Breakout (Joe 90 episode)
Encyclopedia
"Breakout" is the 21st episode of the Supermarionation
television series Joe 90
. It was the 23rd episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was 16 February 1969 on ATV Midlands
. It was written
by Shane Rimmer
and directed by Leo Eaton.
, two convict
s escape
from prison
and shell a rail bridge
, trapping the Prime Minister
's train
on an isolated piece of track. When the crooks demand ransom
, Joe volunteers to deliver the money, but can he stop the criminals with the brain pattern of a bobsleigh
champion?
on the invitation of Joe's uncle, Captain Pat Moran, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
. Joe has been given the brain pattern of a bobsleigh
champion but still crashes his toboggan
as he and Mac ride through the snowy wilderness. Meanwhile, a gun crew is firing a cannon
on nearby Monument Hill. Joe and Mac are puzzled by the absence of a target and decide to ask Pat when they arrive back at Fort Cherook.
At the same time, Réal and Marney, inmates at the Cherook Penitentiary, are being returned to the prison
in a truck
after a day out on work detail
. Réal has a plan to break out
of jail yet still make a profit but Marney, whose parole
is due in six months, refuses to help.
At Fort Cherook, Pat explains to the McClaines that the gun crew was practising a ceremonial salute
to be given the next day, when Prime Minister
McCormack will pass a statue of his grandfather, General James McCormack, on his way to a conference by train. Live ammunition
will be used for realism, but it is safe in the hands of the gun crew.
At the penitentiary the next morning, Réal hides a gun under Marney's bed before their work detail leaves the prison. The firearm is soon discovered and the warden radios the truck, demanding Marney's return. Guard Pierre confronts Marney with a rifle
, but Réal has been expecting the challenge and knocks the officer unconscious. He then seizes the weapon and shoots the other guard, Eddie. At the prospect of serving more time in jail, Marney reluctantly gives in to Réal's scheme and joins his fellow inmate.
As the Prime Minister's train approaches Monument Hill, Réal and Marney kill the gun crew and hijack the cannon. As the train moves onto a bridge, the crooks shell both ends of the structure to leave McCormack and his aide, Robbins, stranded on an isolated piece of track. Réal calls Pat to demand a ransom
of one million Canadian dollars and a helijet. He also warns that they will fire on the train if any rescue attempts are made. Mac suggests that Joe deliver the money; Pat is baffled by the proposal but allows Joe to leave on a snowmobile
.
Half an hour after Réal's ultimatum, the bridge is buckling under the weight of the train. With no sign of their money, Réal and Marney fire a shot over the crippled structure. However, the criminals are amused when Pat calls to reveal that a child is bringing the banknotes. Joe arrives, followed shortly by the helijet. The pilot
walks clear of the aircraft and Réal inspects Joe's WIN equipment, which he dismisses as children's toys. Consequently, the crooks are not suspicious when the boy speaks into his transceiver
. However, they do not know that Joe is calling Pat to report that the cannon is unmanned and that a second helijet can now fly in to rescue the train passengers. Réal and Marney eventually realise that they have been fooled and a shootout
with Joe ensues. Marney is wounded, but Réal manages to disarm the boy and Joe is forced to board the helijet with the two fugitives.
McCormack and Robbins are winch
ed from the train before the bridge collapses. Meanwhile, Réal launches the helijet. Marney is in great pain and Réal initiates autopilot
before leaving the pilot's seat to tend to him. However, Joe moves into the seat and flies the aircraft recklessly until Réal and Marney are knocked out. Mac and Pat are amazed when the helijet lands near Fort Cherook and Joe presents the unconscious crooks.
Later, Joe tells Pat the truth about what happened, but the captain doubts his story. Meanwhile, Mac is puzzled how the brain pattern of a bobsleigh champion could have helped Joe to pilot a helijet. However, on closer inspection of his records, Mac is pleasantly surprised to discover that Guy Flambeau is not only an alpine ace, but also holds a helicopter
pilot's licence.
Supermarionation
Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...
television series Joe 90
Joe 90
Joe 90 is a late-1960s British science-fiction television series documenting the exploits of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, who embarks on a double life as a schoolboy turned spy when his scientist father invents a pioneering machine capable of duplicating and transferring expert knowledge and...
. It was the 23rd episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was 16 February 1969 on ATV Midlands
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
. It was written
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
by Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
and directed by Leo Eaton.
Synopsis
While the McClaines are visiting rural Northern CanadaNorthern Canada
Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut...
, two convict
Convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
s escape
Prison escape
A prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...
from prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
and shell a rail bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
, trapping the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
's train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
on an isolated piece of track. When the crooks demand ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
, Joe volunteers to deliver the money, but can he stop the criminals with the brain pattern of a bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
champion?
Plot
The McClaines are visiting rural Northern CanadaNorthern Canada
Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut...
on the invitation of Joe's uncle, Captain Pat Moran, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. Joe has been given the brain pattern of a bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
champion but still crashes his toboggan
Toboggan
A toboggan is a simple sled which is a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people down a hill or other slope for recreation. Designs vary from simple, traditional models to modern engineered composites...
as he and Mac ride through the snowy wilderness. Meanwhile, a gun crew is firing a cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
on nearby Monument Hill. Joe and Mac are puzzled by the absence of a target and decide to ask Pat when they arrive back at Fort Cherook.
At the same time, Réal and Marney, inmates at the Cherook Penitentiary, are being returned to the prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in a truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
after a day out on work detail
Penal labour
Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...
. Réal has a plan to break out
Prison escape
A prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...
of jail yet still make a profit but Marney, whose parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
is due in six months, refuses to help.
At Fort Cherook, Pat explains to the McClaines that the gun crew was practising a ceremonial salute
Salute
A salute is a gesture or other action used to display respect. Salutes are primarily associated with armed forces, but other organizations and civil people also use salutes.-Military salutes:...
to be given the next day, when Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
McCormack will pass a statue of his grandfather, General James McCormack, on his way to a conference by train. Live ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
will be used for realism, but it is safe in the hands of the gun crew.
At the penitentiary the next morning, Réal hides a gun under Marney's bed before their work detail leaves the prison. The firearm is soon discovered and the warden radios the truck, demanding Marney's return. Guard Pierre confronts Marney with a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
, but Réal has been expecting the challenge and knocks the officer unconscious. He then seizes the weapon and shoots the other guard, Eddie. At the prospect of serving more time in jail, Marney reluctantly gives in to Réal's scheme and joins his fellow inmate.
As the Prime Minister's train approaches Monument Hill, Réal and Marney kill the gun crew and hijack the cannon. As the train moves onto a bridge, the crooks shell both ends of the structure to leave McCormack and his aide, Robbins, stranded on an isolated piece of track. Réal calls Pat to demand a ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
of one million Canadian dollars and a helijet. He also warns that they will fire on the train if any rescue attempts are made. Mac suggests that Joe deliver the money; Pat is baffled by the proposal but allows Joe to leave on a snowmobile
Snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...
.
Half an hour after Réal's ultimatum, the bridge is buckling under the weight of the train. With no sign of their money, Réal and Marney fire a shot over the crippled structure. However, the criminals are amused when Pat calls to reveal that a child is bringing the banknotes. Joe arrives, followed shortly by the helijet. The pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
walks clear of the aircraft and Réal inspects Joe's WIN equipment, which he dismisses as children's toys. Consequently, the crooks are not suspicious when the boy speaks into his transceiver
Transceiver
A transceiver is a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. When no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver. The term originated in the early 1920s...
. However, they do not know that Joe is calling Pat to report that the cannon is unmanned and that a second helijet can now fly in to rescue the train passengers. Réal and Marney eventually realise that they have been fooled and a shootout
Shootout
A shootout is a gun battle between armed groups. A shootout often, but not necessarily, pits law enforcement against criminal elements; it could also involve two groups outside of law enforcement, such as rival gangs. A shootout in a military context A shootout is a gun battle between armed groups....
with Joe ensues. Marney is wounded, but Réal manages to disarm the boy and Joe is forced to board the helijet with the two fugitives.
McCormack and Robbins are winch
Winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in or let out or otherwise adjust the "tension" of a rope or wire rope . In its simplest form it consists of a spool and attached hand crank. In larger forms, winches stand at the heart of machines as diverse as tow trucks, steam shovels and...
ed from the train before the bridge collapses. Meanwhile, Réal launches the helijet. Marney is in great pain and Réal initiates autopilot
Autopilot
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
before leaving the pilot's seat to tend to him. However, Joe moves into the seat and flies the aircraft recklessly until Réal and Marney are knocked out. Mac and Pat are amazed when the helijet lands near Fort Cherook and Joe presents the unconscious crooks.
Later, Joe tells Pat the truth about what happened, but the captain doubts his story. Meanwhile, Mac is puzzled how the brain pattern of a bobsleigh champion could have helped Joe to pilot a helijet. However, on closer inspection of his records, Mac is pleasantly surprised to discover that Guy Flambeau is not only an alpine ace, but also holds a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
pilot's licence.
Regular voice cast
- Joe McClaine — Len JonesLen JonesLen Jones was a British actor and voice actor of the 1960s and 70s.In his youth, Jones featured in television series such as Z-Cars , Adam Adamant Lives! , Dixon of Dock Green , Softly, Softly and The Adventures of Black Beauty...
- Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine — Rupert DaviesRupert DaviesRupert Davies was a British actor. He remains best known for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of Maigret, based on the Maigret novels written by Georges Simenon....
Guest voice cast
In speaking order:- Guard Pierre — Gary FilesGary FilesGary Files was born in Melbourne, Australia and is an Australian-Canadian actor, writer and director who has resided in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He has lived in Australia since 1976.-Early life:...
- Warden (voice) — David HealyDavid Healy (actor)David Healy was an American-born actor who starred in many British and American television shows. His credits include voices for the Supermarionation series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and The Secret Service, as well as parts in UFO, The Troubleshooters, Randall and Hopkirk , Space...
- Réal — David Healy
- Marney — Keith AlexanderKeith Alexander (actor)Keith Alexander is a British actor and voice actor.Alexander's television credits include Softly, Softly , The New Avengers , Minder and The Day of the Triffids...
- Gun Captain — Keith Alexander
- Captain Pat Moran — Gary Files
- Guard Eddie — Gary Files
- Robbins — Gary Files
- Prime Minister McCormack — Keith Alexander