Conway and Stephen J. Mattick | 17 November 1967 | SCA 6 | 6 |
Spectrum is initially baffled by the Mysterons' threat to "kill time", which is discovered to be a reference to a prominent army general who is about to undergo experimental neurosurgery. | ||||||
7 | "Renegade Rocket" | Brian Burgess | Ralph Hart | 19 January 1968 | SCA 7 | 7 |
The Mysterons engineer the launch of an experimental variable geometry rocket. | ||||||
8 | "White as Snow" | Robert Lynn | Peter Curran and David Williams | 3 November 1967 | SCA 8 | 8 |
The Mysterons threaten to assassinate the commander-in-chief of Spectrum, Colonel White. | ||||||
9 | "Seek and Destroy" | Alan Perry | Peter Curran and David Williams | 5 January 1968 | SCA 11 | 9 |
The Mysterons threaten to kill one of Spectrum's Angel pilots. | ||||||
10 | "Spectrum Strikes Back" | Ken Turner | Tony Barwick | 24 November 1967 | SCA 9 | 10 |
Following the events of "Operation Time", Spectrum has created two anti-Mysteron devices, both of which are given an early field test when the secret conference hosting the unveiling is sabotaged. | ||||||
11 | "Avalanche" | Brian Burgess | Shane Rimmer | 27 October 1967 | SCA 10 | 11 |
The Mysterons launch a series of crippling attacks on the Frost Line Outer Space Defence System in Canada. | ||||||
12 | "Shadow of Fear" | Robert Lynn | Tony Barwick | 2 February 1968 | SCA 13 | 12 |
With the help of an observatory in the Himalayas, Spectrum lands a probe on the Martian moon Phobos to perform detailed orbital reconnaissance of the Red Planet. | ||||||
13 | "The Trap" | Alan Perry | Alan Pattillo | 10 November 1967 | SCA 17 | 17 |
The Mysterons threaten to assassinate the commanders of Earth's armed forces. | ||||||
14 | "Special Assignment" | Robert Lynn | Tony Barwick | 1 December 1967 | SCA 22 | 20 |
Scarlet is dismissed from Spectrum after incurring a large gambling debt, and is blackmailed by the Mysterons into assisting them in their plans to destroy the entire North American continent. | ||||||
15 | "Lunarville 7" | Robert Lynn | Tony Barwick | 15 December 1967 | SCA 15 | 16 |
The Lunar Controller declares the Moon neutral in the "war of nerves" between Earth and Mars. Dispatched to investigate suspicious activity on the satellite's far side, Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green make a shocking discovery. | ||||||
16 | "The Heart of New York" | Alan Perry | Tony Barwick | 8 December 1967 | SCA 12 | 13 |
A trio of bank robbers plot to outwit Spectrum after the Mysterons threaten to destroy the "heart" of New York City. | ||||||
17 | "Traitor" | Alan Perry | Tony Barwick | 14 January 1968 (ATV London) | SCA 21 | 21 |
Scarlet and Blue investigate a series of Spectrum hovercraft crashes in the Australian Outback to expose a traitor in the organisation. | ||||||
18 | "Model Spy" | Ken Turner | Bill Hedley | 29 December 1967 | SCA 18 | 18 |
A French intelligence chief, known publicly as a leading fashion designer, is targeted by Mysteron reconstructions of two of his models. | ||||||
19 | "Fire at Rig 15" | Ken Turner | Bryan Cooper | 16 February 1968 | SCA 14 | 14 |
The Mysterons target the oil refinery that supplies fuel for all of Spectrum's vehicles. | ||||||
20 | "Flight to Atlantica" | Leo Eaton | Tony Barwick | 24 March 1968 (ATV London) | SCA 28 | 26 |
After drinking spiked champagne, Captains Blue and Ochre become mindless pawns in the Mysterons' plot to destroy the world's most important naval complex, Atlantica. | ||||||
21 | "Crater 101" | Ken Turner | Tony Barwick | 26 January 1968 | SCA 19 | 22 |
Following the events of "Lunarville 7", Scarlet, Blue and Green return to the Moon to destroy the Mysteron's newly completed base in the Humboldt Sea. | ||||||
22 | "Dangerous Rendezvous" | Brian Burgess | Tony Barwick | 9 February 1968 | SCA 20 | 19 |
Following the events of "Crater 101", the Mysterons threaten to destroy Cloudbase. Exploiting the unique properties of the crytal pulsator recovered from the Mysterons' lunar complex, Spectrum contacts the aliens directly in an attempt to make peace. | ||||||
23 | "Noose of Ice" | Ken Turner | Peter Curran and David Williams[4] | 12 March 1968 | SCA 26 | 27 |
The Mysterons target an Arctic mine that is extracting a metal to be used to construct a new Earth space fleet. | ||||||
24 | "Treble Cross" | Alan Perry | Tony Barwick | 23 February 1968 | SCA 27 | 28 |
The Mysterons threaten to destroy the world capital, Futura City. | ||||||
25 | "Inferno" | Alan Perry | Tony Barwick and Shane Rimmer | 16 April 1968 | SCA 31 | 31 |
The Mysterons threaten to destroy an irrigation complex in South America. | ||||||
26 | "Flight 104" | Robert Lynn | Tony Barwick | 1 March 1968 | SCA 24 | 24 |
The Mysterons vow to sabotage a Spectrum conference in Switzerland that will determine the manner of Earth's return to Mars. | ||||||
27 | "Place of Angels" | Leo Eaton | Leo Eaton | 8 March 1968 | SCA 23 | 23 |
Threatening to destroy the "Place of the Angels", the Mysterons engineer the theft of a lethal virus from a research centre. | ||||||
28 | "Expo 2068" | Leo Eaton | Shane Rimmer | 26 March 1968 | SCA 29 | 29 |
The Mysterons threaten to obliterate the entire Atlantic Seaboard of North America. | ||||||
29 | "The Launching" | Brian Burgess | Peter Curran and David Williams | 2 April 1968 | SCA 16 | 15 |
When the Mysterons seemingly threaten the President of the United States with assassination, Spectrum implements maximum security measures around his residence. But as the Mysterons' self-imposed deadline approaches, Scarlet realises that the organisation is protecting the wrong target. | ||||||
30 | "Codename Europa" | Alan Perry | David Lee | 21 March 1968 (Granada Television) | SCA 25 | 25 |
A reconstructed electronics professor targets Europe's three most powerful statesmen. | ||||||
31 | "Attack on Cloudbase" | Ken Turner | Tony Barwick | 5 May 1968 (ATV London) | SCA 30 | 30 |
The Mysterons themselves arrive on Earth to destroy Cloudbase...or do they? | ||||||
32 | "The Inquisition" | Ken Turner | Tony Barwick | 12 May 1968 (ATV London) | SCA 32 | 32 |
Clip show episode: Blue is drugged and wakes up three months later facing questioning from a man claiming to be from Spectrum Intelligence. |
Audio episodes
In 1967, Century 21 released an additional five Captain Scarlet adventures as 7-inch vinyl EP records (promoted as "mini-albums").[5]
No. | Title | Album Code [6] | Written by [6] | Produced by [6] | First released [7] | Length [5] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Introducing Captain Scarlet" | MA 131 | Angus P. Allan | Denis Skelton | September 1967 | 21 mins approx. | |
An adaptation of the first episode of the TV series, "The Mysterons", featuring audio flashbacks with some newly recorded dialogue. The plot concerns Colonel White reporting to a security council on the events surrounding Spectrum's first encounter with the Mysterons and its mission to protect the World President. The story ends with the news that the Mysteron double of Captain Scarlet has returned to life and that the officer's loyalty to Spectrum can be restored with the aid of an advanced computer (a feature of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's original TV script).[8] | |||||||
2 | "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" | MA 132 | Angus P. Allan | Denis Skelton | September 1967 | 21 mins approx. | |
The World Air Force plane Goliath has been taken over by the Mysterons and is now on a collision course with Atlantic Airport. Scarlet must board the aircraft and destroy it before it reaches its target. | |||||||
3 | "Captain Scarlet Is Indestructible" | MA 133 | Richard O'Neill | Denis Skelton | November 1967 | 21 mins approx. | |
The Mysterons threaten to destroy the World Cultural Council. | |||||||
4 | "Captain Scarlet of Spectrum" | MA 134 | Angus P. Allan | Denis Skelton | November 1967 | 21 mins approx. | |
The Mysterons threaten to destroy the Moon. | |||||||
5 | "Captain Scarlet versus Captain Black" | MA 135 | Richard O'Neill | Denis Skelton | November 1967 | 21 mins approx. | |
Captain Black steals a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle equipped with one of the organisation's new electro-ray rifles. Pursued by Scarlet and Blue, he takes two children hostage. |
Compilation films
Two compilation films, each comprising re-edited versions of four of the TV episodes, were released in the early 1980s.[9]
No. | Title (Year) [10] | Compilation of [10] | First released | Length [10][11] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars (1981) | "Shadow of Fear", "Lunarville 7", "Crater 101", "Dangerous Rendezvous" | 1981[12] or January 1982[11] | 91 mins approx. |
2 | Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons (1981) | "The Mysterons", "Winged Assassin", "Seek and Destroy", "Attack on Cloudbase" | 1982[12] | 96 mins approx. |
CGI test film
The 2005 CGI reboot series, New Captain Scarlet, was preceded by a short test film titled Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons, which had two private screenings (in 2000 and 2001).[13][14]
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Length | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons" | Gerry Anderson and John Needham[13] | Gerry Anderson and John Needham[13] | Unaired[13] | 4 mins approx.[13] | |
The Mysterons renew their threat to destroy all life on Earth. Pretending to be free of the aliens' control, Captain Black infiltrates the newly refitted Cloudbase and abducts Captain Blue. It is up to Captain Scarlet to stop Black and the hypnotised Blue destroying Drontenon Power Station with a Spectrum Patrol Car filled with explosives. |
References
- ↑ Bentley 2001, p. 57.
- 1 2 3 Episode production codes and original broadcast details are from Bentley 2017.
- ↑ Bentley 2008, p. 120.
- ↑ Bentley 2017, pp. 154–155.
- 1 2 Bentley 2001, p. 93.
- 1 2 3 Bentley 2008, pp. 357–358.
- ↑ Bentley 2008, p. 349.
- ↑ Bentley 2001, p. 94.
- ↑ Bentley 2001, p. 121.
- 1 2 3 Bentley 2008, pp. 361–362.
- 1 2 Bentley 2017, pp. 190–191.
- 1 2 Release years stated on promotional material by ITC Entertainment.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Bentley 2008, pp. 321–322.
- ↑ Bentley 2001, p. 125.
Works cited
- Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-842224-05-2.
- 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.
External links
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons at IMDb
- List of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episodes at Fanderson.org.uk
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons at epguides.com
- "The Secretive Bus and the Mysterons": a tongue-in-cheek episode guide at TheVervoid.com