Dangerous Rendezvous

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“Dangerous Rendezvous”
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 19
Written by Tony Barwick
Directed by Brian Burgess
Production no. 19
Original airdate February 9, 1968
Episode chronology
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"Shadow of Fear" "Fire at Rig 15"
List of Captain Scarlet episodes

"Dangerous Rendezvous" is the 19th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Its original UK air date was February 9, 1968 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Brian Burgess. It is the sequel episode to "Crater 101".

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Dr Kurnitz has found that the crystal pulsator recovered from the Mysteron complex on the Moon has communicational capabilities. Using a special device to broadcast to Spectrum's enemies directly, Colonel White requests an end to hostilities between Earth and Mars. But will Captain Scarlet unearth the truth about proposed peace talks in Greenland and save Cloudbase before the Mysterons carry out their threat to destroy it?

[edit] Plot

In Cloudbase control, Colonel White orders Lieutenant Green to launch Destiny Angel and then heads down to the Lounge, where a communications machine has been built. Meanwhile, Captain Scarlet pulls up outside the Nash Institute of Technology in a Spectrum Saloon. Entering the compound, he collects Dr Kurnitz, who has inspected the crystal pulsator removed from the Mysterons' lunar complex ("Crater 101"). Secretly driven away by Captain Ochre in the Yellow Fox with an escort by Destiny Angel to the airport, the two men discuss the doctor's findings. Kurnitz is certain that the pulsator could be used to contact the Mysterons directly.

Transmitting to Earth, the Mysterons warn that they will destroy Cloudbase at midnight. In the control room, Colonel White runs over the necessary security arrangements with Captain Blue: excluding Scarlet and Dr Kurnitz’s plane, travel to and from Cloudbase will be prohibited. Any craft approaching the carrier will be attacked and the base will be searched hourly with Mysteron Detectors.

After Scarlet and Kurnitz arrive, the pulsator is plugged into the communications device and starts to glow as it did in "Crater 101". Colonel White will send a transmission to the Mysterons once Kurnitz has checked the machine’s secondary circuits. In the meantime, Captain Blue reports that the base is currently clean of Mysteron booby traps.

Later, the personnel are in the lounge preparing to make the broadcast. Kurnitz orders the circuits to be activated and the Colonel comes on air, describing the Martian Zero-X mission and Captain Black's innocent destruction of the Mysteron complex ("The Mysterons"). White insists that the attack was motivated out of fear and was not a deliberate act of aggression, and goes on to offer peace.

Two hours later, Cloudbase has still not received a reply. To pass the time, White shows Kurnitz Spectrum's communication system and organises a demonstration Angel launch. A response eventually comes through and the Mysterons agree to negotiate with one member of Spectrum, who must fly on a course of 124 magnetic from Cloudbase without weapons or communications equipment. Blue is doubtful of the Mysterons' honesty but White is adamant that humankind should not miss its chance to make peace. Green checks the course and reveals that the only landfall is a desolate volcanic region in Greenland. Scarlet volunteers to represent Spectrum.

Flying over Greenland in a Spectrum Jet, Scarlet is commanded by the Mysteron voice to eject. As his aircraft crashes to the ground, Scarlet is picked up by a black saloon driven by an unseen force. After a short journey, the car stops outside a shack. Scarlet enters to find modern décor and a chair positioned in front of a pulsating display screen. A voice orders Scarlet to sit, but the Spectrum officer is unaware that Captain Black is seated behind the monitor. Black tells Scarlet that he must take a message back to the world and switches on a tape recording. He quickly departs and leaves Scarlet listening to the Mysterons vowing to continue their war of nerves. Scarlet insists that he came to negotiate, but soon realises that the voice is artificial. He smashes the screen just as the recording ends and discovers another pulsator starting to shine fiercely. Scarlet escapes from the building just before the shack is ripped apart in an explosion. Astounded that the meeting was a trap, Scarlet suddenly realises that the first pulsator poses a risk to Cloudbase.

As time passes a quarter to midnight, Scarlet uses the abandoned saloon to drive to a nearby radar station. Inside, he starts to signal to Cloudbase in Morse code. Seconds before the Mysteron deadline, Colonel White learns that the pulsator is a booby trap and alerts Captain Ochre in the Lounge. Ochre dons a respirator mask, shoots out an observation window and ejects the pulsator, which explodes harmlessly in mid-air.

Once Scarlet has returned to Cloudbase, White acknowledges that Spectrum was unable to convince the Mysterons of its sincerity. However, they will make further attempts to negotiate in the future.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Regular voice cast

[edit] Guest voice cast

In speaking order:

  • Dr Kurnitz — Jeremy Wilkin
  • Receptionist — Sylvia Anderson
  • Lieutenant Dean — Charles Tingwell (featured in "The Mysterons" flashback)
  • Captain Black (Original) — Jeremy Wilkin (featured in "The Mysterons" flashback)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

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