| "Attack of the Tiger" | |||
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| Joe 90 episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 25 |
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| Directed by | Peter Anderson | ||
| Written by | Tony Barwick | ||
| Production code | 21 | ||
| Original air date | 16 March 1969 | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Joe 90 episodes | |||
"Attack of the Tiger" is the 25th episode of the Supermarionation television series Joe 90. It was the 21st episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was 16 March 1969 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Peter Anderson.
Contents |
In violation of a disarmament agreement, the Eastern Alliance has built a secret rocket base from which it will launch a nuclear device to hold the world to ransom. Using the brain pattern of a top pilot, Joe must destroy the complex with a heavily-armed fighter-bomber.
Following unconfirmed reports that the Eastern Alliance, in violation of a disarmament agreement with the West, has built a secret military base, WIN Agent 26 (codenamed "FEZ") is dispatched to investigate. In a remote Far East region, FEZ discovers that the installation has been constructed behind a false rock face and sees a nuclear device, "Tiger", on one of the launch pads. At this point the security searchlights are activated and he is forced to run, pursued by enemy soldiers after his abandoned binoculars are spotted on video monitors. Evading the Eastern Alliance forces, FEZ arrives at a border checkpoint, only to be shot and killed by a sniper before he can relay his findings. His secret WIN recording device contains a final log entry, which reveals that "Operation Tiger" will commence in ten days. At WIN Headquarters in London, Shane Weston and Sam Loover inform Professor McClaine and Joe of the situation: in ten days' time, the Eastern Alliance will launch its nuclear weapon into Earth orbit and hold the rest of the world to ransom.
For the sake of global peace, the installation must be destroyed. To accomplish this, Joe will fly a modified VG 104, the world's most powerful fighter-bomber, out of a World Air Force base and deep into the heart of the Eastern Alliance's territory. While Loover requisitions the VG 104, Mac and Joe use unorthodox methods to acquire the knowledge and experience of its best pilot, "Fearless" Foley. Chasing Foley's car down a country road, Mac recklessly overtakes in his Jet-Air Car and blocks the other driver's path. The Professor is able to soothe the nerves of the outraged Foley, who grudgingly permits Joe to record his brain pattern, even though he suspects that both father and son are mentally unbalanced.
Mac and Joe return to London, where Loover tells them that the upgrades to the VG 104 will be complete only 24 hours before the "Tiger" is due for launch. To make matters worse, surface-to-air missiles and armoured vehicles have been brought in to fortify the area surrounding the installation. At the McClaines' cottage in Dorset, the brain patterns of both "Fearless" Foley and an Eastern Alliance defence systems expert are transferred to Joe on the BIG RAT. Later, Joe takes off from the World Air Force base in the VG 104, codenamed "Tiger". After docking with a jet tanker for mid-air refuelling, the boy arrives in the vicinity of the Eastern Alliance base at sunset. Having flown at low altitude to avoid being detected on radar, Joe takes the enemy completely by surprise with his arrival, and successfully sidesteps intense anti-aircraft fire. The "Tiger" is on its launch pad ready for lift-off, but Joe hits the weapon with one shot and the explosion starts a chain reaction, obliterating the rocket base. Triumphant, Joe radios Mac and Loover, promising that he will be home in time for breakfast.
In speaking order:
The "Fearless" Foley puppet is the reused puppet of Dr.Fawn from Captain Scarlet