Seek and Destroy (Captain Scarlet)

"Seek and Destroy" is the ninth episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a 1960s British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company Century 21 Productions. The ninth episode of the series to be produced,[2] it was written by Peter Curran and David Williams and first broadcast on 5 January 1968 on ATV Midlands.

"Seek and Destroy"
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no.Episode 9
Directed byAlan Perry
Written byPeter Curran
David Williams
Cinematography byPaddy Seale
Editing byJohn Beaton
Production codeSCA 11[1]
Original air date5 January 1968
Guest character voices

In this episode, a Mysteron threat to kill one of the Spectrum Angel pilots leads to the squadron doing battle with a trio of reconstructed Angel fighters. "Seek and Destroy" has been praised for its aerial shots and other special effects sequences.[3]

Plot

Captain Black (voiced by Donald Gray) intercepts a transporter truck delivering a shipment from the Fairfield Engine Company to a warehouse. After shooting the driver, Jackson, he starts a fire that quickly consumes the warehouse and everything inside. Later, while surveying the wreckage with a fire chief, Mr Fairfield reveals that his company's shipments were newly fitted-out Spectrum Angel fighters awaiting delivery to Cloudbase. At that moment, the ruins of the warehouse are overflown by three aircraft matching those destroyed in the fire.

Meanwhile, the Mysterons (voiced by Donald Gray) have warned Spectrum that they intend to kill one of the Angel pilots. Destiny Angel has left Cloudbase to take a holiday in Paris, and as she is the only member of the squadron currently away Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) believes her to be in the most danger. With communications officer Lieutenant Green (voiced by Cy Grant) unable to reach Destiny at her hotel, White has Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop) fly to Paris to bring her back to Cloudbase. Scarlet and Blue find Destiny at a café and all three leave for the airport in a Spectrum Patrol Car, only to be ambushed on a country road by the unpiloted Mysteron reconstructions of the destroyed Angel fighters. Cloudbase is alerted and the real Angels, led by Melody, are dispatched to the danger zone.

As the Mysteron fighters target the SPC, forcing Scarlet, Blue and Destiny take cover in a nearby ditch, the Angels arrive to engage the enemy in a dogfight. After shooting down one of the fighters, Harmony takes damage but safely ejects before her aircraft hits the ground. Rhapsody manages to destroy another. The last fighter is eliminated when it deliberately nosedives into the ground with Melody in pursuit. Melody pulls up before crashing. On the ground, the Mysteron attack has reduced the SPC to a smoking wreck, leading Blue to quip that it will be "a long walk to Cloudbase".

Production

The script describes Jackson's truck lifting a crate containing one of the new Angel fighters as similar to "Thunderbird 2 picking up a Pod".[2][4] The truck was designed by special effects assistant Mike Trim.[5]

Filming on "Seek and Destroy" began on 8 April 1967, two weeks behind schedule, during the pre-production of the film Thunderbird 6.[1] According to special effects director Derek Meddings, during the filming of the aerial sequences the scale models of the reconstructed Angel fighters were deliberately flown without "human movement" in order to emphasise their Mysteron nature.[6]

To reduce the strain on the Century 21 art department, which was busy with its preparations for Thunderbird 6, the production of "Seek and Destroy" economised on set design and scale model work.[1] Destiny Angel's hotel room is a re-dress of the Director General's hotel room from "Winged Assassin", while the model representing the hotel's exterior is a modified version of the SHEF Headquarters Building from "Point 783".[1][4] The café exterior is adapted from a set that first appeared in the Thunderbirds episode "The Perils of Penelope", while the model shots of Paris feature miniature buildings originally created for the same episode.[1]

The final cut of the episode removed a brief concluding scene in which Destiny finds that a bottle of perfume that she bought in Paris has survived the destruction of the SPC.[2]

A piece of incidental music from this episode, titled "An Angel in Paris", is included on Fanderson's 2015 CD release of the Captain Scarlet soundtrack.[7]

Reception

According to Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, authors of The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, "everyone" remembers "Seek and Destroy".[8]

Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett praise the aerial sequences, describing the episode as "an excellent showcase for the Angel aircraft, as well as providing the small 'Flying Unit' of Century 21 with an opportunity to express themselves in full."[3] Shane M. Dallmann of Video Watchdog magazine describes the dogfight as "impressive".[9]

Chris Bentley, author of Captain Scarlet: The Vault, criticises aspects of the set design, noting that some of the buildings and street furniture seen in the Paris driving sequences are flats rather than three-dimensional models.[1]

The British Board of Film Classification rates the episode U, noting that it contains "infrequent, very mild" violence.[10]

1980 re-edit

"Seek and Destroy" was later re-edited for inclusion in the Captain Scarlet compilation film Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons (1980).

References
  1. Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
  2. Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  3. Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: Boxtree. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-852834-03-6.
  4. Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-842224-05-2.
  5. Taylor, Anthony; Trim, Mike (2006). The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: Hermes Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-1-932563-82-5.
  6. Meddings, Derek; Denham, Sam (1993). 21st–Century Visions. Surrey, UK: Paper Tiger Books. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-85028-243-3.
  7. de Klerk, Theo (8 July 2018). "Barry Gray Discography" (PDF). barrygray.co.uk. p. 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  8. 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. 331. ISBN 978-0-851126-28-9.
  9. Dallmann, Shane M. (June 2003). Lucas, Tim (ed.). "DVD Spotlight: Captain Scarlet". Video Watchdog. No. 96. Cincinnati, Ohio: Tim and Donna Lucas. pp. 36–43. ISSN 1070-9991. OCLC 646838004.
  10. "'Seek and Destroy' rated U by the BBFC". bbfc.co.uk. British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
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