Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often shortened to Captain Scarlet, is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 for ITC Entertainment. Gerry Anderson was credited as executive producer, with Reg Hill as producer. Barry Gray returned as composer.

Compared to earlier Anderson productions, Captain Scarlet is widely regarded as "darker" in tone and less suited to children because of its violent content, as well as its themes of alien aggression and interplanetary war. Running to thirty-two 25-minute episodes, it was first broadcast on ITV regional franchises between 1967 and 1968.

Set in 2068, Captain Scarlet presents a "war of nerves" between Earth and the Mysterons, a race of Martians who possess partial control over matter. When a misunderstanding causes human astronauts to attack their city on Mars, the Mysterons swear revenge and launch reprisals against Earth. These are countered by Spectrum, a worldwide security organisation. In the first episode, Spectrum agent Captain Scarlet acquires the Mysterons' self-healing power of "retrometabolism" and is rendered "indestructible", being able to recover from injuries that would normally be fatal. Scarlet immediately becomes Spectrum's top asset in its fight against the Mysterons.

Characters

Captains

Angel Flight / Angels

Other characters

Soundtrack

Episodes

Characters

Spectrum's senior agents hold military ranks and colour codenames. They are posted to the organisation's headquarters, Cloudbase - an airborne aircraft carrier stationed 40,000 feet above the Earth's surface - where they answer to its commander-in-chief, Colonel White. Cloudbase is defended by Angel Interceptor fighters flown by an all-female team of pilots led by Destiny Angel. The base's computer systems are controlled by White's assistant, Lieutenant Green.

Captains

Codename Captain Scarlet
Real name Paul Metcalfe
Nationality British
Role Field Commander/Officer
Field partner Captain Blue
Voice actor Francis Matthews

Codename Captain Blue
Real name Adam Svenson
Nationality American
Role Field Officer
Field partner Captain Scarlet
Voice actor Ed Bishop

Codename Captain Ochre
Real name Richard Fraser
Nationality American
Role Field Officer
Field partner Captain Magenta
Voice actor Jeremy Wilkin

Codename Captain Magenta
Real name Patrick Donaghue
Nationality Irish
Role Field Officer
Field partner Captain Ochre
Voice actor Gary Files

Codename Captain Grey
Real name Bradley Holden
Nationality American
Role Field Officer
Voice actor Paul Maxwell

Codename Captain Black
Real name Contrad Turner
Nationality British
Role Field Officer (former) / Mysteron Agent
Voice actor Jeremy WiIkin / Donald Gray (Mysteron voice)

Angel Flight / Angels

Codename Destiny Angel
Real name Juliette Pontoin
Nationality French
Role Pilot (Primary Angel Flight Commander)
Voice actor Liz Morgan

Codename Symphony Angel
Real name Karen Wainwright
Nationality American
Role Pilot (Secondary Angel Flight Commander)
Voice actor Janna Hill

Codename Rhapsody Angel
Real name Dianne Simms
Nationality British
Role Pilot
Voice actor Liz Morgan

Codename Melody Angel
Real name Magnolia Jones
Nationality American
Role Pilot
Voice actor Sylvia Anderson

Codename Harmony Angel
Real name Chan Kwan
Nationality Japanese
Role Pilot
Voice actor Liz Morgan / Lian-Shin

Other characters

Codename Colonel White
Real name Charles Gray
Nationality British
Role Commander-in-Chief
Voice actor Donald Gray

Codename Lieutenant Green
Real name Seymour Griffiths
Nationality Trinidadian
Role Communications officer / second-in-command
Voice actor Cy Grant

Codename Doctor Fawn
Real name Edward Wilkie
Nationality Australian
Role Medical officer
Voice actor Bud Tingwell

The Mysterons
Voice actor Donald Gray

Narrator
Voice actor Ed Bishop

Soundtrack

The music for Captain Scarlet was composed by Barry Gray. Gray recorded incidental music for 18 episodes while the remaining 14 re-used these scores, supplemented by cues produced for earlier Anderson series.

Two versions of the ending theme - "Captain Scarlet" - were recorded. The first version, used on the first 14 episodes, is entirely instrumental except for the lyrics "Captain Scarlet!", repeated at intervals by a vocalist ensemble including Ken Barrie. Each instance is followed by a vocoded repetition supplied by Gray himself, the final two forming a ternary with the word "Indestructible!". The instrumental was later reworked as a song with lyrics performed by The Spectrum, a London boy band who shared their name with the fictional organisation.

Episodes

Episodes are listed in the order in which they were first broadcast by ATV Midlands unless otherwise stated. ITC have published the official order, and other ITV regions have broadcast episodes in different orders over the years.