Point 783

"Point 783" is the 13th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 22 December 1967 (1967-12-22) on ATV Midlands, was written by Peter Curran and David Williams and directed by Robert Lynn. In this episode, the Mysterons attempt to kill the Supreme Commander of Earth Forces.

Plot

The episode begins with a demonstration of the latest in computer-controlled weaponry — the Unitron, an unmanned tank impervious to almost all weapons. It is controlled by an operator or can be pre-programmed to attack a designated target until it is totally destroyed.

Two army officers (Major Brooks and Colonel Storm) are killed in a car crash engineered by the Mysterons and re-created to assassinate the Supreme Commander. At a conference headed by the Commander and Captains Scarlet and Blue, in which Scarlet's "sixth sense" for Mysterons is evident, the Mysterons use Brooks as a walking bomb to try and kill the Commander in the same way they had tried to kill the World President. However this attempt is foiled when Scarlet trips the emergency system in response to his sixth sense. This leaves the second Mysteron agent Colonel Storm to kill the commander.

The Supreme Commander is taken by Captain Blue to Point 783, a military blockhouse on a test range in the Sahara Desert to observe the demonstration of the Unitron. The meeting is also attended by Storm. The demonstration initially proceeds according to plan with the vehicle swiftly destroying a selection of targets. This is until the Commander decides to step outside the bunker, at which point the Unitron starts to attack the building by firing shells from its main gun and then a flamethrower at the blockhouse which starts to weaken under heavy fire. Undamaged by attacks from the Spectrum Angels, the tank moves in for the kill.

Captain Scarlet requisitions a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle to remove the Commander from the danger. Blue is left in the blockhouse and leaves the Commander in the care of Storm. The SPV speeds away from the building as the Unitron closes in, however after ramming the bunker the tank turns off in pursuit of the SPV. It is then revealed that Storm has programmed it to attack himself rather than just the blockhouse.

Scarlet reasons that this is the case and is held at gunpoint by Storm who shoots him several times at point-blank range. Despite this, Scarlet still manages to eject both himself and the Supreme Commander to safety, leaving Storm in the SPV. The SPV, with Storm still in it, is chased by the Unitron until both vehicles crash when they plummet over a cliff. The Supreme Commander is rescued by Spectrum agents while the wounded Scarlet is taken away for treatment. At the end of the episode Captain Blue explains that the Mysterons will stop trying to kill the Supreme Commander because their agents have been killed.

Music

Incidental music specially created for "Point 783" includes a track titled "The SHEF March"^[1][2] which accompanies the sequences of the Supreme Commander arriving at SHEF Headquarters. The march can also be heard in various episodes of later Supermarionation productions, such as "Business Holiday", an episode of Joe 90. All music for "Point 783" was recorded in a single four-hour^[3] studio session held on 30 April 1967 (1967-04-30),^[3] which incorporated an orchestra of 14 musicians.^[3]

Reception

In a review published in the Gerry Anderson-related fanzine Andersonic, Vincent Law interprets the plot involving the Unitron as a negative commentary on technological advancements in automation and mechanisation.^[4] He compares "Point 783" to "Recall to Service", an episode of The Secret Service featuring a malfunctioning superweapon called the AquaTank, and to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Ultimate Computer".^[4] For Law, "Point 783" is "quite a bloodthirsty installment" of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, in part due to the accident that kills the human Colonel Storm and Major Brooks.^[4] The explosion of the reconstructed Brooks reinforces the "very alien" nature of the Mysterons, whose ability to self-destruct prompts Law to compare Brooks to a Second World War-era Kamikaze pilot.^[4] However, he considers some elements of the Mysteron plot confusing, citing the brief appearance of the tanker: "... it appears that they've reconstructed the tanker driver whom they use to kill the two officers in a crash, both of whom are then recreated to do the assassinating. Just a tad long-winded."^[4] The highlights, according to Law, are the special effects: the Angels' assault on the Unitron is "what Century 21 is, in a nutshell - fast editing, great music, big explosions and unrelenting action."^[4] He summarises "Point 783" as "a snapshot of what Captain Scarlet is all about" as well as "visually and technically impressive, loud and exciting, yet perhaps just a tad flawed at script level".^[4]

References

External links

• "Point 783" at TV.com
• "Point 783" at Fanderson.org.uk
• "Point 783" at CliveBanks.co.uk
• "Point 783" at TheVervoid.com