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 SCA 29[1]
Original air date 26 March 1968
Guest appearance(s)

Voices of:
Gary Files as
Driver
Lumberjack
Martin King as
Security Captain
Seneca Operator
Neil McCallum (uncredited) as
Raynor[2]
Jeremy Wilkin as
Dr Sommers

"Expo 2068" is the 25th episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a 1960s British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by Shane Rimmer and directed by Leo Eaton, it was first broadcast on 26 March 1968 on ATV Midlands.

In this episode, the Mysterons steal a nuclear reactor in a bid to devastate the Atlantic Seaboard of North America.

Plot

In Quebec, Canada,[1] a nuclear reactor is being shipped to the Manicougan Power Complex by transporter truck. Captain Black (voiced by Donald Gray) switches a road sign to divert the transporter driver onto an unfinished bridge, sending the vehicle crashing into a ravine. The Mysterons reconstruct the driver, the transporter and the reactor as part of a plan to lower Earth's prestige by destroying the Atlantic Seaboard of North America.

Meanwhile, a fleet of the Seneca company's remote-controlled helicopters is flying building materials to the construction site of Expo 2068. Infiltrating the Seneca tower, Black holds the helicopter operator at gunpoint, forcing him to divert one of the helicopters to a woodland clearing. There, the transporter driver loads the reactor into the helicopter's holding crate. After the transfer he is discovered by a passing lumberjack, whom he shoots and leaves for dead.

While pursuing the transporter in a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop) come across the wounded lumberjack and have him taken to hospital. They also discover that the reactor's thermal safety valve has been removed — without it, the reactor will overheat and explode. They resume their pursuit and the transporter driver, desperate to evade Spectrum, is killed when he crashes his vehicle. With the reactor nowhere to be found, Scarlet and Blue recall that the lumberjack kept muttering the word "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 explodes. When Scarlet and Blue arrive, Black demands that the operator crash the helicopter, but the operator refuses. Black shoots him, in the process damaging the controls and disrupting the helicopter's flight pattern. Equipped with a jet pack and a saw, Scarlet flies up to the helicopter and cuts his way into the cargo crate to find the reactor at critical temperature. He succeeds in stabilising the reactor by disconnecting its external circuits, but is killed when the helicopter crashes into a building and explodes. Blue flies Scarlet's body back to Cloudbase.

Production

"Expo 2068" was filmed between October and November 1967 on Century 21 Studios' Stage 4.[1] It was the final episode of Captain Scarlet to be shot on that stage; the next production to go before the Stage 4 unit was "The Most Special Agent", the first episode of Joe 90.[1]

The script included several scenes that were edited or deleted to prevent the episode from over-running.[1] One of the deleted scenes shows Scarlet and Blue obtaining their SPV (which is said to be number 442) from a village shop whose owner is dressed in nightclothes and a baseball cap.[2][3] Two expository scenes – one explaining the purpose of the nuclear reactor, the other summarising the history of the Manicougan Power Complex – were also removed, and some of Blue's dialogue in the final scene was cut.[1]

The script also clarified the Mysterons' intentions, with Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) deducing that the aliens plan to damage Earth's prestige by destroying Expo 2068 in a nuclear explosion.[1] This dialogue was cut from the final edit, with the result that the target is instead implied to be the Manicougan Power Complex.[1][2][3] According to the script, Expo 2068 is "equivalent to our World's Fair but on an enormous scale".[1]

"Expo 2068" is one of 18 episodes of Captain Scarlet for which composer Barry Gray wrote a full score, which was the last to be produced for the series. This was recorded on 3 December 1967 in a four-hour studio session with an ensemble of 14 instrumentalists, after the score for "Attack on Cloudbase".[1][4] A piece of incidental music from "Expo 2068", titled "The Reactor", is included on the CD release of the Captain Scarlet soundtrack.[5][6][7]

Reception

Media historian Nicholas J. Cull cites "Expo 2068" as one of several Captain Scarlet episodes written by Tony Barwick that focus on the dangers of nuclear technology, which he describes as Barwick's "favourite device".[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus, ed. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  3. 1 2 Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-842224-05-2.
  4. ↑ de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  5. ↑ 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 11 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Eder, Bruce. "Captain Scarlet [Original TV Soundtrack] Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  7. ↑ Marsh, Peter (17 November 2003). "Barry Gray: Captain Scarlet Original Soundtrack Review". BBC Online. BBC. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  8. ↑ 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.
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