Model Spy
Encyclopedia
"Model Spy" is the 14th episode of the Supermarionation
television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Bill Hedley and directed by Ken Turner
.
In this episode, when the Mysteron
s threaten to kill a French intelligence agent posing as a fashion design
er, Captains Scarlet
and Blue
and Destiny and Symphony Angels go undercover to protect the target.
s threaten to assassinate André Verdain. Publicly, Verdain is a little-known French
fashion design
er, but privately, he is the Controller of the European Area Intelligence Service in Paris
. Colonel White
suspects that an attempt on Verdain's life will most likely be made during a fashion show
that he is due to host in Monte Carlo
the next week. White assigns Captains Scarlet
and Blue
and Destiny and Symphony Angels to an undercover
mission to protect Verdain.
Scarlet poses as a PR
officer, Blue a photographer, and Destiny and Symphony models
attached to the House of Verdain. The Spectrum agents fly directly to Monte Carlo after Paris proves to be fog
-bound. They are not the only ones acting undercover, however: two of Verdain's models, Helga and Gabrielle, have secretly been killed in a train derailment
and reconstructed in the service of the Mysterons. When the Spectrum agents accompany Verdain on a luxury yacht
cruise around Monte Carlo bay the next morning, Gabrielle sabotages a fuel
release in the engine room
. The heat from the motors causes the fuel to ignite, and all onboard just manage to abandon ship before the yacht explodes.
Although Scarlet advises that it be postponed, Verdain decides to go ahead with a press
reception scheduled for that evening at the Hotel Imperial. An agent resembling Captain Black
has recently been sighted in Europe
, and Verdain is confident that he will make an appearance. At a cocktail party
prior to the reception, Scarlet receives positive proof that Gabrielle is a Mysteron agent when the model mentions that she and Helga flew to Monte Carlo from Paris the previous day when it was in fact fog-bound. At this moment, Black, stationed on a maintenance
cradle outside a window, shoots Verdain with a tranquilliser gun
and Helga turns off the lights: in the confusion, Black and his accomplice, abducting Verdain, escape the Hotel Imperial in a saloon car.
The Spectrum agents converge on the position of the Mysteron agents with the aid of a homing
drug that Scarlet slipped into Verdain's drink. Although Black throws a grenade
into the path of Scarlet's convertible
, Blue collects his comrade in a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle
, while Destiny and Symphony follow the course of the enemy car in a helicopter
. Black and Helga notice that they are trapped between the Spectrum team and a police roadblock
. Helga throws Verdain out of the car and the hostage regains consciousness in time to see Black, Helga and the car vanish due to the influence of the Mysterons. Later, Verdain expresses his gratitude to his protectors, presenting Destiny and Symphony with gowns courtesy of the House of Verdain.
" and is seen again in "Inferno".Lieutenant Green is seen for the first and only time onboard cloudbase wearing his spectrum cap when he is talking to Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue about the Mysteron threat.
bay had previously featured in the Thunderbirds
episode "The Man From MI.5" and would make another reappearance in the Joe 90
episode "The Race". In a four-hour studio session held on , incidental music
for both this episode and "The Trap" was recorded by Barry Gray
with an orchestra of 16 musicians. Two pieces, "Models on a Train" and "Cocktail Music", are included on the commercial CD release of the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons soundtracks.
espionage and its Monte Carlo
setting add up to a "Man from UNCLE-type episode" which is a "break from the routine". Drake and Bassett also praise the technical work during the climactic closing car chase
sequence, which features "under control" Supermarionation
puppets controlled by levers from underneath as opposed to strings from above: there are "convincing antics from a couple of stringless puppets towards the end."
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 Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Bill Hedley and directed by Ken Turner
Ken Turner (director)
Ken Turner is a British television and film director and screenwriter who has worked extensively on series created by Gerry Anderson....
.
In this episode, when the Mysteron
Mysteron
The Mysterons are a fictional race of extraterrestrials, native to the planet Mars, which appear in the British science fiction Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, symbolised by ubiquitous projected green rings and the deep...
s threaten to kill a French intelligence agent posing as a fashion design
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
er, Captains Scarlet
Captain Scarlet (character)
Captain Scarlet is the fictional main character in Gerry Anderson's British Supermarionation science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its CGI remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet....
and Blue
Captain Blue (Captain Scarlet)
Captain Blue is a character in the 1967 Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He is a senior officer of the Spectrum organisation and a close friend of Captain Scarlet....
and Destiny and Symphony Angels go undercover to protect the target.
Plot
The MysteronMysteron
The Mysterons are a fictional race of extraterrestrials, native to the planet Mars, which appear in the British science fiction Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, symbolised by ubiquitous projected green rings and the deep...
s threaten to assassinate André Verdain. Publicly, Verdain is a little-known French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
fashion design
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
er, but privately, he is the Controller of the European Area Intelligence Service in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Colonel White
Colonel White
Colonel White is a character in the 1960s Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He is the commander-in-Chief of Spectrum, the security organisation dedicated to defending Earth against the Mysterons from Mars...
suspects that an attempt on Verdain's life will most likely be made during a fashion show
Fashion show
A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase his or her upcoming line of clothing during Fashion Week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons. This is where the latest fashion trends are made...
that he is due to host in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
the next week. White assigns Captains Scarlet
Captain Scarlet (character)
Captain Scarlet is the fictional main character in Gerry Anderson's British Supermarionation science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its CGI remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet....
and Blue
Captain Blue (Captain Scarlet)
Captain Blue is a character in the 1967 Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. He is a senior officer of the Spectrum organisation and a close friend of Captain Scarlet....
and Destiny and Symphony Angels to an undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
mission to protect Verdain.
Scarlet poses as a PR
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
officer, Blue a photographer, and Destiny and Symphony models
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
attached to the House of Verdain. The Spectrum agents fly directly to Monte Carlo after Paris proves to be fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
-bound. They are not the only ones acting undercover, however: two of Verdain's models, Helga and Gabrielle, have secretly been killed in a train derailment
Derailment
A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....
and reconstructed in the service of the Mysterons. When the Spectrum agents accompany Verdain on a luxury yacht
Luxury yacht
The term luxury yacht, “Superyacht” and "Large Yacht" refers to very expensive, privately owned yachts which are professionally crewed. Also known as a Super Yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht.-History:...
cruise around Monte Carlo bay the next morning, Gabrielle sabotages a fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
release in the engine room
Engine room
On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...
. The heat from the motors causes the fuel to ignite, and all onboard just manage to abandon ship before the yacht explodes.
Although Scarlet advises that it be postponed, Verdain decides to go ahead with a press
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
reception scheduled for that evening at the Hotel Imperial. An agent resembling Captain Black
Captain Black (Captain Scarlet)
Captain Black is the fictional nemesis of Captain Scarlet and recurring Mysteron agent in the 1960s British supermarionation science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its CGI remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet...
has recently been sighted in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Verdain is confident that he will make an appearance. At a cocktail party
Cocktail party
A cocktail party is a party where cocktails are served. Women may choose to wear what has become known as a cocktail dress.Although many believe the inventor of the cocktail party to be Alec Waugh of London, who in 1924 found a need for this pleasant interlude before a dinner party, an article in...
prior to the reception, Scarlet receives positive proof that Gabrielle is a Mysteron agent when the model mentions that she and Helga flew to Monte Carlo from Paris the previous day when it was in fact fog-bound. At this moment, Black, stationed on a maintenance
Maintenance, Repair and Operations
Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...
cradle outside a window, shoots Verdain with a tranquilliser gun
Tranquilliser gun
A tranquilliser gun , capture gun, or dart gun, is a non-lethal gun used for capture via a special chemical. Tranquilliser guns shoot darts filled with tranquilliser that, when injected, temporarily sedate an animal or human, so that it may be handled safely...
and Helga turns off the lights: in the confusion, Black and his accomplice, abducting Verdain, escape the Hotel Imperial in a saloon car.
The Spectrum agents converge on the position of the Mysteron agents with the aid of a homing
Track & Trace
In distribution and logistics of many types of products, track and trace or tracking and tracing, concerns a process of determining the current and past locations of a unique item or property....
drug that Scarlet slipped into Verdain's drink. Although Black throws a grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
into the path of Scarlet's convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
, Blue collects his comrade in a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle
Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle
The Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle is a fictional pursuit and attack vehicle from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons .-Appearance in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons:...
, while Destiny and Symphony follow the course of the enemy car in 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...
. Black and Helga notice that they are trapped between the Spectrum team and a police roadblock
Roadblock
A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be:*Roadworks*Temporary road closure during special events*Police chase*Robbery*Sobriety checkpoint...
. Helga throws Verdain out of the car and the hostage regains consciousness in time to see Black, Helga and the car vanish due to the influence of the Mysterons. Later, Verdain expresses his gratitude to his protectors, presenting Destiny and Symphony with gowns courtesy of the House of Verdain.
Continuity
The Mysteron's vanishing power is seen again in this episode. It is first seen in "The Heart of New YorkThe Heart of New York
"The Heart of New York" is the 11th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Alan Perry...
" and is seen again in "Inferno".Lieutenant Green is seen for the first and only time onboard cloudbase wearing his spectrum cap when he is talking to Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue about the Mysteron threat.
Production
The model of Monte CarloMonte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
bay had previously featured in the Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
episode "The Man From MI.5" and would make another reappearance in the 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...
episode "The Race". In a four-hour studio session held on , incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for both this episode and "The Trap" was recorded by Barry Gray
Barry Gray
Barry Gray was a British musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson.-Life:...
with an orchestra of 16 musicians. Two pieces, "Models on a Train" and "Cocktail Music", are included on the commercial CD release of the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons soundtracks.
Reception
Critics Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett write that "Model Spy"'s theme of undercoverUndercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
espionage and its Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
setting add up to a "Man from UNCLE-type episode" which is a "break from the routine". Drake and Bassett also praise the technical work during the climactic closing car chase
Car chase
A car chase is the vehicular pursuit of a suspect by law enforcement officers. Car chases are often captured on film and broadcast due to the availability of video footage recorded by police cars and police and media helicopters participating in the chase...
sequence, which features "under control" Supermarionation
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...
puppets controlled by levers from underneath as opposed to strings from above: there are "convincing antics from a couple of stringless puppets towards the end."
External links
- "Model Spy" at Fanderson.org.ukFandersonFanderson is the official appreciation society for the works of Gerry Anderson. It is a not-for-profit organisation endorsed by Anderson Entertainment Ltd, Gerry Anderson Productions plc and ITC Entertainment Group Ltd...
- "Model Spy" at CliveBanks.co.uk
- "Model Spy" at TheVervoid.com