Personal history

Paul Metcalfe was born in Winchester on December 17, 2036, into a family with a long military history; his father, grand-father and great-grandfather all served in the World Army, where they all distinguished themselves.  It was natural that Paul would also follow the family tradition by choosing a military career.  He graduated from Winchester University in 2057, at the age of 21, with degrees in History, Technology and employment of Mathematics, and then went to West Point Military University in New York State, U.S.A., where he was trained in field combat duty, how to pilot a variety of aircraft and to become an expert with hundreds of weapons, from the most sophisticated to the most ancient (2059-2063). Drilled to survive in any conditions, he demonstrated a strong mental resilience, a concern of others over his own safety, and an ability to command.  Acclaimed as ‘Supreme Soldier’ by fellow students and lecturers alike, Paul left West Point and joined – or was transferred – to the Word Army/Air-Force.  Some sources say that he joined the WAAF on the low rank of private, rather than take up the commission which his cadet training entitled him to (but this seems to be unlikely, considering the investment put into his training at West Point).  Nevertheless, with his ability to command and his professional military outlook, he gained promotion after promotion, until, within two years, he had reached the rank of Colonel – the youngest the WAAF had known to date - and had seen action in all the corners of the globe.

The selection committee charged with finding candidates for the formation of the new organization of Spectrum, had followed Paul’s career, and recognized his qualities of leadership, initiative, combat strategy, integrity and his dedication to his work within the WAAF.  Therefore, in 2065, he was approached by them and accepted the offer to become a field agent for Spectrum, with the rank of Captain, and the colour-code name ‘Scarlet’. 

In 2068, came the Zero-X expedition to Mars, where Captain Black discovered the Complex of the Mysterons and destroyed it, mistakenly believing they were attacking his vehicle and crew.  Black was then taken over by the Mysterons, who vowed to avenge themselves, by declaring a ‘War of Nerves’ on an unsuspecting world.  Their first threat was aimed at assassinating World President Younger. Whilst driving in a Spectrum saloon car, on their way to meet with the World President, Captains Brown and Scarlet were killed when their car was forced to crash.  They were then ‘Mysteronised’, duplicated from the original dead bodies, to do the bidding of the Mysterons.  After Captain Brown’s failure to carry out the Mysterons’ threat, it was up to the doppelganger of Scarlet to perform the second attempt.  Kidnapping the World President, Scarlet brought him to the top of the London Car-Vu car park, with Captain Blue hot in pursuit.  In a last showdown, Blue shot Scarlet, who fell 800 feet from the top of the Car-Vu.  The Mysterons then either lost or released Scarlet from their control, and he became Spectrum’s indestructible agent in their continuing battle against the Mysterons. (See episode 1, “The Mysterons”.)

Personality profile

Scarlet is reliable and trustworthy, with a driving sense of honour, shown when he risked his career to save Colonel White’s life after he realised that a disagreement he had had with him was his mistake (“White as Snow”).  Because of his unique abilities, he would often risk his life – and even  apparently ‘die’ -  to carry out a mission to the end – knowing that it was far better for him to risk himself and revive, than to let other Spectrum agents  sacrifice themselves.

On duty, Scarlet is a true professional, totally reliable and carrying out his orders quickly and efficiently. Off duty, though, he changes completely. He is full of fun,  carefree and bursting with energy, emotional and physical, possibly as a result of his regenerative abilities. Scarlet is also very popular with his fellow Spectrum officers and is especially loved by the Angel pilots who find his personality charming and appealing. However, Scarlet also has a recurring tendency towards distancing himself from others, especially with crowds – probably feeling that, although still very human, he is now very different from other human beings.

His powers

With Captain Brown, Captain Scarlet was the first known human being to have been subjected to the process of retrometabolism by the Mysterons (It is unknown if Captain Black had truly been Mysteronised on Mars, or if he is still human). Scarlet is also the only known human being, to date, to break free of Mysteron control, and the reason why that happened is still a mystery, although many theories have been proposed.  Remaining loyal to Spectrum, he became the organisation’s most effective weapon against the Mysterons, for he retained from his experience the power of retrometabolism.  He can heal from any wound, even a mortal one, in a matter of only a few hours, without even a scar to remind him of the incident.  

Scarlet can also feel the presence of a Mysteron agent nearby or when a danger, related to the Mysterons, is imminent – although this particular ability, for some unknown reason, does not work all the time.  This ‘sixth sense’ would manifest itself in the form of nausea and dizziness.  Scarlet also retained the strange imperviousness to X-rays – he would show a ‘normal’ image from an X-ray shot –  like all Mysterons agents, and like them, he seems to be vulnerable to high voltage electricity. 

It has been postulated that Scarlet’s body works like a walking solar battery, constantly recharging itself, holding energy in reserve to heal wounds.  He therefore needs very little sleep, as seems to be indicated in episodes such as “Lunarville 7”, “Inferno”, “Shadow of Fear” and “The Trap”, where we see him prowling corridors at night-time.  Other theories – mainly by fanfic authors – suggested alcoholic beverages or medical drugs would have little or no effects on him – or that his body would have to absorb an enormous quantity before he would feel any effect, the speedy metabolism of his body burning any foreign substance nearly as soon as it enters his bloodstream.

Electricity: inconsistencies.

All the series created by Century 21 generally abound with inconsistencies; between TV series stories and comic strip stories, and between them and articles. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons is no exception to this. Mentioned above (and below) are inconsistencies regarding the character’s background, but also worth mentioning are inconsistencies about Captain Scarlet’s vulnerability – or lack of – to electricity.  While the TV series seems to indicate that Scarlet might be vulnerable to high voltage electricity as are other Mysteron reconstructs – people and objects - it seems that in early comic strips in some instances, the authors didn’t care to focus on that vulnerability, and Scarlet is seen on several occasions being electrocuted and walking away from it. 

Later strips do mention a possible vulnerability to the Mysteron rifle (also known as the ‘electron rifle’) which uses electricity to kill Mysterons.  In the last years of comic strips, the authors wisely did not commit themselves – and in one strip at least, we have Scarlet pondering whether he is vulnerable to electricity or not, but nevertheless going to the rescue of a Cloudbase technician trapped by high voltage wires.

It is also interesting to note that in the same TV episode (Operation Time) in which it is discovered that the Mysterons are both impervious to X-rays (a Mysteronised body shows a ‘regular’ picture instead of an regular X-ray pic) and vulnerable to electricity, Captain Scarlet demonstrates his indestructibility once more, by taking the place of the of the Mysterons’ intended victim on an operation table for brain surgery.  However, it appears that the ‘Cerebral-Pulsator’, used during the operation, sends electrical pulses directly to the patient’s brain.  It could be theorised that the amount of electricity used by the Pulsator would have been insufficient to harm Scarlet – that or, contrary to later statements in the series, Scarlet is not as vulnerable to electricity as Spectrum seemed to think he is.  It is understandable that Scarlet is not that eager to put this to the test.

About Rhapsody Angel…

There is no official source that supports a relationship between Captain Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel, as described in fanon.  Mary J. Rudy was the first to mention a romantic link between the two of them, and many fanfic writers have followed in her stead.  

However, it is quite possible that this idea might have found its source in Century TV 21 books and magazines. Rhapsody Angel is, more or less, the central character of the early “Angels” comic strip, and she is also the ‘star’ of one of the two stories featured in the “Angels” novel book from 1968, in which, along with Scarlet, she helps save a potential victim from the Mysterons – being awarded a medal at the end, with Scarlet. It is worth mentioning that Rhapsody also has a long, important chapter to herself in the book “The Angels and the Creeping Enemy”, by John Theydon.   But it’s probably the novel “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons”, also by John Theydon, that gives weight to the ‘rumours’.  In the beginning of this book, Captain Scarlet leaves Cloudbase for a furlough in London, where he meets Rhapsody on a date – which is cut short by a Mysteron threat.  By the end of the book – in which Rhapsody plays a more prominent role than any of her Angel colleagues – Scarlet reiterates his invitation of a date immediately on his recovery in sickbay… We might add to all these observations, just for reference, a curious promotional photo, showing Rhapsody Angel wearing Captain Scarlet’s distinctive Spectrum cap, which was featured in, amongst other places, Chris Drake’s reference book, “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons”.

While this relationship with Rhapsody is open to interpretation, it is largely accepted that Captain Scarlet and Destiny Angel do, at least, know each other well enough to be good friends, and may have been – or may still be – romantically linked.  As Chris Drake suggests in the 1993 reference book ‘Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons’ – that would explain why Destiny is called on to identify the body of Scarlet at the end of episode one. Also, note that the New CGI series has drawn a positive romantic link between Scarlet and Destiny.

About his family…

Although it is mentioned in the official sources that Scarlet is the ‘son, grand-son and great-grandson’ of a long line of military officers, there are no more details given for his family.   A Century 21 article from Century TV 21, prior to the launching of the Captain Scarlet TV series, mentioned a brother named Ronald, who was a banker, and an uncle, Ivan Metcalf (sic), was Mysteronised in the comic strip “Holiday in Terror”. However, some fans might consider that these characters should not be viewed as part of the official background, as they do not consider the comic strips and articles from Century 21 as ‘canon’. A further analysis of details given by the comic strips, would suggest the family details are simply ‘inconsistencies, as the identity of Captain Scarlet, which is supposedly a secret from the world at large - as are the identities of all the other Spectrum members – seems to be known to the general public.

Aside from the above example, Paul Metcalfe is generally considered to be an only child, at least in fandom.  The generally accepted names of Paul’s parents, Mary and General Charles Metcalfe, are purely fanon, the creation of Mary J. Rudy for her stories, and these have been used by many other authors since.  In recent months, the history created for the character  in the New Captain Scarlet CGI series, gives American astronaut Tom Metcalfe and British astro-physicist Ann Brightnam (both deceased) as Paul’s parents, as well as a sister and a nephew (unnamed to date).  However, take note that the CGI character should be considered as a different character from the Captain Scarlet of the classic series.

TV Century 21 also made an interesting family link with the character of BISHOP agent Paul Blake, from the Secret Service Supermarionation series – which was ‘portrayed’ by the Captain Scarlet puppet.  According to this, Paul Metcalfe was the grandson of Blake, who used the name ‘Adam Metcalfe’ as a pen-name to write novels.  To avoid this being another inconsistency in the official character history (which stated that Paul’s grand-father and great-grandfather were military officers), it was assumed that Paul Blake was his maternal grandfather – the father of ‘Mary’ Metcalfe – an idea which has been used in fanfic stories by Chris Bishop and seems  now accepted into the fanon.

Other interesting facts:

Captain Scarlet, while obviously being the most experienced soldier in Spectrum, is also the youngest of the colour-coded officers, by at least a year.  He is one of four members of the Spectrum senior staff who are of British origin.  The others are: Colonel White, Rhapsody Angel, and ex-Spectrum agent, now Mysteron agent, Captain Black.  

Captain Blue - the Spectrum agent who shot him down from the top of the Car-Vu - is now Captain Scarlet's most regular partner, and best friend.

Captain Scarlet’s most notable character traits might be those of a loyal and courageous man, but he can also be impetuous and is often regarded as arrogant; perhaps due to his invulnerability. 

It is still unknown exactly why Scarlet escaped Mysteron control and regained his personality.  The most interesting theory –  and probably the most acceptable one to date – comes from Chris Drake’s book, stating that maybe Scarlet wasn’t ‘properly’ dead when he was Mysteronised in the first place, and that he was fighting for his life at that very moment.  It is possible that the Mysteronisation process also copied Scarlet’s personality and will to live, and that it went into dormancy while the duplicate was carrying out his orders from the Mysterons.  When the duplicate failed and the Mysterons abandoned him, the original personality took over once more.  This theory seems to appeal to many fanfic authors.

In the original script for the pilot episode, when he was killed by the Mysterons, Scarlet was replaced by some kind of robot.  After the Mysterons lost their hold on their agent, the Cloudbase computers would have been used to re-program this new Scarlet so he would become an agent of Spectrum.   But it seems that this idea was dropped, when it was realised that the viewers would find it difficult to relate to a hero who was a mechanical man - and so the indestructible hero, made of flesh and blood, was born instead. Some of the old concept, though, like the mention that computers were used to help Scarlet regain his humanity, shown through the script of the first audio adventure, as well as some Century TV 21 articles. 

The many faces of Captain Scarlet

Despite rumours that the puppet's appearance had been based on the young Roger Moore’s features -  even Moore himself thought that – Captain Scarlet’s face and voice were based on Hollywood British-born actor Cary Grant, as he looked in his early thirties, during the height of his career in the 40s. 

Born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England, and joining a troupe of acrobats while still a teenager, he found himself in the U.S. during a tour and decided to stay there.  Training as an actor, and changing his name to Cary Grant, his career started when Mae West, searching for a new leading actor for her latest movie noticed him and said ‘if he can talk, he’s the one I want.’  Playing action, war, drama, but especially comedy movies, Grant’s career spanned from the 30s to the late 60s when he retired to raise his only daughter. Amongst his numerous and most memorable movies can be counted classics such as ‘Gunga Din’, ‘Arsenic and old Lace’, ‘Bringing up Baby’ and ‘Notorious’ and ‘North by Northwest’, two of the four Alfred Hitchcock’s movies he played in.

The voice of Captain Scarlet was provided by British actor Francis Matthews, who was not auditioned for the role of Scarlet. According to Matthews himself, Gerry Anderson had heard him doing an impersonation of Cary Grant and decided that was the voice he wanted for his hero. Although, still according to Matthews, Gerry Anderson ‘didn’t move heaven and earth to get him he certainly came close to it’.  Prior to “Captain Scarlet”, and outside of Century 21 Productions, Francis Matthews starred as the hero in the 1966 Hammer  Film’s “Dracula Prince of Darkness” with Charles Tingwell playing his brother. Tingwell was also cast in “Captain Scarlet” as the voices of Doctor Fawn, the ill-fated Captain Brown, and a number of supporting characters.

For the Century TV21 comic strips that preceded and then followed the adventures of Captain Scarlet on TV, many famous artists drew the features of the indestructible hero, the first amongst them being Ron Embleton – who also created the ten wonderful panels that were used for the TV series end credits.  Mike Noble followed suite, and did a wonderful job drawing many stories that are amongst the most renowned today.  Frank Bellamy – of Thunderbirds and Fireball XL-5 fame – even did a short turn on the strip, before being followed by, to name only a few,  Keith and Jim Watson, Don Harley, John Cooper,  Barry Mitchell and Mike White.

As previously stated the Captain Scarlet puppet, ‘heavily’ disguised under a light brown wig and spectacles, was later used as the character Paul Blake, the assistant to the Bishop, in “The Secret Service” series.  In later years, TV Century 21 would explain that this character was Captain Scarlet’s grandfather.  Soft-spoken, quiet and often bumbling, Blake has little in common with dashing, self-assured, authoritative Scarlet, except for his appearance.

The palm for the most unusual Captain Scarlet’s face certainly goes to a Japanese artist who drew Captain Scarlet and some of Spectrum characters and craft in an early Manga-style for a Japanese children’s puzzle during the 70s. 

In the 80s, artist Lynn Simpson created a beautiful series of drawings featuring Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue, Captain Ochre, Captain Black and Colonel White.  The series, which were published in Fanderson publications, are probably amongst the rarest and most beautiful renditions of Captain Scarlet by a fan – who also happens to be a gifted artist. 

The latest face of Captain Scarlet is, of course, that of the character created for the New Captain Scarlet CGI series.  Relatively close to the original features, today’s CGI face, however, went through many different incarnations. 

In the 90s, two very short test movies of a few seconds were created in CGI.  The first footage didn’t show Scarlet at all, but focused on the ‘resurrection’ of Captain Black in a cemetery scene; the other, however, closely resembled a video ‘pursuit’ game, in which we get a close-up view of Scarlet.  This later version was, fortunately, dismissed.

The ‘Captain Black’ test was kept as the basis for a new test movie of ten minutes, featuring the voices of both Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop (as Captain Blue).  Presented to fans at a Fanderson convention, reactions were so enthusiastic that a project was started for a new Captain Scarlet series, made totally in CGI. 

Yet again, the features of the New Captain Scarlet went through a few alterations from promotional flyer to production, before finally achieving the face we presently see.

Casting call for live action movie…

However unlikely the event of a live-action movie for Captain Scarlet is, this webmaster’s choice would go to Hugh Jackman (Wolverine, in the X-Men movies) to portray the indestructible Captain.  Of course, if the movie had been done ten to fifteen years ago, the obvious choice for the hero, without any doubt, would have been Irish actor Pierce Brosnan, of James Bond fame… who, in his time has even been dubbed ‘the Cary Grant of the 80s’.  This is a personal choice, of course, and you may have your own ideas of who might play the dashing indestructible Captain Scarlet.  There's probably many other candidates out there!