Model Spy
| "Model Spy" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode | |||
| Episode no. | Episode 14 | ||
| Directed by | Ken Turner | ||
| Written by | Bill Hedley | ||
| Cinematography by | Julien Lugrin | ||
| Editing by | John Beaton | ||
| Production code | 18 | ||
| Original air date | 29 December 1967 | ||
| Guest actors | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episodes | |||
"Model Spy" is the 14th episode of the British Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. First broadcast in the United Kingdom on 29 December 1967 on ATV Midlands, it was written by Bill Hedley and directed by Ken Turner.
In this episode, when the Mysterons threaten to kill a French intelligence agent who is posing as a fashion designer, Captains Scarlet and Blue and Destiny and Symphony Angels go undercover to protect the target.
Plot
The Mysterons threaten to assassinate André Verdain. Publicly, Verdain is a little-known French fashion designer; privately, however, he is the Controller of the European Area Intelligence Service in Paris. Colonel White suspects that an attempt on Verdain's life will most likely be made during a fashion show that he is due to host in Monte Carlo the following week. He assigns Captains Scarlet and Blue and Destiny and Symphony Angels to an undercover mission to protect Verdain.
Scarlet poses as a PR officer, Blue a photographer, and Destiny and Symphony models in the employ of the House of Verdain. The Spectrum agents fly directly to Monte Carlo to avoid the fog-bound Paris airports. They are not the only ones to be acting undercover, however: unknown to their employer, two of Verdain's models, Helga and Gabrielle, have died in a train derailment and been reconstructed in the service of the Mysterons. When the Spectrum agents join Verdain for a cruise around Monte Carlo bay in his luxury yacht, Gabrielle sabotages a fuel release in the engine room; a fire is started, and all onboard abandon ship only moments before the yacht is destroyed in an explosion.
Ignoring Scarlet's recommendations that it be postponed, Verdain prepares for a press reception scheduled for that evening at the Hotel Imperial. An agent resembling Captain Black has recently been sighted in Europe, and Verdain is certain that he will appear at the reception. At a cocktail party prior to the event, Scarlet is given positive proof that Gabrielle is a Mysteron agent when the model mentions that she and Helga flew to Monte Carlo from Paris when flights into the capital had been cancelled. At this moment, Black, stationed on a maintenance cradle on the other side of a window, shoots Verdain with a tranquilliser gun. Helga switches off the lights, and in the confusion, Black and his accomplice abduct Verdain and depart from the hotel in a saloon car.
The Spectrum agents converge on the position of the Mysteron agents with the aid of a homing drug that Scarlet had slipped into Verdain's drink. Scarlet and Blue give chase in both a convertible and a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, while Destiny and Symphony track the hostile car in a helicopter. Finally, Black and Helga notice that they are pinned down between the forces of Spectrum and a police roadblock. Helga throws Verdain out of the car and the agent regains consciousness in time to see Black, Helga and their vehicle vanish. Later, Verdain expresses his gratitude to his protectors, presenting Destiny and Symphony with gowns courtesy of the House of Verdain.
Continuity
The Mysteron's "vanishing power" is seen again in this episode. It is first seen in "The Heart of New York" and is seen again in "Inferno". Lieutenant Green is seen for the first and only time onboard Cloudbase wearing his Spectrum cap in a scene in which he, Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue discuss the Mysteron threat against Verdain.
Production
The model of Monte Carlo Bay had previously appeared in the Thunderbirds episode "The Man From MI.5"[1] and would make a further re-appearance in the Joe 90 episode "The Race". In a four-hour studio session held on 27 August 1967, incidental music for both this episode and "The Trap" was recorded by Barry Gray, with an orchestra of 16 musicians.[2] Two pieces, "Models on a Train" and "Cocktail Music", are included on the commercial CD release of the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons soundtracks.[3][4]
Reception
Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett write that "Model Spy"'s theme of undercover espionage and its Monte Carlo setting add up to a "Man from UNCLE-type episode" that represents a "break from the routine".[5] Drake and Bassett also praise the technical work on display during the climactic car chase sequence, which features "under control" Supermarionation puppets controlled by levers from underneath as opposed to strings from above: there are "convincing antics from a couple of stringless puppets towards the end."[5]
References
- ↑ Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London: Carlton Books. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-84222-405-2.
- ↑ de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ↑ "Captain Scarlet Music CD Release Information". soundtrack-express.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ↑ Peter, Marsh (17 November 2003). "Barry Gray: Captain Scarlet Original Soundtrack Review". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London: Boxtree. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-85283-403-6.
External links
- "Model Spy" at TV.com
- "Model Spy" at Fanderson.org.uk
- "Model Spy" at TheVervoid.com
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