The Unorthodox Shepherd

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“The Unorthodox Shepherd”
Joe 90 episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 13
Written by Tony Barwick
Directed by Ken Turner
Production no. 8
Original airdate December 22, 1968
Episode chronology
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"Operation McClaine" "Business Holiday"
List of Joe 90 episodes

"The Unorthodox Shepherd" is the 13th episode of the Supermarionation television series Joe 90. It was the eighth episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was December 22, 1968 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Ken Turner.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

A village reverend comes to the attention of WIN after passing forged banknotes. Joe, Mac and Sam investigate, only to discover that the true counterfeiters are hiding out in the church crypt holding the verger as hostage. Can Joe catch the fraudsters in the guise of the Angel of Death?

[edit] Plot

The McClaines are staying in a village in the days leading up to Christmas and have joined the choir at the local St David's Church. After an evening rehearsal, they are thanked for their attendance by the reverend Joseph Shepherd. Mac understands that the choir had more members before the church gained the reputation for being haunted. The Reverend, who is slightly deaf, is aware of the stories of ghostly shapes and strange bell rings but dismisses them as village superstition.

The next day, Joe examines a ten-dollar bill with the brain pattern of a World Bank vice president. He tells Mac and Sam that it was printed recently, even though the last official printing in Washington was 17 years ago and the plates were apparently destroyed in a fire shortly after. The note – obviously forged with the original plates, which are still in existence – was one of ten that the Reverend Shepherd paid into a bank. The fake bills look set to wreak havoc with the monetary system if they continue to go undetected.

The group calls in at the vicarage with the forged note, but the deaf reverend interprets the bill as a donation to the Church Restoration Fund and Mac is certain that the cleric is not involved with the counterfeiting scheme. Sam, however, is still suspicious of the reverend and his church.

Unknown to the men, the dollar bills are being printed in a crypt beneath the tomb of Clem Mason, a man who lived abroad but wanted to be buried in his home village. That night, one of the criminals, Mason's own nephew, checks the church to make sure that the various gadgets warding off the villagers are still functioning. On returning to the crypt and his associate, Kline, Mason is confronted by a bitter Reverend Shepherd, who threatens that they will pay for their wrongdoing. However, Mason reminds the vicar that he and Kline have taken the church verger, Thomas, as hostage and will kill him if they do not have cooperation.

The next day, Joe, Mac and Sam drop by the vicarage again. While the reverend is humming absent-mindedly in his garden, Sam approaches from behind and fires a blank shot with his gun. However, to his amazement, when the vicar turns around he is aware that he has hidden the weapon under his coat and has determined the model of the gun simply by the sound of the safety catch. The hearing reverend suggests that they go into the house for a talk.

Once inside, Sam tells the reverend that he is confident that the dollar plates were not destroyed 17 years ago and are now concealed in or around his church. Furthermore, he reveals that the vicar was in Washington at the time of the fire and draws attention to the fact that he needs a large amount of money – £10,000 – to save his church from dry rot. The reverend admits that he visited Washington, but he was there only to collect the body of Clem Mason for burial in the village. However, he divulges that his real name was Carlo Masoni, whom Sam remembers was associated with rackets on the Western Seaboard. Mac deduces that the plates might have been smuggled into England in a coffin. Sam wants to interrogate Masoni's nephew, but the reverend enlightens the group of the hostage situation and Mac realises that the reason for the cleric's feigned deafness was to avoid awkward questions. Sam has a plan to apprehend the counterfeiters with the reverend's help.

That night, the vicar approaches Police Constable Lewis in the village and requests that he station himself near St David's Church at midnight. A puzzled Lewis is unsure of the proposal but the reverend, again pretending to be deaf, hurries off without waiting for a reply. Lewis complies with the vicar's wish.

In the crypt, counterfeit production is nearing the target of six million dollars and Mason tells Kline that he has removed all their devices from the church. However, the bell rings and Mason leaves to find out whether someone is in the building. He enters the nave, but is terrified when he is surrounded by the sound of squawking birds and ominous organ music. He is unaware that the church has been rigged to disorientate him and flees when Sam, hiding in the upper levels with a megaphone, claims to be the spirit of Carlo Masoni and warns that the Angel of Death will descend upon him for desecrating the memory of his uncle. Meanwhile, Constable Lewis is unnerved by the noise and turns to leave the church grounds, but is caught by the reverend, who states that God moves in mysterious ways.

A traumatised Mason returns to the crypt and tells Kline of his fears, but his crony is angered by his irrationality. Holding Thomas at gunpoint, the fraudsters step out of the crypt to face Mason's "ghost". Kline believes that they are wasting time, but at that moment Joe, under Mac's direction, ascends from behind a bush disguised as the Angel of Death, flying a jet pack covered by his robes. As the "angel" speeds towards them, Mason is petrified and runs away, but Kline continues to fire on Joe with his gun until the boy knocks him down.

On Christmas Day, Sam presents an £8,000 reward from WIN to the Reverend Shepherd for assisting in the recovery of the plates. Mac recalls that Interpol was offering a further £2,000 and Sam is persuaded to bring the total amount to a convenient £10,000. The vicar is curious how Joe was able to fly a jet pack, but Mac wittily says that God moves in mysterious ways. Later, while the whole village is covered in snow, St David's Church is packed for the Christmas carol service.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Regular voice cast

[edit] Guest voice cast

In speaking order:

[edit] Goofs

  • The model of Kline's gun changes between shots as he takes aim at the disguised Joe.

[edit] Location Filming

Extensive location filming was used in this episode, with the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Harefield, Buckinghamshire doubling as St David's Church. In addition to various external shots of the church featuring as inserts, photographs of the interior allowed the production crew to create an accurate model duplication in which to film the puppet scenes. The counterfeiters' crypt was modelled on an actual grave in the churchyard.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ THE GERRY ANDERSON LOCATION GUIDE. Fanderson. Retrieved on 2007-04-14.

[edit] External links