Fire at Rig 15

"Fire at Rig 15" is the 19th episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by Bryan Cooper and directed by Ken Turner, it was first broadcast on 16 February 1968 on ATV Midlands.

"Fire at Rig 15"
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no.Episode 19
Directed byKen Turner
Written byBryan Cooper
Cinematography byJulien Lugrin
Editing byHarry MacDonald
Production codeSCA 14[1]
Original air date16 February 1968
Guest character voices

In this episode, in an attempt the immobilise the whole of Spectrum, the Mysterons target the oil refinery that supplies the fuel for the organisation's vehicles.

Plot

In the oil fields of the Middle East desert, the Mysterons (voiced by Donald Gray) sabotage the drill on Rig 15 by opening a safety valve, releasing a jet of oil that quickly ignites and turns the rig into an inferno. An oil refinery at Bensheba is the one source of fuel for the Spectrum Organisation's vehicles. When the Mysterons cryptically threaten to "immobilise" the whole of Spectrum, Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) fears that they intend to destroy the organisation's fuel supply and dispatches Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop) to investigate the unfolding disaster at Rig 15.

On arrival, Scarlet and Blue learn from the rig controller, Kinley, and his assistant, Hansen, that an explosives expert, Jason Smith, has been brought in to "blow out" the fire by detonating an explosive charge at its centre. However, they are unaware that Captain Black (voiced by Donald Gray) is observing the blaze from afar. While Smith is planting the charge, Black uses the Mysterons' powers to hypnotise him. The charge detonates according to plan and the fire is extinguished, but Smith is killed in the explosion and replaced with a double under Mysteron control.[2]

That night, Black orders Smith's double to leave in his truck and use his explosives to destroy the Bensheba refinery. The following morning, the body of the original Smith is discovered and Scarlet realises that the expert has been taken over by the Mysterons. He requisitions a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and chases Smith down the highway leading to Bensheba, managing to force him off the road before they reach the refinery. Smith's truck crashes into a dune and explodes, but at the same time Scarlet's SPV collides with a set of oil tanks, fatally injuring Scarlet. Scarlet's body is returned to Cloudbase in anticipation of his recovery.

Production

Before writing "Fire at Rig 15", Bryan Cooper had worked as a journalist and co-authored a book about North Sea oil. He later became a radio writer and a military historian.[1]

The premise of the episode was inspired by the "Devil's Cigarette Lighter", a gas well fire that burned for six months between 1961 and 1962 until it was finally extinguished by detonating a nitroglycerin charge at its epicentre to dispel the surrounding oxygen.[1] The character of Jason Smith was based on Red Adair, the Texan oil well firefighter who put out the blaze, and Smith's tractor on the modified bulldozer that Adair used to deliver the charge.[1] The Rig 15 personnel are named after colleagues of Adair: Kinley after Myron M. Kinley and Charlie Hansen after Charlie Tolar and Asger "Boots" Hansen (co-founder of the well control company Boots & Coots).[1] In the original script, the Spectrum oil refinery is located at "Bethsheba".[2][3]

The episode was filmed in May 1967.[1] Smith's tractor was designed by special effects assistant Mike Trim.[4] The scale model of the Bensheba refinery re-used parts of the model refinery seen in the Thunderbirds episode "Ricochet".[5]

The incidental music was recorded on 22 July 1967 during a four-hour studio session using an ensemble of 15 instrumentalists.[6] Music for "Shadow of Fear" was recorded during the same session.[6] The music for "Fire at Rig 15", titled "Rig 15", is included on the CD release of the Captain Scarlet soundtrack.[7][8][9] "Fire at Rig 15" was the last episode of Captain Scarlet to be produced with the original instrumental version of the series' ending theme music prior to the introduction of the lyrical version sung by The Spectrum.[2][3]

Reception

According to Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, authors of The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, "Fire At Rig 15" is one of several Captain Scarlet episodes that "seem little more than left-over Thunderbirds scripts."[10]

Anthony Clark of sci-fi-online.com comments negatively on the episode, calling it the "typical, and rather dull, 'Mysterons destroy something and Spectrums runs about' story". He argues that the setting "could just as easily be a submarine base or high-security installation, which makes it hard to care about what's going on."[11]

gollark: Just use a VPN.
gollark: Once they become better at actually doing things, I think they will be seen as less cute.
gollark: Aaaaaarghwhy
gollark: Unary is cool, it doesn't even have 2.
gollark: 1 + 2 = 10

References
  1. Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 134–135. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
  2. Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-842224-05-2.
  3. Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  4. Taylor, Anthony; Trim, Mike (2006). The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: Hermes Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-932563-82-5.
  5. Brown, Stephen; Jones, Mike (2017). Jones, Mike (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: Close-Up. Fanderson. p. 35.
  6. de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  7. de Klerk, Theo (26 October 2017). "Barry Gray Discography" (PDF). barrygray.co.uk. p. 22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  8. Eder, Bruce. "Captain Scarlet [Original TV Soundtrack] Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  9. Marsh, Peter (17 November 2003). "Barry Gray: Captain Scarlet Original Soundtrack Review". BBC Online. BBC. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  10. Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1996) [1996]. Marshall, Anne (ed.). The Guinness Book of Classic British TV (2nd ed.). Middlesex, UK: Guinness Publishing. p. 332. ISBN 978-0-851126-28-9.
  11. Clark, Anthony. "Captain Scarlet: Volume 6 – Video Review". sci-fi-online.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
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