| "King for a Day" | |||
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| Joe 90 episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 7 |
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| Directed by | Leo Eaton | ||
| Written by | Shane Rimmer | ||
| Production code | 11 | ||
| Original air date | 10 November 1968 | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Joe 90 episodes | |||
"King for a Day" is the seventh episode of the Supermarionation television series Joe 90. It was the 11th episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was 10 November 1968 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Shane Rimmer and directed by Leo Eaton.
Contents |
When a Middle Eastern ruler is assassinated and his heir is kidnapped by the murderers, it is up to Joe to impersonate the young prince to prevent a corrupt Regent from coming to power. However, the mission takes a disastrous turn and Joe finds himself in mortal danger.
Ben Shazaar, regent of the Middle Eastern kingdom of Ardaji, plots to seize the crown for himself and ally his country with stronger powers in the East. To this end, he assassinates the Sultan while he is en route to his palace. His associate, Salim, lowers a large mirror from the ceiling of a tunnel; dazzled by the headlamps reflected in the mirror, the driver of the royal car loses control and crashes. The second obstacle between Shazaar and the throne - Prince Kahib, the Sultan's young grandson and heir apparent - is removed when Shazaar's agents kidnap the boy from his preparatory school in England.
Royal custom dictates that the rightful heir to the throne must enter Ardaji within 24 hours and be crowned no later than 24 hours thereafter. While WIN tracks down the Prince - whose disappearance Shane Weston and Sam Loover have already connected to the Regent - Joe 90 must assume Kahib's identity for one day to prevent Shazaar's accession. Professor McClaine transfers the brain impulses of Professor Edward Myers, the Prince's tutor, to Joe via the BIG RAT. With his skin and hair darkened, and equipped with an emergency homing device, Joe flies out to Ardaji by private jet, Mac and Sam posing as chaperones.
News of Kahib's arrival dismays Shazaar, who had been assured that his rival was under heavy guard in England. He suspects that Joe is an impostor; however, when faced with the expert knowledge that Joe has acquired, he is convinced that the boy really is Kahib and orders Salim to remove him from the palace at once. On the morning of the coronation, Mac and Sam awake from a drug-induced sleep to find that Joe has been abducted and immediately set off in a car. While they lock onto the boy's homing signal, Shane reports from London that Kahib has been rescued and is bound for Ardaji.
Meanwhile, in a desert hideout, Joe has been bound to a chair and Shazaar states that he will return to the palace and claim the succession once the 24-hour deadline has passed. To his horror, a radio broadcast announces the appearance of Kahib, prompting Joe to reveal his true identity. Outraged at Salim's attempts to persuade him to go into hiding, Shazaar guns down his accomplice and engages in a brief firefight with Mac and Sam, shooting out their fuel tank and speeding off in another car. Believing that his enemies have activated the mirror, he scoffs at the lights in the tunnel, realising too late that they belong to a lorry travelling in the opposite direction. The car and the lorry collide and the Regent is incinerated in the explosion. At the conclusion of Prince Kahib's coronation, Mac, Sam and Shane congratulate Joe for his performance as king for a day.
In speaking order:
Trivia - The Guards on the palace door are reused puppets of "Lieutenant Green" from Captain Scarlet