Futura... or Unity?

by **chrisbishop** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 11:58 pm

That was a question that had been asked on the first forum - unfortunately, all the data was lost, so I thought maybe it would be interesting to ask the question again.

As you might know, the Captain Scarlet TV series refers to the world capital as 'Futura City', while the comic strips gave it the name 'Unity City'. In your opinion, which is the right name, and why do you prefer it?

There is no wrong answer. We're just interested in hearing your opinion.

by **chrisbishop** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:08 am

I personally prefer Futura - as I generally regard the TV series as the real reference - especially when I wrote fanfiction. I didn't read much comic strips - and I wasn't even aware of their existence before a very long time!

by **Marion** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:22 am

Oh, I remember this poll! I can't remember how I voted - to be honest - but I do remember suggesting that perhaps the place had two names... Futura as its 'proper name' and Unity as it's nickname - or was it the other way round?

Alternatively, - does it have to be the same place exactly? .. the European Union has 2 capitals - one in Brussels, for administration and the making of silly rules and one in Strasbourg, where the Parliament meets to talk about how wonderful it is to meet in Strasbourg.... and anything else they can think of.
With Futura/Unity - I think one source credits the location as being in the Bahamas (or somewhere nice and sunny anyway) whilst I think I remember a comic suggesting it was on the American East coast...(a bit like the UN)...
Weston airbase in Triple Cross is described by Captain Blue as being '30 miles outside of Futura city limits' and the place we see on the screen certainly doesn't look like the Bahamas to me... not that I have ever been there, so no doubt one of our intrepid band of travellers will tell me if the place is the dead spit of Weston airbase.... :wink:

by **Clya Brown** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 6:16 pm

My personal preference is actually for Unity City, purely on the grounds of the number of references to it in TV21 - but that breaks the unwritten rule about the TV series providing the definitive word on such matters - and as far as I'm aware, no reference to Unity City was ever made in any of Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds or Scarlet. If I'm wrong about that, I've no doubt that somebody will correct me instantly - it's not the sort of thing that any self-respecting Anderson aficionado wouldn't know, but it's a long time since I saw all the episodes. Perhaps we could assume that Unity City was originally adopted as the world capital as a bit of a compromise (as such things often are) whereas Futura was subsequently conceived and constructed as a purpose-built capital with all the mod cons needed by a truly global administration that Unity couldn't accommodate.

[Incidentally, there's a work of fanfic still in its early stages at the moment in which both names are used. Parallel universes and all that...]

Website · by **Sage** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:36 pm

I like the idea of there being two, as Marion mentioned.

Of the two I like Unity better. Just because it's a pretty name.

but would probably go with Futura for continuity.

by **Marion** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 4:36 pm

(I knew I had seen this somewhere....)
Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett in their book: 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons' explain the confusion thus:
Spectrum answers only to the World President...who is head of the World Government. Although the nations of the 21st C Earth still have their own national leaders, they are united by the World Senate which sits at Unity City. Spanning the coral reefs of Bermuda, Unity City is a fusion-powered zone of such complexity that it is dubbed 'Futura City' by the locals.

How much credence we should give that is debatable - presumably they just made an educated guess, much as we do?

by **Captain Indigo** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:25 am

As a name for the World Capital, I prefer Unity for the symbolism, although it does contradict the series somewhat. Looking at continuity from a different perspective, Gerry has never been that fond of it himself, and even 40 years afterwards, the Thunderbirds 2026/2065 argument is still going on, with each side having a different set of birthdays for the characters! 'Continuity' is at the discression of the viewer/writer.

by **Maltray** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:15 pm

I'm afraid I have to go with Chris on this one I go for Futura

by **Elentari** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 6:37 am

I voted for Unity City. It's the name I definitely remember from the comics and annuals. As far as the show is concerned, when I first watched Captain Scarlet it never occurred to me Futura was anything but a different place to Unity.
In any case the name Futura doesn't really appeal to me much. The show is already set in the future - just how far ahead of 2068+ does the name 'Futura' want to suggest?