Shadow of Fear

"Shadow of Fear"
	Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no.	Episode 12
Directed by	Robert Lynn
Written by	Tony Barwick
Cinematography by	Julien Lugrin
Editing by	John Beaton
Production code	SCA 13[1]
Original air date	2 February 1968
Guest character voices
	Paul Maxwell as Dr Breck; Charles Tingwell as Dr Carter; Jeremy Wilkin as Dr Angelini;

"Shadow of Fear" is the 12th episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company Century 21 Productions. Written by Tony Barwick and directed by Robert Lynn, it was first broadcast on 2 February 1968 on ATV Midlands. In this episode, a Spectrum operation to obtain orbital reconnaissance of Mars is threatened when an astronomer is killed and reconstructed by the Mysterons.

"Shadow of Fear" was later re-edited for inclusion in the Captain Scarlet compilation film Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars (1981).

Plot

To learn more about the Mysterons (voiced by Donald Gray), Spectrum have devised "Operation Sword", the objective of which is to land a spy probe on Mars's moon Phobos in order to capture detailed images of the planet's surface. The first probe is detected and destroyed by the Mysterons but the second, Mini-Sat 5, touches down safely and begins its orbital reconnaissance. Once Phobos has made a full orbit of Mars, the images will be transmitted to Earth, where they will be received at K14 Observatory in the Himalayas.

Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop) have been dispatched to K14 to observe astronomers Carter, Angelini and Breck. To the astronomers, the second probe was able to reach Phobos undetected by travelling in the "shadow of fear": "Phobos" – the name of a companion of Mars in Greek mythology – means "fear", and the probe avoided detection by approaching the moon from behind so that it would remain invisible to Mars.

A few hours before transmission, Breck is viewing Mars through a telescope when the planet begins to flash brightly. Overcome by the dazzling light, he is killed and replaced by a Mysteron reconstruction. Knowing that K14's antenna will need to be rotated to receive the transmission, the reconstructed Breck plants a bomb in the rotation gear, rigging the device to explode when the gear is turned. He then hides in the rocks above the observatory. Aided by Melody Angel and Captain Grey (voiced by Sylvia Anderson and Paul Maxwell) in a Spectrum helicopter, Scarlet and Blue pursue and locate Breck. Revealing his sabotage, the reconstruction fires a gun at the officers but is shot dead by Scarlet. However, before Scarlet and Blue can warn K14, Carter and Angelini turn the antenna and the bomb explodes, causing the antenna to collapse and crush the observatory.

With Carter and Angelini dead and K14 destroyed, Earth misses the probe's transmission. However, Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) insists that this is not the end of Operation Sword.

Production

"Shadow of Fear" was the last episode of Captain Scarlet to be produced featuring the vocal contributions of Paul Maxwell and Charles Tingwell, both of whom left the series after this episode. Maxwell had been cast in the role of Steve Tanner in Coronation Street, while Tingwell had theatre commitments.[2] After "Shadow of Fear", the regular characters of Captain Grey and Doctor Fawn, who were voiced by Maxwell and Tingwell, continue to appear in the series but do not speak. Both Tingwell and Maxwell can be heard voicing background characters in the flashback to "Big Ben Strikes Again" in the series finale, "The Inquisition" (Tingwell's voice is also featured in flashbacks to the first episode in "Dangerous Rendezvous" and "Traitor").

This episode's incidental music was performed by an ensemble of 15 instrumentalists and recorded during a four-hour studio session held on 22 July 1967. Music for "Fire at Rig 15" was recorded during the same session.[3]

Reception

Anthony Clark of sci-fi-online.com comments that the pace of "Shadow of Fear", like that of "Crater 101" and "Dangerous Rendezvous", "could hardly be described as breakneck." However, he notes that along with the other two episodes it serves to "progress Spectrum's fight back against the Mysterons".[4]

Shane M. Dallmann of Video Watchdog magazine notes the violence of "Shadow of Fear", calling the episode "astonishingly downbeat". He also praises the "excellent" miniature model work.[5]

Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett praise the score, commenting that the episode's use of electronic music makes the space scenes suitably "eerie". Musical elements from "Shadow of Fear" were re-used in the Andersons' first live-action series, UFO.[6]

The British Board of Film Classification certifies the episode U, noting that it contains "infrequent, very mild" violence.[7]

References

Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-84222-405-2.
de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
Clark, Anthony. "Captain Scarlet: Volume 5 – Video Review". sci-fi-online.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
Dallmann, Shane M. (June 2003). Lucas, Tim (ed.). "DVD Spotlight: Captain Scarlet". Video Watchdog. No. 96. Cincinnati, Ohio: Tim and Donna Lucas. p. 39. ISSN 1070-9991. OCLC 646838004.
Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: Boxtree. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-852834-03-6.
"'Shadow of Fear' rated 'U' by the BBFC". bbfc.co.uk. British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2010.

External links

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[1] Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.

[2] Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-84222-405-2.

[3] Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2010.

[4] Clark, Anthony. "Captain Scarlet: Volume 5 – Video Review". sci-fi-online.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2018.

[5] Dallmann, Shane M. (June 2003). Lucas, Tim (ed.). "DVD Spotlight: Captain Scarlet". Video Watchdog. No. 96. Cincinnati, Ohio: Tim and Donna Lucas. p. 39. ISSN 1070-9991. OCLC 646838004.

[6] Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: Boxtree. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-852834-03-6.

[7] "'Shadow of Fear' rated 'U' by the BBFC". bbfc.co.uk. British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2010.