Winged Assassin

"Winged Assassin"
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no. Episode 02
Directed by David Lane
Written by Tony Barwick
Cinematography by Paddy Seale
Editing by Harry MacDonald
Production code 02
Original air date 6 October 1967 (1967-10-06)
Guest actors

Voices of:
Janna Hill as
Intercontinental Airlines Announcer
Martin King as
DT19 Co-Pilot
Paul Maxwell as
DT19 Pilot
Neil McCallum as
Airport Chief (uncredited)[1]
Charles Tingwell as
Captain Brown (flashback)
Spectrum Agent 042
Airport Operator
Jeremy Wilkin as
Director General Xian Yoh
Director General Impersonator

"Winged Assassin" is the second episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by Tony Barwick and directed by David Lane, it was first broadcast on 6 October 1967 on ATV Midlands. In this episode, Captain Scarlet establishes his indestructibility as Spectrum attempts to prevent the assassination of the Director-General of the United Asian Republic at the hands of the Mysterons.

Due to similarities between the storyline and the September 11 attacks, "Winged Assassin" was postponed when Captain Scarlet was repeated in the UK on BBC Two in 2001.[1] In 1980, footage from "Winged Assassin" was re-edited and incorporated into the Captain Scarlet compilation film Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons.

Plot

The Mysterons vow to assassinate the Director-General of the United Asian Republic, who is currently on a state visit to the United Kingdom. An initial attempt to kill Xian Yoh in his London hotel room is thwarted by the swift action of his bodyguard, Spectrum agent Captain Grey (voice of Paul Maxwell). Maximum security is subsequently imposed at London International Airport, where the Director-General is to board his private jet and leave the country. With the permission of Colonel White (Donald Gray), the Mysteron reconstruction of Captain Scarlet (Francis Matthews), which has assumed the consciousness of the deceased officer and is now effectively "indestructible", returns to active duty; Scarlet departs Cloudbase with Captain Blue (Ed Bishop) to head the operation. Meanwhile, the Mysterons use their powers to trigger mechanical failure on board the airliner Delta-Tango 19, which is destroyed on impact with the Atlantic Ocean. A reconstruction of the aircraft, devoid of crew and passengers, continues on the original flight path from New York to London.

A double of Xian is driven to London Airport in a decoy motorcade. The Director-General himself arrives in Yellow Fox, a Spectrum transporter disguised as an aircraft fuel tanker. When DT19 lands a short distance from Xian's jet, Scarlet is briefly overcome by nausea – unknown to him, forewarning that the Director-General is in danger. Breaking away from the terminal building, DT19 rolls forward, poised to crush the jet. Leaving the Control Tower in their Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, Scarlet and Blue prepare to fire on DT19's undercarriage, only for SPV's cannon to malfunction. Having activated Blue's ejector seat, Scarlet rams the wheels with the SPV; although the airliner is brought to a stand-still, the SPV collides with a radar bunker and Scarlet is fatally injured. The Director-General's jet takes off, but remains too low to avoid the crippled DT19: it clips the other aircraft's wing and crashes into a field, killing all on board. As Scarlet's body is taken away in an ambulance, Blue assures the airport chief that, despite Spectrum's defeat, Scarlet will return to fight the Mysterons again.

Production

"Winged Assassin" is the first episode to feature Neil McCallum as a guest actor. He made uncredited contributions to three further episodes: "Big Ben Strikes Again", "Codename Europa" and "Expo 2068". The incidental music – a suite running to 4 minutes 38 seconds – was recorded by Barry Gray in a four-hour studio session on 3 April 1967.[2][3] According to dialogue, the events of "Winged Assassin" are set on 10 July, supposedly along with those of "Treble Cross" and the conclusion of "Flight to Atlantica".[4][5] Writer Tony Barwick sometimes inserted references to this date into his scripts since 10 July was his birthday.[6] A flashback to the murders of Captains Scarlet and Brown in "The Mysterons" omits the blue monochrome effect that was originally used to indicate the Mysterons' presence.[1][7] "Winged Assassin" marks the first appearance of Mysteron "rings", which trail the reconstruction of DT19.

Broadcast

"Winged Assassin" was originally scheduled to be broadcast on 8 October 1967 in the ATV London transmission area, but was postponed due to the death of Clement Attlee the same day.[8] It was replaced by a tribute programme commemorating the former Prime Minister.[8]

When Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons returned to British television in a digitally-remastered format in September 2001, "Winged Assassin" was originally due to be transmitted as the second episode (reflecting the series' continuity, as well as the production order).[1] However, the BBC Two broadcast was pushed back from 17 September 2001 due to similarities between the story, in which the Mysterons effectively "hi-jack" an airliner, and the September 11 attacks of the previous week.[1][9][10] The cancellation coincided with the temporary removal of the Captain Scarlet section of the Carlton website.[10] "Winged Assassin" was ultimately broadcast several weeks later in the schedule.[1]

Reception

"Winged Assassin" is considered one of the best episodes of Captain Scarlet by Anthony Clark of sci-fi-online.com and Mike Fillis of Cult Times and Ultimate DVD magazines.[11][12][13] Fillis in particular reserves praise for special effects director Derek Meddings' "miniature magic" with the scale model of the DT19 airliner.[13] Rick Sanchez, reviewer for the website IGN, judges the scene in which Scarlet ejects Blue from the SPV an example of superior scriptwriting for its narrative suspense.[14]

The British Board of Film Classification notes that "Winged Assassin" features "some action and mild horror", despite its U certificate.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bentley: 2008, p. 121.
  2. ↑ "Captain Scarlet Music CD Release Information". soundtrack-express.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  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 14 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London: Boxtree. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-852834-03-6.
  5. ↑ Bentley 2008, p. 134.
  6. ↑ Bentley 2001, p. 78.
  7. ↑ Bentley 2001, p. 60.
  8. 1 2 Billen, Andrew (21 February 2005). "Andrew Billen – Red-Hot Hero". New Statesman (London: Spencer Neal). ISSN 1364-7431. OCLC 35012871. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  9. ↑ "Toonhound.com Entry". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  10. 1 2 "The Hound – October 2001: Scarlet Faces ...". toonhound.com. October 2001. Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  11. ↑ Clark, Anthony (2006). "DVD: Captain Scarlet (New) Series 2 Box Set". sci-fi-online.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Fillis, Mike (October 2001). "Instant Guide to Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons". Cult Times (Visual Imagination) (73). ISSN 1360-6530. OCLC 47688483. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  13. 1 2 Fillis, Mike (October 2001). "Reviews: Region 2". Ultimate DVD (Visual Imagination) (22). OCLC 65428612. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  14. ↑ Sanchez, Rick (19 June 2002). "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons DVD Box Set Review". IGN. San Francisco, California: IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  15. ↑ "'Winged Assassin' rated 'U' by the BBFC". bbfc.co.uk. London: British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
Bibliography

External links

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