Expo 2068

"Expo 2068"
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no. Episode 25
Directed by Leo Eaton
Written by Shane Rimmer
Produced by Julien Lugrin
Editing by Harry MacDonald
Production code 23
Original air date 26 March 1968 (1968-03-26)
Guest appearance(s)

Voices of:
Jeremy Wilkin as
Dr Sommers
Neil McCallum as
Raynor (uncredited)[1]
Gary Files as
Driver
Lumberjack
Martin King as
Security Captain
Seneca Operator

"Expo 2068" is the 25th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons It was first broadcast in the UK on 26 March 1968 on ATV Midlands, was written by Shane Rimmer and directed by Leo Eaton. In this episode, the Mysterons steal a nuclear reactor to bring devastation to the Atlantic Seaboard of North America, damaging Earth's prestige.

Plot

A transporter delivering a nuclear reactor to the Manicougan Power Complex is destroyed by the Mysterons, who reconstruct driver, vehicle and cargo as part of their plan to damage Earth's prestige by destroying the Atlantic Seaboard of North America. Expo 2068, a futuristic building development, is under construction, with a fleet of Seneca remote-controlled helicopters ferrying various materials to the site. Captain Black infiltrates the Seneca control room and holds the operator at gunpoint, forcing him to divert a helicopter to a woodland clearing. The reconstructed driver transfers the reactor from the transporter to the helicopter's holding crate.

When a lumberjack stumbles across the scene, the driver shoots him and leaves him for dead. Captains Scarlet and Blue have been pursuing the transporter in a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and find the wounded man, who is taken into hospital. The thermal safety valve on the reactor has been removed — without it, the reactor will overheat and explode. The officers continue to pursue the transporter but the driver, desperate to evade Spectrum, is killed when he crashes the vehicle. Finding that the reactor has disappeared, Scarlet and Blue remember that the lumberjack was muttering "Seneca", and rush to Expo 2068.

At the site, Black orders the operator to position the helicopter directly over the Expo Tower to ensure maximum destruction when the reactor, which is approaching critical temperature, detonates. When Scarlet and Blue arrive, he commands his hostage to crash the helicopter immediately. The man refuses to comply and is shot, but Black's bullet damages the controls, causing the helicopter to become unsteady in flight. Wearing a jet pack, Scarlet glides up to the cargo crate and cuts through the wood with a saw. He ultimately succeeds in stabilising the reactor by disconnecting some external circuits, but the helicopter crashes with him inside. Blue returns Scarlet's body to Cloudbase so that he can revive.

Continuity

The Mysterons' vanishing power is seen again in this episode when they switch a signpost for a road diversion, causing the original transporter truck to fall into a ravine. It is also shown in "The Heart of New York", "Model Spy" and "Inferno".

Production

A number of plot changes were made in the transition from script to final edit. The original script for this episode includes a scene in which Scarlet and Blue requisition their Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (number 442) at a village shop[1][2] from a manager wearing a nightgown and a baseball cap.[1][2] It is also explicitly stated that the Mysterons intend to lower Earth's prestige and destroy the Atlantic Seaboard by crashing the nuclear reactor into Expo 2068, the actual target of their threat,[1][2] although in the completed episode a line of dialogue from Colonel White suggests that the target is the Manicougan Power Complex.[1] Barry Gray composed a separate score for this episode as opposed to reusing tracks from earlier episodes.[3] The recording took place along with that for the later episode "Attack on Cloudbase"[3] on 3 December 1967,[3] as part of the final musical work completed for the series. One featured piece, "The Reactor",[4][5] is included on the CD release of the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons soundtracks.[4][5]

Reception

Historian Nicholas J. Cull recognises "Expo 2068" as one of several Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons scripts created by Tony Barwick which prominently feature a theme of the dangers of nuclear technology,[6] describing this as a "favourite device"[6] of Barwick.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4 ed.). Richmond, London: Reynolds and Hearn. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. Carlton Books. p. 86. ISBN 1-84222-405-0.
  3. 1 2 3 de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete studio-recording list of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  4. 1 2 Peter, Marsh (17 November 2003). "Barry Gray: Captain Scarlet Original Soundtrack Review". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Captain Scarlet Music CD Release Information". soundtrack-express.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  6. 1 2 Cull, Nicholas J. (August 2006). "Was Captain Black really red? The TV Science Fiction of Gerry Anderson in its Cold War Context". Media History. Routledge. 12 (2): 198, 205. doi:10.1080/13688800600808005. ISSN 1368-8804. OCLC 364457089.

External links

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