Manhunt (Captain Scarlet)

"Manhunt" is the fourth episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 20 October 1967 on ATV Midlands, was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Alan Perry. In this episode, Spectrum launches a ground search for Captain Black after he becomes detectable on long-range Geiger counters.

Plot

The Culver Atomic Centre has been infiltrated by Captain Black, who is forced to quickly slip away after he is discovered by security staff. Entering a radioactive area, he is exposed to a short-life atomic isotope, which leaves him detectable on long-range Geiger counters for a period of 48 hours. Spectrum, which now has proof that Black has been a Mysteron agent since the Zero-X mission's return to Earth, begins a ground search with Detector Trucks in an attempt to capture him.

Within the search area around the Culver Atomic Centre, Black murders a fuel station mechanic to access a concealed Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle. When Captains Scarlet and Blue arrive to requisition the SPV, they encounter the Mysteron reconstruction of the mechanic, who attempts to shoot them but is gunned down by Scarlet. The Detector Trucks pick up Black's trace as he speeds down a highway. Captain Ochre mounts a roadblock to stop him, but Black is warned of the obstruction by the Mysteron voice and ordered to return to the Culver Atomic Centre, where he will be undetectable to Spectrum within the surrounding radiation. Symphony Angel, sighting Black from the air, lands her interceptor nearby. She is abducted by Black, who drives through the Culver gates to gain entry to the complex.

By night, the Spectrum forces have converged on the Atomic Centre. Inside, Black forces Symphony into an isolation chamber and subjects her to lethal radiation, but switches off the controls before his hostage dies. Instead, he forces Symphony to drive out of the atomic centre in the SPV. While Scarlet and the others pursue the vehicle, believing that Black is the driver, the entrance to the complex is left unguarded, enabling Black to pass through a cleansing facility to remove his radiation before escaping. Spectrum becomes aware of the deception when Symphony inadvertently crashes the SPV.

Production

Captain Black's release of Symphony in "Manhunt" marks one of the few occasions in Captain Scarlet when his morality overpowers the Mysteron influence controlling his body. The episode is not the last to feature Spectrum coming within striking distance of Black — the organisation makes a second attempt to capture him in "Treble Cross", which incorporates footage recycled from this episode. "Manhunt" also introduces David Healy as a voice actor for Captain Scarlet, here providing the voices of a Culver guard and a Spectrum geiger counter operator.

The music heard on the mechanic's radio in the scene when he is murdered by Black was originally the title music for Gerry Anderson's film Crossroads to Crime (1960).^[1] Other incidental music featured in "Manhunt" was recorded by Barry Gray on 16 April 1967^[2] with tracks for the preceding episode, "Big Ben Strikes Again".^[2] The studio session, which ran for four hours,^[2] used a 14-member orchestra^[2] and produced 4 minutes 7 seconds of music.^[3]

Reception

In The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, writers Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping suggest that "Manhunt" amounts to "little more than left-over Thunderbirds scripts".^[4]

References

External links

• "Manhunt" at TV.com
• "Manhunt" at Fanderson.org.uk
• "Manhunt" at TheVervoid.com