Spectrum Intelligence

by **Marion** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:20 pm

It occurs to me that I don't know very much about Spectrum Intelligence - the 'dreaded' SI. :twisted:

Can anybody tell me what they do exactly - what their remit is - and are they canon - or fanon?
Many thanks!

by **Doc Denim** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 1:01 pm

Seems to me that Spectrum Intelligence was introduced in the episode where the gang went to Africa to see the status of the then prototype Mysteron detector and guns - I haven't seen the episode for ages, but I have the impression that the hunting lodge security facility belonged to SI...

But I could be wrong....

Doc Denim

by **Marion** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 6:04 pm

Checking back, that does seem to be the case - Spectrum Intelligence is the research arm of the organisation in 'Spectrum Strikes Back' - but then, in 'The Inquisition' the (we assume) Mysteron agent Colgan says he is from 'Spectrum Intelligence' too.
It seems that the arms of SI are far-reaching indeed.... ;-$

but then - quis custodiet ipsos custodes? as the Romans liked to say. :wink:

Presumably - SI performs all the functions not actually concerned with 'saving the world'. This suggests that Spectrum is split into two divisions - the field operations - controlled from Cloudbase and everything else - or 'Spectrum Intelligence' as it is known.
As Colonel White is Commander in Chief - he presumably has command over SI as well - but must, in certain circumstances, be subject to their authority too?
This gets weirder and weirder...

Website · by **Sage** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:43 pm

Yeah that's what I was thinking.
Perhaps they're just a law unto themselves.

:roll:

Gerry Anderson really should have thought these things though. But then we'd have no fun speculating.

There are of course mentions in the show of SI, but ultimatly it's fanon.

by **Captain Indigo** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:40 pm

This SI thing really has got a bit out of control, hasn't it? Is you said, SI in the series was the sciency bit, but in the fan fic, and I know I am not blameless in this, they seem to have evolved more into something resembling the military police (redcaps), investigating internal affairs such as murders, fraud etc, the science stuff being refered to as 'Research and Development' or R&D, as it would be in the military.

Whatever happened to the original guys? This requires investigation.... (would that fall to the fan fic's SI to investigate? :wink:

)

by **shaqui** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:50 pm

The first annual (©1967) has a 'background feature' about the formation of Spectrum, in which it is stated that the organisation is far bigger than we see on-screen. This is hinted at by the fact you have Spectrum agents hidden throughout the world, manning the covert SPV bases. One supposes these people don't just sit around all day waiting for a uniformed captain to come in and requisition something! So this hidden network if probably quite far reaching, in all aspects of society, gathering and collating info that is processed at Cloudbase, or possibly Spectrum Intelligence. It makes sense to me... :-D

by **C21** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:04 am

Apologies for the follow scribbles, I have not seen the episodes for some time. But from what I can remember...

'Model Spy' seems to hint at SI with designer Andre Verdain being the head of the European Section. He was targetted because he was successfully keeping tabs on captain Black.

'Heart of New York' I believe the vault that was raided at the beginning contained documents belonging to SI.

So perhaps there was an intelligence arm underpinning the work of the field officers. It would be intersting to know how it fitted into the overall Spectrum picture.

Did it have a top operative/snr officer and what was his or her relationship to Col White? Peers or were they subordinate to Col White?

I personally was interested in the role of the Spectrum Police in all of this. Did the Spectrum staff officers lead the SP on the ground? This was the impression given in 'Codename Europa'. They seemed a little more than just Security Guards!

Whoops off back to work...enjoy tomorrow all those in the UK!

by **Maltray** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 4:00 pm

Captain Indigo wrote:This SI thing really has got a bit out of control, hasn't it? Is you said, SI in the series was the sciency bit, but in the fan fic, and I know I am not blameless in this, they seem to have evolved more into something resembling the military police (redcaps), investigating internal affairs such as murders, fraud etc, the science stuff being refered to as 'Research and Development' or R&D, as it would be in the military.

Whatever happened to the original guys? This requires investigation.... (would that fall to the fan fic's SI to investigate? )

Hmmm not to sure on that Marion, obviously SI must do more than just as you metion. Perhaps they did own the lodge in 'Spectrum Strikes Back' myself I think that the R&D must be a seprate arm from SI. It wasn't really clear if the R&D came under control of SI or they where just using the SI lodge as a secure area. As with all things I think Gerry left it to the viewer to chose if SI is Cannon or Fanon. I think I'll follow the wise man myself!

by **Parker Gabriel** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:14 am

In "The Inquisition," it goes without really saying that once there really was an SI agent with the family name of Colgan. However, since the Mysterons were planning to make one of the members of the Spectrum betray the entire Organization, Conrad Turner obviously killed him and his aide, then had the Mysterons replace both of them with likenesses. Chances were the Colgan likeness was waiting outdoors of the restaurant as the likeness of his aide took over Adam Svenson's coffee on behalf of the Mysterons whilst it was being delivered to him.

by **Captain Indigo** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:41 pm

Parker Gabriel wrote:In "The Inquisition," it goes without really saying that once there really was an SI agent with the family name of Colgan. However, since the Mysterons were planning to make one of the members of the Spectrum betray the entire Organization, Conrad Turner obviously killed him and his aide, then had the Mysterons replace both of them with likenesses. Chances were the Colgan likeness was waiting outdoors of the restaurant as the likeness of his aide took over Adam Svenson's coffee on behalf of the Mysterons whilst it was being delivered to him.

But, using your reasoning that Colgan was reconstructed from a SI agent, he would have known all of the Cloudbase access codes anyway, and not needed Blue's help.

Plus, there is no indication in the series that 'Conrad Turner' is in any way responsible for the actions of the Mysteron Agent 'Captain Black'.

by **Parker Gabriel** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:03 pm

When writing about "The Inquisition," in which the Mysterons tried to make one of the members of the Spectrum betray the rest, I had written: "In 'The Inquisition,' it goes without really saying that once there really was an SI agent with the family name of Colgan. However, since the Mysterons were planning to make one of the members of the Spectrum betray the entire Organization, Conrad Turner obviously killed him and his aide, then had the Mysterons replace both of them with likenesses. Chances were the Colgan likeness was waiting outdoors of the restaurant as the likeness of his aide took over Adam Svenson's coffee on behalf of the Mysterons whilst it was being delivered to him."

"Captain Indigo" responded, "But, using your reasoning that Colgan was reconstructed from a SI agent, he would have known all of the Cloudbase access codes anyway, and not needed Blue's help."
Answer: Not all SI personnel have a NEED to know those codes; I am convinced the original Colgan had not been one of those who HAD that need to know them.
"Plus, there is no indication in the series that 'Conrad Turner' is in any way responsible for the actions of the Mysteron agent 'Captain Black.'"
Answer: In "Pawns Of Evil, Part Two," Captain Scarlet didcovers that Captain Black is NOT retro-metabolic; he can only feel Captain Black when the latter is in telepathic conversation with the Mysterons. Hence, the Captain Black who has been acting as the Mysterons's agent is the ORIGINAL Conrad Turner, NOT a Mysteronized likeness thereof.

by **luvmylops** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 2:53 am

In "Pawns Of Evil, Part Two," Captain Scarlet didcovers that Captain Black is NOT retro-metabolic

The "Pawns of Evil" is a fanfic and cannot be considered as 'canon'. Liberties can and are taken in fanfics that are not 'true' to the series (such as giving the characters middle names).

by **chrisbishop** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:23 am

Plus, there is no indication in the series that 'Conrad Turner' is in any way responsible for the actions of the Mysteron Agent 'Captain Black'.

I think Captain Indigo meant that there is no indication in the series that the human persona, referred to as "Conrad Turner" is to be held responsible to the actions of the Mysteron-controlled 'creature' known after the mission to Mars as "Captain Black".

Indeed, if Conrad Turner still exists, deep within the Mysteron-controlled Captain Black (and we don't know if he has been mysteronised or not, as it is not clear in the TV series, but have been hinted at in the comic strips - although these two medias could be considered as separate entities) we can always speculate that he might be horrified by the actions his 'body' is being forced to do.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Indigo!

I don't want to assume.

Re.: "Pawns of Evil". Yes, a very good story, and I liked some of the speculations it presents myself, some of which are rather similar than those I developped in my stories. But as Luvmylops pointed out - it is still a fanfic. Other writers of fanfic stories might not agree with the speculations it presents, and might present equally good points in their own stories.

It just occured to ME, personally that having the mind of a human Conrad Turner, trapped into the body of a Mysteron-controlled agent, had much more potential for dramatic storytelling than an indestructible "human robot". :wink:

by **Marion** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 8:50 am

I quite agree, Colonel. From the perspective of a fanfic writer the potential for more angst or pathos or tension - or whatever you want to call it - is for Captain Black to be the same human he always was, only now controlled by the Mysterons. But somewhere deep inside his psyche, he is aware of what they're making him do.
It isn't clear that Black is killed and retromatabolised whilst he's on Mars in the same way Scarlet is on Earth (OCS series, naturally). We simply see the character's appearance change from the deboniar human Captain, to the badly in need of a shave and some sleep Mysteron agent. :wink:

by **MMK** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:07 pm

So, SI Special Agent Connors is a fanon character... *sigh of relief*

Parker Gabriel wrote:"Plus, there is no indication in the series that 'Conrad Turner' is in any way responsible for the actions of the Mysteron agent 'Captain Black.'"
Answer: In "Pawns Of Evil, Part Two," Captain Scarlet didcovers that Captain Black is NOT retro-metabolic; he can only feel Captain Black when the latter is in telepathic conversation with the Mysterons. Hence, the Captain Black who has been acting as the Mysterons's agent is the ORIGINAL Conrad Turner, NOT a Mysteronized likeness thereof.

Pawns Of Evil is where Captain Scarlet and Captain Ochre are transported to an alternate reality (because of an incident in the R&D department)... they find that Scarlet is still under the control of the Mysterons... so wouldn't things be different for Black too? He might not be retrometabolic in Pawns Of Evil, but he might/might not be in Captain Scarlet own reality.
I know this doesn't help solve anything :oops:

but it's worth thinking about.

Later: Oops... my mistake, I was thinking about a different fan fic... Parallax View... that's the only trouble of reading *pauses* 235 fanfics...