White as Snow (''Captain Scarlet'')

"White as Snow"
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no. Episode 6
Directed by Robert Lynn
Written by Peter Curran
David Williams
Cinematography by Julien Lugrin
Editing by Harry MacDonald
Production code SCA 8[1]
Original air date 3 November 1967 (1967-11-03)
Guest appearance(s)

Voices of:
Gary Files (uncredited) as
DJ Bob Lynn
Ensign Soames
Martin King (uncredited) as
TVR-17 Controller
Paul Maxwell as
USS Panther II Captain
Charles Tingwell as
Lieutenant Belmont
Jeremy Wilkin as
Helijet Pilot

"White as Snow" is the sixth episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by Peter Curran and David Williams and directed by Robert Lynn, it was first broadcast on 3 November 1967 on ATV Midlands.

In this episode, the Mysterons, announcing that they intend to assassinate Colonel White, almost succeed in crashing a reconstructed space satellite into Cloudbase. They make another attempt on White's life when the colonel goes into hiding on board a navy submarine.

Plot

Manned communications satellite TVR-17 is destroyed when Captain Black infiltrates the mission control building on Earth and changes the spacecraft's flight path, causing it to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up. Reconstructing TVR-17 and its crew, the Mysterons lock the satellite on a collision course with Cloudbase. The reconstruction is shot down by Symphony Angel despite the protests of Captain Scarlet, who questions whether TVR-17 is really under Mysteron control.

When the Mysterons threaten his life, Colonel White realises that TVR-17 was targeting him personally and decides to leave Cloudbase for the safety of others. He appoints Captain Blue acting controller of Cloudbase after Scarlet, who is angry that White ordered the satellite's destruction, refuses the role. However, when the wreckage of the original TVR-17 is discovered, Scarlet regrets his actions. He asks Lieutenant Green if he knows White's destination, but Green has orders to remain silent.

Posing as Robert Snow, a deep-sea fisherman, White boards the World Navy submarine USS Panther II. As the submarine prepares to dive, Ensign Soames gets his foot caught in a chain on the open deck and drowns as the vessel submerges. Later, the Panther II captain appoints the Mysteron reconstruction of Soames as White's steward.

Entering White's cabin with a gun, Soames shoots the occupant, but with a last effort his victim returns fire and kills Soames. It is then revealed the man in the cabin is not White, who is discovered bound and gagged in a storage compartment – having been left there by Scarlet, who was killed disguised as White.

Back on Cloudbase, the revived Scarlet tells White that he pulled rank on Green to learn his whereabouts, used his Spectrum ID to pass navy security and stowed away on board the Panther II before it left its base. Although White sentences Scarlet to death for gross insubordination, he realises that execution would be pointless as Scarlet is indestructible.

Production

Filming for this episode commenced on 6 March 1967.[2] A continuity error results in the Mysteron reconstruction of Soames holding different models of gun between shots as he prepares to kill Colonel White.

As scripted, the episode begins with the Mysterons simply using their powers to take control of TVR-17 remotely.[3][4] The scenes of Captain Black hi-jacking ground control and engineering the original satellite's destruction were added when the first cut of the episode was found to be too short.[5] The ground control room and the TVR-17 communications room, which were made especially for the new scenes, were built at opposite ends of the same set.[5] The computer props that appear in the background of the set were originally made for the Thunderbirds episode "Ricochet".[5]

The TVR-17 model was designed by Mike Trim.[6] As an in-joke, the satellite's resident DJ Bob Lynn is named after the episode's director, Robert Lynn.[3][4]

The track played by TVR-17, written by series composer Barry Gray, is itself titled "White as Snow"[3] and was recorded along with this episode's other incidental music on 28 May 1967 in a four-hour studio session using a 14-member orchestra.[7] The Hammond organ notes were played by Gray himself.[7] "White as Snow" can also be heard in the episode "Special Assignment" as well as in various episodes of Joe 90 and The Secret Service.[3] A commercial version of "White as Snow" is included on the CD release of the Captain Scarlet soundtrack.[8]

Reception

Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, authors of The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, praise "White as Snow" for its depiction of "Scarlet [losing] faith in Colonel White", naming the episode one of "the finest pieces in the Anderson canon".[9] Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett comment positively on the portrayal of Captain Blue,[10] who makes the most of his stint as head of Cloudbase by ordering the Angels to carry out unnecessary target practice and scheduling pointless lectures for the base's other personnel. Drake and Bassett argue that this characterisation adds humour to the episode.[10]

James Stansfield of the website Den of Geek ranks "White as Snow" third in his list of the "top 10" Captain Scarlet episodes, arguing that Blue's "humorous tenure" as White's replacement helps to make it "probably the funniest episode" of the series. He applauds the tension between Scarlet and White, noting that as the episode is "one of the earliest of the series, [this is] one of the first times we see the different personalities in Spectrum come out".[11]

References

  1. ↑ Bentley 2017, p. 58.
  2. ↑ Bentley 2017, p. 53.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  4. 1 2 Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London, UK: Carlton Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-84222-405-2.
  5. 1 2 3 Bentley 2017, p. 59.
  6. ↑ Bentley 2017, p. 85.
  7. 1 2 de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  8. ↑ 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 20 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1996). The Guinness Book of Classic British TV. Middlesex, UK: Guinness Publishing. p. 332. ISBN 9780851126289.
  10. 1 2 Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London, UK: Boxtree. p. 56. ISBN 9781852834036.
  11. ↑ 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 3 October 2015.
Bibliography
  • Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus, ed. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books/Flashpoint Media. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
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