New Captain Scarlet

Back in 2005, legendary English TV-director and producer Gerry Anderson decided to ‘reboot’ his successful 1967 Supermarionation creation ‘Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons’ for a 21st century audience and presented us with NEW CAPTAIN SCARLET – promoted as a Hypermarionation version of the original series and with some considerable differences: using sophisticated motion-capture CGI techniques, the overall tone is darker with clever storylines plus action sequences which put any James Bond flick in the shade! Now, this complete series is available as a 4-disc DVD set including exciting Bonus material.

Although the series had received a rather lukewarm reception upon its initial broadcast, which Anderson put down to the fact that the New Captain Scarlet adventures were wedged amidst the Saturday morning kids show ‘Ministry of Mayhem’ which meant it was given a rather unfortunate time-slot, the reboot has since gained a cult-following and turned a new generation into Gerry Anderson devotees.

The year is 2068 and we’re off to a cracking start in the two-parter ‘Instrument of Destruction’ when leading field agent Paul Metcalfe aka Captain Scarlet and his colleague and close friend Conrad Lefkon aka Captain Black are sent by the World Security Organisation Spectrum (its headquarter Skybase is a floating aircraft carrier which hovers on the edge of the earth’s atmosphere) to investigate an unidentified extra-planetary signal hailing from Mars. After they discover a city dipped in glowing neon-green it is established its inhabitants are the so-called Mysterons, (a ruthless alien consciousness). Captain Black mistakes a probing signal for an attack and opens fire, completely destroying the city in the process. However, with the Mysterons able to influence objects and re-animate dead Earthlings by turning them into fellow Mysterons, the destroyed city is rebuilt within minutes while Scarlet and Black are chased by two green spectre rings across the red planet – killing Black and sending Scarlet back to Spectrum as their very own ‘instrument of destruction’. Luckily, Captain Scarlet happens to fall through a power conduit in the Skybase engineering section and this enables Doctor Gold and his assistants to restore Scarlet’s human personality including his memories and his loyalties to Spectrum and its Commander White (otherwise known as Sir Charles Grey) while his Mysteron self ensures that he is now a human-alien hybrid which renders him completely indestructible. It’s a different story for Captain Black, however, who gets ‘resurrected’ by the Mysterons shortly after his funeral and not only do they turn him into one of their own but he is now their leading agent and an indestructible replicant whose mission it is to destroy Spectrum and its crew and generally create havoc on Earth.

This then is the premise of the series and over the following episodes we get acquainted with Spectrums’ crew-members and how they are connected with each other, including Scarlet’s sidekick Captain Blue, Destiny Angel – a Falcon interceptor pilot and leader of the all-female ‘Spectrum Angels’ flight squadron comprised of Melody, Harmony, Rhapsody and Symphony Angel. In the past, Destiny had a relationship with Captain Black (before he got turned into a Mysteron) but gradually falls in love with Scarlet (who had always fancied her anyway) throughout the series. Other main players are Lt. Green – Spectrum’s controller of operations who is as hard as nails although she suffers from a minor heart condition, Skybase’s second communication officer Lt. Silver and various field agents (all named after colours as well).

Although the plotlines differ greatly from one episode to the next, the fight against nemesis Captain Black and the Mysterons remains at the core of each adventure. In ‘Swarm’ a swarm of robotic cyber-bugs is unleashed onto Skybase – eating through metal and reproducing with frightening speed, not to mention cocooning Lt. Green in a green spider web in order to gain access to all the control’s operations. In ‘Circles of Doom’ mysterious crop circles point to the creation of a new and highly dangerous Mysteron weapon, while Captain Black makes it clear that he has control over all of the Earth’s digital systems and thus can create utter pandemonium at will.

In ‘Chiller’, Spectrum flight engineer Xander Story meets up with two Mysteron agents in a remote diner in Phoenix, Arizona. Xander, in an act of utter stupidity, agrees to smuggle a bomb aboard Skybase and destroy it in exchange for the promise that after a successful detonation, the Mysterons will no longer wage war on mankind. As ever, it’s up to Captain Scarlet and the crew to save the day… From Arizona we travel to the Scottish Highlands in ‘Trap for a Rhino’ and make the acquaintance of one Mrs. Mackenzie, the ultimate gran from hell who reports her sighting of strange green lights hovering over the nearby Grampian nuclear power station to the authorities – only to be brushed off as someone who probably enjoyed too many wee drams… bad mistake as Scarlet and Harmony Angel are about to discover when they arrive at the old lady’s cottage to investigate. Unfortunately there just isn’t enough space here to discuss every single episode which is a shame as each and every one of them is nothing short of a thrill-ride. Further highlights include ‘Touch of the Reaper’ in which two scientists are turned into Mysteron replicants, complete with the power to kill with a single touch and ‘Fallen Angels’ in which Angels Destiny, Harmony and Melody crash-land on a tropical island – only to fall prey to a group of marauding modern-day pirates while the island’s volcano is about to erupt… We’re then transported to the tiny mining town of Ragnarok in Alaska, which falls victim to the Mysterons when they literally bulldoze the entire place to the ground before resurrecting its inhabitants as Mysterons with a deadly mission.

We get a whiff of US biker drama ‘Sons of Anarchy’ (although that series wasn’t even created until 2008) in the episode ‘Grey Skulls’ in which Captain Ochre’s raid bike is stolen following a botched operation which sees her, plus Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue unsuccessfully retrieving a stolen canister containing deadly alien spores. Now Captain Ochre must join forces with Brock – leader of the Grey Skull biker gang and the thief of her raid bike, in an effort to prevent disaster after Colt – a biker from a rival gang, not only gets hold of the canister but is turned into a Mysteron. Expect a breath-taking climax taking place in an amusement park!
In the final episode ‘Dominion’ Captain Black almost succeeds in bluffing everyone into believing that he is no longer being controlled by the Mysterons and his attempts at re-kindling his former friendship with Captain Scarlet seem genuine. Of course, it’s all an elaborate ruse…leading up to a clever cliff-hanger and the promise of another season of NEW CAPTAIN SCARLET – alas, it was not to be.

Bonus Features include: Episode-specific audio commentaries with Gerry Anderson, David Lane and Wayne Forester; Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons; Andercon 2014 Panel; Image galleries including concept art and CGI renders and more!