Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (series)
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, later renamed in comic form to simply Captain Scarlet, was a science fiction series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Originally running as a televised puppet series, Captain Scarlet was also spun off into comics published in TV Century 21.
The original run of the series on television spanned September 1967 to May 1968. In the chronology of Anderson-produced series filmed in supermarionation, Captain Scarlet was preceded by Thunderbirds and succeeded by Joe 90.
The comic run of the series in TV21 was designed to commence simultaneously with the programme's premiere broadcast on television, surviving until the publication's merger with Joe 90 Top Secret in September 1969. As part of the promotion for the new TV series, Captain Scarlet also took over TV21's letters and competition page, with the personnel of Spectrum taking over from Agent Twenty One and the Universal Secret Service. Around this time, the Shades of Opinion series was launched, in which readers' perspectives on a range of topics were requested and subsequently printed.
Crossovers with the DWU
As the conceit of TV Century 21 was that all its series took place in a single universe, several Captain Scarlet stories crossed over freely with elements from the Doctor Who universe.
In the comic strip, this largely consisted of references to or appearances from Unity City, the capital of the World Government which was first introduced in The Daleks comic strip. However, Traitor Black Gives In! also featured the planet Astra, originally created by David Whitaker for the First Doctor television story The Rescue. Meanwhile, the Captain Scarlet short stories also occasionally referenced Unity City but were most notable for furthering the story of the 2060s Dalek invasion of Earth, with Daleks on the Move? constituting the closest anything until 1997 came to resolving the series-ending cliffhanger of The Daleks, doing so in a manner which promised a direct confrontation between Dalek forces and those of Spectrum.
The following Captain Scarlet stories involved DWU elements and are thus covered on this Wiki:
Comic stories
Short stories
Other features
| Title | Issue | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudbase | Spectrum File 1/974/CS/206 | 6 January 1968 |
| Spectrum Promotion Examination Green 3 | TV21 180 | 29 June 1968 |
| Spectraquiz | TV21 Annual 1969 | 1968 |
Behind-the-scenes connections
The transmitter on the top of the Third Doctor's sonic screwdriver first seen in Colony in Space was recycled from a communicator featured in the Captain Scarlet episode Model Spy. The body of the device was also reused from a supermarionation production, having previously appeared in the Thunderbirds film Thunderbirds are Go.[1]
The blurry effect on the Mysteron City as seen in the first episode The Mysterons was achieved by smearing Vaseline on a glass sheet placed over the camera, a technique the Captain Scarlet production crew "borrowed" from the Doctor Who story The Web Planet.[2][3]
Shane Rimmer, who played Seth Harper in The Gunfighters, wrote three of the thirty-two episodes in the series. Barry Gray, who worked on Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., composed and conducted the theme song and all the music for Captain Scarlet. Visual effects supervisor Derek Meddings and lighting cameraman Harry Oakes would both later work on Doctor Who in uncredited capacities.
Jeremy Wilkin, who played Kellman in Revenge of the Cybermen, had a main role in the series as the voice of Captain Ochre. He also voiced Captain Black prior to his Mysteronisation in the first episode as well as several other guest characters. The aforementioned Shane Rimmer had uncredited voice roles in a small number of episodes.
A fan of the series, John Barrowman has stated that one thrill of playing the immortal Jack Harkness was that he was able to realise his dream of playing Captain Scarlet.[4]
Footnotes
- ↑ The Gerry Anderson Podcast #145
- ↑ The Gerry Anderson Podcast #39
- ↑ The Gerry Anderson Podcast #124
- ↑ Gerry Anderson website
