Attack on Cloudbase
| "Attack on Cloudbase" |
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"Attack on Cloudbase" is the 31st episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was the 30th episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was May 7, 1968 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Ken Turner.
Synopsis
After Symphony Angel is shot down over a desert, the Mysterons themselves arrive on Earth to launch a devastating assault on Cloudbase. As the base is surrounded by lethal UFOs, will its personnel survive?
Plot
While on patrol over a desert, Symphony Angel hears a strange whirring sound and the rear of her jet suddenly explodes. Forced to eject, she watches the craft nosedive to the ground before she passes out in the heat. Meanwhile, the Mysterons warn Spectrum that Cloudbase will be annihilated.
Destiny Angel is dispatched to search for Symphony, but Colonel White’s decision to recall her to defend Cloudbase sparks a fierce argument between him and Captain Blue, who admits that he is attracted to Symphony. White refuses to let him join ground search forces, stating that any craft approaching or leaving Cloudbase will be destroyed.
With all Cloudbase personnel on red alert in view of the Mysteron threat, all is quiet until midnight, when Captain Magenta detects a large trace on the radar. Rhapsody Angel is launched for reconnaissance and discovers a green, spinning, disc-shaped spacecraft. She is urged by Colonel White to return to Cloudbase immediately, but the whirring sounds again and Rhapsody is hidden by a blast of pink smoke before her jet explodes in mid-air. In Cloudbase control, White grimly deduces that the Mysterons themselves have arrived on Earth to carry out their threat.
In an emergency meeting, the Colonel announces that Cloudbase is now positioned above the Himalayas to avoid civilian casualties in an inevitable attack. While night falls in the desert and Symphony remains unconscious, further traces appear on the Cloudbase radar. Captain Scarlet volunteers to replace Destiny to investigate, but his interceptor is also hit by the Mysterons and he crash-lands on the Cloudbase flight deck. While Captain Blue works to free Scarlet from the wreckage, numerous more flying saucers begin to open fire on Cloudbase and Dr Fawn is killed. His assistant informs Blue that Captain Scarlet is dead beyond his retro-metabolic powers.
The Mysteron assault continues until eventually only Colonel White, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green remain alive in the control room. While the stricken Cloudbase begins to plunge to the ground, Green is killed by another pink blast and Blue’s arm is broken. Blue is too badly injured to abandon the base and White resolves to go down with his command, informing Spectrum Headquarters London that the base will crash in approximately one minute.
While the noise of the explosion sounds, Symphony’s echoing voice can be heard calling for Captain Blue using his first name, Adam, until she wakes up in the desert facing him and Captain Scarlet. Later, back on Cloudbase, Symphony accepts that the attack was only a delirious nightmare.
Cast
- Captain Scarlet — Francis Matthews
- Captain Blue — Ed Bishop
- Colonel White — Donald Gray
- Lieutenant Green — Cy Grant
- Captain Magenta — Gary Files
- Destiny Angel — Liz Morgan
- Symphony Angel — Janna Hill
- Rhapsody Angel — Liz Morgan
- Voice of the Mysterons — Donald Gray
Notes
- The Mysterons first threatened to destroy Cloudbase in "Dangerous Rendezvous".
- Barry Gray was asked to compose a separate score for "Attack on Cloudbase" due to Gerry Anderson’s belief that none of the series’ pre-existing incidental music was suitable for the episode.
- For the high-altitude attack sequence, flying saucer models were only used in the foreground, while small light bulbs were made to flash in the background to give the impression of rotating space vehicles.
- In a sense, the Mysterons complete three of their previously failed threats: the destruction of Cloudbase ("Dangerous Rendezvous"), the deaths of the Spectrum Angels ("Seek and Destroy") and the death of Colonel White ("White as Snow").