The Mysterons

This article is about the Captain Scarlet episode. For the fictional race introduced in this episode, see Mysteron.

"The Mysterons"
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
A man dressed in a scarlet uniform and cap holds a suited male civilian hostage, using the civilian as a shield while pointing a gun at an off-screen enemy. The agent and hostage are standing on a metal structure, which is shown to be high above the ground due to the scale of the buildings and streets below them.
The Mysteron double of Captain Scarlet holds the World President hostage.
Episode no.Episode 1
Directed byDesmond Saunders
Written byGerry & Sylvia Anderson
Cinematography byJulien Lugrin
Editing byLen Walter
Production codeSCA 1[1]
Original air date29 April 1967 (1967-04-29)
Guest character voices
World President
Captain Brown
Lieutenant Dean
Spectrum Helicopter A42 Pilot
Spectrum Headquarters, London
Human Captain Black
Delta Garage Attendant
Radio Speaker
Episode chronology
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"The Mysterons"[2] (sometimes referred to incorrectly as "Mars – 2068 A.D.")[1][3] is the first episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions (originally AP Films or APF). Written by the Andersons and directed by Desmond Saunders, it was first officially broadcast on 29 September 1967 on ATV Midlands, although it had received an unscheduled test screening in the London area five months earlier.[4]

Set in 2068, the series depicts a "war of nerves" between Earth and the Mysterons: a hostile race of Martians with the ability to create functioning copies of destroyed people or objects and use these reconstructions to carry out specific acts of aggression against humanity. Earth is defended by a military organisation called Spectrum, whose top agent, Captain Scarlet, was murdered by the Mysterons and replaced with a reconstruction that later broke free of their control. The double of Scarlet has powers of self-repair that enable him to recover from injuries that would be fatal to any other person, which make him Spectrum's best asset in its fight against the Mysterons.

The first episode begins with a crew of human astronauts destroying the Mysteron city on Mars over a misunderstanding, after which the Mysterons reconstruct the settlement and declare war on humanity. On Earth, Captain Scarlet and fellow Spectrum officer Captain Brown are killed in a car crash and replaced with Mysteron doubles programmed to carry out the aliens' first threat – to assassinate the World President.

"The Mysterons" was filmed in January 1967.[5] The finished episode differs significantly from the Andersons' "pilot" script, especially with regard to Scarlet's biology as a Mysteron double.[6][7] Patrick McGoohan was intended to voice the World President but scheduling conflicts and budget constraints prevented his casting.[8][9] The episode was well received by the voice cast after it was completed and has since been praised by critics.[10][11][12][13] It has drawn comment for its levels of violence, particularly during a scene in which Brown's double physically explodes.[14][15][16] The episode was adapted for audio in 1967 and novelised in 1993.

  1. ^ a b Bentley 2017, pp. 12–13.
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