Where is Scarlet? (short story)
Where is Scarlet? was a short story printed in TV Century 21 that contained elements from the Doctor Who universe. Framed as the front page of an in-universe periodical, the titular article detailed events relating to a Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons story while another article mentioned Unity City, a location first introduced in The Daleks comic story Duel of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Duel of the Daleks (comic story)"].
Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
The alarm is raised in Mombasa when police discover the body of Spectrum's local agent Chief Pantula. Colonel White immediately tries to contact Captain Scarlet to warn him of possible Mysteron activity in the area but his attempts are to no avail. White then orders the Angels into the air and alerts the Spectrum troop carrier off the coast. Soon, helijets and helicopters whirr overhead bound for the big game reserves of East Africa in their search for Scarlet, possessing the almost-certain knowledge that the Mysterons have selected the Spectrum observatory on Mount Kilimanjaro as their next target.
Elsewhere, school teacher Edward Castle and his class of boys see "something" coming towards them. About ten feet long, not very wide and fairly translucent, Castle watches the mouth of the "sea-monster" open as it drifts towards them while student Tony Bates manages to photograph the creature as it turns sideways for a few seconds. The monster continues to pursue the class, ultimately forcing Castle to abandon their deep-sea swimming lesson and return to shore. Later, the Aqua Research department of Unity City's Scientific Research and Development Centre are shown a copy of Bates' picture, with a spokesman coming out to reassure the public by identifying the suspected sea-monster as nothing more than a large section of manufactured spongetex.
Three hundred miles off the east coast of America, somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, a historic scene plays out as Nomad, the first robot weather station in the world, is retired due to the danger it poses to high-speed ships in the Atlantic. It is carefully evacuated from its position with help from the first ever nuclear merchant vessel, the Savannah.
On the London to Newcastle M24 motorway, Britain's highest-paid film star Robert Grant-Smith involves himself in a six hovercar pile-up while on his way to sign a contract with World Films Ltd to feature in a screen adaptation of Lawrence Dunn's novel Amber Surrender. Grant-Smith is immediately rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, though rumours which suggest he will now lose the five million dollar contract quickly spread after his accident is made public. In other news, the World Space Ferry Company place a record order for the £87-million giant transport craft Lodestar with the South American company Albatross Inc..
On the sports scene, Lieutenant Fisher successfully equals the water speed world record of 597.6 miles per hour during his trial run in a craft constructed from his own design. Present holder of the record Donald Foster concedes that Fisher's chances of setting a new record on his proper attempt, to be done within the week, are "highly probable". Meanwhile, high jumper Selwyn Hughes breaks the record at the Pluto Games, upping the record of 23' 4⅛″ which had stood for a year to a "staggering" 24' 5⅜″. Experts are quick to comment that the jump will probably not be beaten this year nor for many years to come.
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Colonel White
- Captain Scarlet
- Lieutenant Fisher
- Edward Castle
- Tony Bates
- Robert Grant-Smith
- Donald Foster
- Selwyn Hughes
- Spokesman
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Mr Castle is a physical education tutor at California High School.
- Nomad was the first of a worldwide chain of unmanned weather report and research stations and saved thousands of lives by providing advanced news of extreme weather events, hurricanes, and tremors.
- The Lodestar is planned to "lead the way" in mass interplanetary commuting and is scheduled to be in service by late 2068 or 2069.
- Fisher is the "right-hand man" to Commander Shore of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol.
- Fisher's craft is fitted with a 5000 c.c. aqua-drive power unit which was "designed and perfected" by Brains Hackenbacker of the Thunderbirds organisation.
- Selwyn Hughes is the most recent addition to the Universal Athletics Association and holds Earth's high jump record of 8' 4¾″.
- The general outlook for the week's weather is frost, rain, hail or snow.
- London, South East England, East Anglia, the Central South and the East Midlands will experience rain, and possibly thunder and hail, with a maximum temperature of nine degrees Celsius or forty-eight degrees Fahrenheit.
- The Channel Islands, South West England, South Wales, the West Midlands and East England will experience heavy rain, including thunder at times, with a maximum temperature of eight degrees Celsius or forty-six degrees Fahrenheit.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This story is another crossover with Stingray and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It also crossed over with Thunderbirds through the minor reference to Brains and International Rescue.
- This marked the final two-page cover story of relevance to the Doctor Who universe. TV Century 21 would scrap cover stories entirely at the beginning of 1968 and, though they eventually returned in 1969, it was with the original one-page format.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Mysterons are continuing with their attacks on Spectrum's worldwide chain of observatories. (PROSE: Mysterons Strike First, Marineville Ablaze)
Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]
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