Captain Black (Captain Scarlet)

Captain Black is the fictional nemesis of Captain Scarlet and the primary recurring Mysteron intermediary in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its 2005 computer-animated re-make, Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet.

Captain Black
Captain Scarlet character
The puppet character's appearance changes as the Mysterons take control of his mind in "The Mysterons"
First appearance	"The Mysterons"
Created by	Gerry Anderson
Voiced by	Jeremy Wilkin and Donald Gray (Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons) Gary Martin (Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons) Nigel Plaskitt (Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet)
In-universe information
Full name	Conrad Turner (Captain Scarlet) Conrad Lefkon (New Captain Scarlet)
Species	Human (controlled by the Mysterons)
Occupation	Spectrum officer (formerly)
Significant other	Destiny Angel (formerly; New Captain Scarlet)[1]
Nationality	British (Captain Scarlet) American (New Captain Scarlet)

"Black" is a codename; in the original series, the character's real name is never revealed (although in tie-ins he is named as Conrad Turner),[2] while in the remake the character's tombstone indicates that his real name is Conrad Lefkon.[3] The character's transformation from human to Mysteron agent occurs on Mars in the first episode of each series ("The Mysterons" and "Instrument of Destruction, Part 1").[4]

Conception

The original character was to have been killed off at the end of "The Mysterons", but this idea was abandoned after Christine Glanville altered the puppet to show that the character was under Mysteron control. According to Glanville: "Once I'd painted him up to look gaunt and pallid, Gerry [Anderson] took one look and decided to keep him on as a regular."[5]

In a 1986 interview in which he discussed his approach to writing for the series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons script editor Tony Barwick drew parallels between the premise and characters of Captain Scarlet and those of Thunderbirds – suggesting, for example, that the Spectrum Organisation could be compared to International Rescue and that the character of Black was similar to The Hood, the primary villain in Thunderbirds.[6]

Appearances

Original series

In 2068, Black is seconded to command the Zero-X spacecraft for a manned mission to Mars, assigned with investigating anomalous radio signals detected by the Spectrum Organisation. Previously, Earth was aware only of the existence of rock snakes on the planet (as seen in the 1966 film Thunderbirds Are Go); consequently, Black is alarmed to discover a fully developed, extraterrestrial city on the Martian plains. When the inhabitants – a collective, intangible, artificial intelligence calling itself "the Mysterons" – rotate scanning apparatus towards the Martian Exploration Vehicle (MEV), Black misinterprets the attempt at peaceful first contact as preparations for an attack; believing the Mysterons to be hostile, he orders his subordinates to fire on and destroy the settlement. The Mysterons subsequently use their power of "reversing matter" to reconstruct the city, declare a retributive war against Earth – the first act of which will be the assassination of the World President – and assert mental, telepathic control over Black. After Zero-X returns to Earth, Black disappears, having been transformed into the principal instrument of the Mysterons' campaign of vengeance against Earth for what they judge to have been unwarranted aggression.

Through Black, the Mysterons relay instructions to their reconstructed intermediaries, while compelling him to undertake acts of murder and terrorism through their deep, disembodied voice (in which Black now also speaks). However, even while in the Mysteron's power, Black is not completely devoid of humanity. For example, after becoming a radioactive hotspot in the episode "Manhunt", he captures Symphony Angel while evading Spectrum ground forces and deliberately subjects her to radiation inside an atomic centre, but desists before she is killed and allows her to escape. While Spectrum officers give chase to the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle that they believe contains Black, but is in fact being driven (badly) by Symphony, Black decontaminates himself and makes his escape. Captain Blue's surprised remark of "So he is alive!" when he sees security camera footage of Captain Black implies that until then they thought he was dead. In various episodes, like "The Mysterons" and "Point 783", he demonstrates the ability to filter out his voice while speaking so only other Mysteron agents can hear him. The Mysterons’ threat that ‘one of you will be under our control’ as well as the fact that he spares Symphony's life and merely disappeared some time after returning to Earth from the Martian expedition has given many fans of the show reason to believe that he did not die and therefore is not a Mysteron reconstruction but simply that Captain Black remains a human, albeit one that is in the thrall of the Mysterons.

According to text features in the comic TV Century 21 and related publications, Black was born Conrad Turner in Manchester, England (for some reason he speaks with a North American accent until his corruption at the start of "The Mysterons", he may have adopted this accent to mask his identity) and was orphaned at 7 months as a result of a brief nuclear war. He was raised by distant relatives who provided little emotional support, causing him to be cold and reclusive during his adolescence. At 15, he entered Manchester Technical Academy (a chapter of the Northern University), and graduated with diplomas in Physics, Space Navigation and International Law; he then went into the Northern University and received diplomas in Science and Technology, all this done in three years. He joined the Royal Air Force and served in the British Civil War at the age of 18. After the country was admitted to the World Government, he achieved renown for his work in the World Army and Air Force, and later as a Fireball XL3 pilot in the World Space Patrol. He was Spectrum's first agent, and oversaw the construction of Cloudbase during the 2060s.[7]

In the episode "Treble Cross", an Air Force test pilot unexpectedly survives an assassination attempt by the Mysterons and aids Spectrum in another effort to apprehend Captain Black. However, he is not deceived when the human pilot poses as his own Mysteron duplicate and evades Spectrum for a second time; Captain Blue infers that the Mysterons have equipped him with a "sixth sense" to warn him of danger. If under threat of imminent capture, Black is able to teleport away from danger – an action demonstrated in the episodes "The Heart of New York", "Model Spy" and "Inferno".

The character is seen to wear his Spectrum uniform only in the pilot episode and in the secondary opening sequence for all episodes thereafter (in which he is shown to be standing symbolically in a moonlit graveyard). On all other occasions, he is wearing civilian clothing– typically black trousers, a black zip-up jacket and an orange sweater. This is presumably so the other Spectrum personnel cannot contact him therefore making him more inconspicuous, harder to pinpoint and aid in his elusiveness. However, he is shown wearing his uniform in various comic stories where there is no immediate demand for secrecy or when his mission would benefit from it, such as when the Mysterons took control of a robot production facility or when Black tried to manipulate an amnesic Scarlet into helping in an attack on a major conference being held to justify Spectrum's funding.

Re-make series

There are several differences between the original Captain Black and that seen in the remake series. For example, his surname is Lefkon (as shown on his gravestone in the first episode, "Instrument of Destruction, Part 1"). The voice of the new Black is the same as before Mysteronisation, save when the Mysterons assume direct control over his body. Before Mysteronisation, he is portrayed as a sympathetic character, and his destruction of the Mysteron city is given added justification by the fact that equipment on board the MEV explicitly identifies the Mysteron probe as a weapon. By contrast, after his Mysteronisation he is an almost stereotypical villain, taking pleasure in the acts of murder that he commits; in one episode, he leaves Captain Scarlet chained up next to a doomsday device, complete with digital countdown. However, on some occasions (for example, in the episode "Best of Enemies") Scarlet is able to educe Black's original personality, nearly to the point of breaking the Mysterons' conditioning.

In "Dominion", the series finale, Black is knocked unconscious while attempting to destroy a nuclear facility. On recovering, he claims to have been liberated from Mysteron control, and asks Scarlet to return with him to Mars to launch an attack on the Mysteron city. Although the attack is successful, the Mysterons re-assert control over Black. The final image of the series is of Black watching Scarlet's departing spacecraft, then turning about and walking into the distance; two green rings envelop him, and Black vanishes.

According to promotional materials, Conrad Lefkon was born in Brooklyn, New York and was the son of a local crime lord, and joined the army to escape from the "family business". However, in the series he speaks in an English accent, the inverse of the original show.

Reception

With reference to the original Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Morgan Jeffery of website Digital Spy refers to Captain Black as being one of the series' "most memorable elements", adding that the character's Mysteronised appearance and voice "were absolutely terrifying as a child. His presence, plus the high level of on-screen violence, made Captain Scarlet a heady cocktail for a young, petrified viewer."[8] Eamonn McCusker of website The Digital Fix states that Black's vengefulness "knew no limits", noting that in one episode ("The Heart of New York") the character kills a gang of human bank robbers posing as Mysteron reconstructions because their "impersonation [...] had aroused his ire."[9] In contrast, Geoff Willmetts of Sfcrowsnest writes that some of Black's actions seem "humane and even against his orders", pointing out that in the episode "Manhunt" he abducts Symphony Angel only to spare her life and release her: "Considering how easily Captain Black murdered other people to reach his masters' aims, this would seem out of character."[10]

The character's name has been a subject of discussion for its colour symbolism. In a 1976 essay, Robert B. Moore noted Captain Scarlet's use of black-and-white dualism in designating the head of Spectrum "Colonel White" and the agent of the villainous Mysterons "Captain Black", presenting this as an example of how "symbolism of white as positive and black as negative is pervasive in our culture."[11] Daniel O'Brien, author of SF:UK: How British Science Fiction Changed the World, notes that Black's characterisation as a villain was "to no one's great surprise".[12] When Captain Scarlet was repeated on BBC2 in the early 1990s, some commentators suggested that this colour opposition had racist undertones.[13][14] Co-creator Gerry Anderson denied this and pointed out that the series features heroic non-white characters in the form of Lieutenant Green, Melody Angel and Harmony Angel.[13] Around this time, various newspapers reported that the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) had submitted a complaint to the BBC over the alleged racism of the codenames; however, the story was repetition of a baseless rumour started by a freelance reporter and was rejected by the CRE in its annual report.[15][16] On black-and-white dualism, Guyanese actor Cy Grant, who voiced Lieutenant Green and praised the series for its multiculturalism, commented that "the 'darkness' of the Mysterons is most easily seen as the psychological rift — the struggle of 'good' and 'evil' — of the Western world as personified by Colonel White and his team. Dark and light are but aspects of each other. Incidentally, green is the colour of nature that can heal that rift."[14][17]

Black has also been interpreted as part of a supposed religious allegory in the plot of the series. Grant and other commentators have compared Cloudbase (Spectrum's airborne headquarters) to Heaven,[17][18][19] Colonel White (Spectrum's leader) to God,[17][18] and the resurrected Captain Scarlet (White's top agent) to God's son;[14][17][18][19] Black, a Spectrum officer-turned-Mysteron agent, is viewed as either an analogue of the Devil (a fallen angel)[14][17] or a Judas figure in league with the "satanic" Mysterons of Mars[18][19] (which Grant likens to Hades).[17] Anderson denied that any of this symbolism was intentional.[18]

References

1. Billen, Andrew (21 February 2005). "Red-Hot Hero". New Statesman. London, UK: Neal, Spencer. ISSN 1364-7431. OCLC 35012871. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007.
2. "Captain Scarlet: TV21, 1968". technodelic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
3. "Instrument of Destruction (Part 1)". Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet. Season 1. Episode 1. 12 February 2005. Event occurs at 13:28. ITV.
4. In the original, the transformation is indicated by the character's face paling while his voice deepens to match that of the Mysterons; in the remake, only his complexion changes.
5. Jones, Keith (Spring 2002). Richardson, Michael (ed.). "Colours of the Spectrum". Action TV. No. 6. Leeds, UK: The Shipley Print Company. p. 30.
6. Bentley 2001, p. 31.
7. "Cast of Characters: Captain Black". spectrum-headquarters.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
8. Jeffery, Morgan (19 November 2011). "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Tube Talk Gold". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
9. McCusker, Eamonn (2005). "Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet Series 1 Review". thedigitalfix.com. Poisonous Monkey. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
10. Willmetts, Geoff (January 2002). "The Mysteron Menace". Sfcrowsnest. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007.
11. Moore, Robert B. (2006) [2001]. "Racism in the English Language". In O'Brien, Jodi (ed.). The Production of Reality: Essays and Readings on Social Interaction (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-412915-19-9.
12. O'Brien, Daniel (2000). SF:UK: How British Science Fiction Changed the World. London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-903111-16-1.
13. Bentley 2001, p. 122.
14. La Rivière, Stephen (2009). Filmed in Supermarionation: A History of the Future. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: Hermes Press. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-932563-23-8.
15. Frachon, Claire; Vargaftig, Marion, eds. (1995). European Television: Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities. European Media Research Series. University of Luton Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-861964-60-4.
16. Annual Report of the Commission for Racial Equality. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1992. p. 3.
17. Grant, Cy. "Lieutenant Green and De Anderson CODE – Spectrums, Subconscious Connections & Synchronicities". Archived from the original on 23 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
18. Jenkins, Chris (October 2001). Jenkins, Chris (ed.). "Scarlet is the New Black". Total DVD. No. 30. London, UK: WV Publications. pp. 16–18. ISSN 1464-889X. OCLC 877789732.
19. Turner, Robin (31 March 2013). "We Love ... Captain Scarlet". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.

Works cited

• Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84222-405-2.