Avalanche (''Captain Scarlet'')

"Avalanche"
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no. Episode 5
Directed by Brian Burgess
Written by Shane Rimmer
Cinematography by Paddy Seale
Editing by Harry MacDonald
Production code 11
Original air date 27 October 1967
Guest appearance(s)

Voices of:
Gary Files (uncredited) as
Eddie
Trapper
Big Bear Sentry
Martin King (uncredited) as
Red Deer Sentry (Joe)
Cariboo Sentry
Paul Maxwell as
General Ward
Charles Tingwell as
Frost Line Marshal
Jeremy Wilkin as
Lieutenant Burroughs
Radio Actor

"Avalanche" is the fifth episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a 1960s British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company Century 21 Productions. Written by Shane Rimmer and directed by Brian Burgess, it was first broadcast on 27 October 1967 on ATV Midlands.

In this episode, the Mysterons destroy and reconstruct a maintenance technician and his snowcat to attack the Frost Line Outer Space Defence System in Canada.

Plot

The Frost Line Outer Space Defence System is a network of missile complexes in Northern Canada, tasked with defending Earth against extraterrestrial threats.[1] Warning Spectrum that they intend to attack key outposts, the Mysterons use their powers to destroy a snowcat driven by Frost Line maintenance technician Eddie. They then reconstruct both Eddie and the snowcat as agents in their service. Eddie's reconstruction gets past security at both Red Deer and Cariboo Bases and places devices inside their ventilation systems that render the air unbreathable, killing 250 personnel at Red Deer followed by 70 at Cariboo.

In a call to Cloudbase, the belligerent Frost Line commander, General Ward, warns Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) that he will launch missiles at Mars if other bases are attacked – an action that will undoubtedly provoke a violent response from the Mysterons. White orders Captain Scarlet and Lieutenant Green (voiced by Francis Matthews and Cy Grant) to investigate Red Deer. Reaching the base, the officers discover that those inside have suffocated not due to the introduction of toxic gas, but the removal of all the oxygen from the air.

Obtaining a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle from a trapper, Scarlet and Green speed to the next base, Big Bear, only to learn that Eddie has already passed through in his snowcat and that his next stop is Frost Line Command Centre. After knocking out a guard barring entry to the base, Green removes Eddie's oxygen-depletion device from the ventilation system before it affects the air. Meanwhile, Scarlet chases Eddie along a ridge road. The snowcat is carrying liquid oxygen, which Eddie dumps into the SPV's path to force Scarlet off the road. Realising that the Eddie intends to crash his vehicle into the command centre, Scarlet fires his gun into a snow-covered slope nearby; this triggers an avalanche that propels the snowcat over the ridge and onto the rock face below, where it explodes. With the command centre saved, Ward, no less arrogant than before, radios Cloudbase to make peace with White.

Production

Impressed by Shane Rimmer's narration for Thunderbirds's alternative 25-minute episode format, the Andersons decided to commission the actor (who had provided the voice of Scott Tracy) to write an episode for their new series. Rimmer agreed immediately and received a telephone call from Captain Scarlet script editor Tony Barwick, who had an outline for an episode titled "Avalanche" and informed Rimmer that a bike courier would be "'[dropping] the storyline over to you in about an hour. Take today and tomorrow and see how you'd go about filling it in.'" Resigning from his job at a sheet metal factory to focus on this task, Rimmer completed a basic treatment over the next 24 hours; he found the characters and plot elements a "heavy mix to juggle with" but managed to incorporate "one or two workable story developments that avoided stepping on the toes of the series concept or any of the main characters." Rimmer and Barwick revised the draft two days after. After the script was finalised, Rimmer started work on treatments for "Expo 2068" and "Inferno" – jobs that, in his words, "took care of '67".[2]

The script began with a description of the Frost Line Command Centre, said to comprise a number of domed structures: "Deep snow surrounds the plexiglas domes ... From the large central dome acting as a hub, avenues run off in eight directions. At the end of each spoke at varying distances from the centre are smaller domes. Each dome is airtight and serviced by an artificial atmosphere from an air-conditioning dome." Chris Bentley, author of The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide, suggests that the detail of this description did not translate fully from script to screen.[3]

Eddie's snowcat was designed by special effects assistant Mike Trim, who had been interested in snowcats since childhood. The basis for the design was a caterpillar-track truck concept that Trim had produced for the Thunderbirds episode "End of the Road". Trim was obliged to alter the cabin to match the construction of the puppet set, a requirement that he believed limited his ability to be creative and "gave the final model a more upright look than I had hoped for."[4]

The incidental music for "Avalanche" was recorded on 11 June 1967 in a four-hour studio session held at series composer Barry Gray's private studio, where it was performed by a 15-member ensemble.[5] Music for "Spectrum Strikes Back" was recorded on the same day.[5] The principal tracks for "Avalanche" are "Mountain Pass" (which plays during the scene leading up to the death of the original Eddie) and "Deadly Mist and Mountain Chase" (which accompanies Scarlet's pursuit of the snowcat towards the episode's climax).[6]

Reception

James Stansfield of entertainment website Den of Geek ranks "Avalanche" seventh in a list of "top 10" Captain Scarlet episodes, praising its "exciting" climax involving the pursuit of the snowcat.[7] He comments that it is one of several episodes that show the imperfection of humanity, whose "flaws and ineptitude [are] of a bigger danger than the Mysterons".[7] He also argues that General Ward effectively serves as the episode's secondary antagonist.[7] Geoff Willmetts of Sfcrowsnest offers a similar view on Ward's threat of unilateral retaliation, suggesting that Captain Scarlet exposes the militaristic and belligerent aspects of humanity: "This Earth's reality is clearly far too aggressive compared to our own".[8] Reviewing "Avalanche" for FAB magazine in 1993, Ian Fryer praised Rimmer for "cleverly" introducing, in the form of Ward, "a second layer of military as a repository for misgivings about the armed services."[9]

"Avalanche" is one of only a few Captain Scarlet episodes in which the character of Lieutenant Green plays a major part in a Spectrum field operation (here substituting for Captain Blue, who assumes Green's role of communications officer on Cloudbase). Rimmer's use of Green is praised by both Stansfield and commentators Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett.[7][10]

Fryer argues that the total number of deaths seen or reported in the episode (321, not including the demise of the original Eddie) "must surely be a record for an Anderson series", pointing out that despite this high figure the episode is certified U by the British Board of Film Classification.[9] Stansfield, who notes the violent manner of the original Eddie's death, argues that this figure is "easily ... the highest body count of the series" and "a pretty large number for any TV show, let alone one for youngsters".[7]

References

  1. ↑ The script describes the location thus: "[The Frost Line Outer Space Defence System] stretches in a number of similar bases three thousand miles across Northern Canada." (Bentley 2008, p. 126.)
  2. ↑ Rimmer, Shane (2010). Shane Rimmer: My Autobiography – From Thunderbirds To Pterodactyls. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 80–84. ISBN 978-0-9566534-0-6.
  3. ↑ Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Anthony; Trim, Mike (2006). The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: Hermes Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-932563-82-5.
  5. 1 2 de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  6. ↑ de Klerk, Theo (26 October 2017). "Barry Gray Discography" (PDF). barrygray.co.uk. p. 22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Stansfield, James (6 September 2012). "Top 10 Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons Episodes". Den of Geek. London, UK: Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Willmetts, Geoff (January 2002). "The Mysteron Menace". Sfcrowsnest. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  9. 1 2 Fryer, Ian (1993). "'Avalanche' Episode Review". FAB. No. 66. Bradford, UK: Fanderson. p. 28.
  10. ↑ Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: Boxtree. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-85283-403-6.
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