101 Things You Always Wondered about Spectrum

[Marion]

There are some fundamental questions that never seem to get answered anywhere, so I thought I would start a thread in the hope that somebody's worked out the answers... Feel free to comment or add your own question.

For example:
What happens if the pilot of Angel One - sitting for 4 hours on the runway - needs the loo?

[Isabelle]

Also, if she's been sitting there, bored and half blinded by the sun would she really be at her top shape to go on a mission? Would'nt her legs (and bottom) be sore after 4 hours of just sitting there? I've often questioned the real time gain of having oone of the girls always there instead of ready in the Amber room and going up to the planes as needed.

They'd probably also need more than 5 Angels because that duty rota is impossible to maintain for a long time (that is also valid for the NCS Angels, who have to sleep at some point and can't be on duty all the time).

As for the need to use the loo, aside from a piddle pack, I suppose they could also go back down for a few moments? Provided another Angel takes over for her?

[Marion]

Very true, Isabelle; I 've wondered why they only had 5 Angels for years. Years of doing rotas in public libraries makes it clear that it is impractical to man 3 planes 24/7 with 5 pilots.
I've also wondered if the 4 hours on 4 hours off that is mentioned in the TV show, is actually the 'emergency rota' and when not in a state of high alert, they're expected to be in the planes for longer...

Unless, of course, there are more Angel pilots on Cloudbase, but we only see the 'elite' (and highly photogenic) crew?

[Marion]

I am listening to a discussion on BBC Radio about the news that Amazon have patented a scheme for vast airborne warehouses, hovering 45,000 feet above the ground. These are basically modern airships (apparently).
It struck a chord: not only with Cloudbase/Skybase but with the novel idea expressed in the 1968 Captain Scarlet annual, for a 'dummy' Cloudbase - made from 'reinforced plastic balloon fabric' - intended to bamboozle anyone planning to attack the real Cloudbase.
I have to admit that the notion of a giant 'bouncy castle' Cloudbase has caused much hilarity amongst me and my 'Scarletini' friends - and we have speculated a good deal about who'd have the job of mending the inevitable punctures, and so forth...
Looks like the joke is on us and, once again, Gerry Anderson and his talented cohorts were actually being prescient.
And to think we also speculated about 'what on Earth they were on' when they wrote that...

[Carrie]

What a marvelous question, Marion, and I'm wondering why on earth has no one has brought up the subject before.
Naturally, when we watched the TV series at the tender age of nine we were too enthralled by the state of the art special effects and the good-looking puppets (of both sexes) to worry about such mundane matters as going to the loo.

I suppose none of the writers expected that we'd still be discussing the finer points of fridge logic (to quote TV tropes - definition follows: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeLogic from a show that's 50 years old..unless of course we're still wondering where the little captain's room is on the Tardis.....

Four hours isn't completely out of the realms of impossibility, is it? I don't know any call centre workers to ask, but they might have to sit for a stretch before a loo/ciggie break, but I guess they're not expected to fly off at Mach 3 at a moment's notice. And that's triggered a thought, that maybe the reason the Angels couldn't hit a gigantic Aztec/Mayan statue is because they're cross-eyed from crossing their legs on the way over to South America because they didn't get to go before they went...
Cystitis anyone?

[VMR]

Hi Guys.

Angel questions. Hmmm, I’m not a hundred percent sure, it been a long time since I investigate this, but the answer to the loo question is in the flight suits. Something needed to be done for long distance / duration flights, sorties.
There’s also some excises that one can do sitting down, but I do agree with you Isabelle, about Angel One’s pilot being in top shape at the end of her stint. All for about 30 to 40 seconds faster take off. I guess it just looks good for program. Although if you do take into a count the time it would take for One’s pilot to go up and launch and then the time for Angels’ two and three to do the same? Then I guess it be may be a minute or two, to have all the Angels in the sky.
As for their duty rota, I just sent to Chris an article about that. I had to think about it when I wrote ‘Of Feeling and Hope’. So, may be, it will answer the question? However, I do concur that there needs to be more than five Angels.
Ah here’s another interesting idea. With Cloudbase being so high up. I wonder if, having the pressure in it being set as if they were a good height above sea level, the guys would have an advantaged. Like an athlete training at high altitude. Hmm something to think about.

VMR

[Marion]

That's something I never thought about - the pressure on Cloudbase. I sort of assumed it would be the same as at ground/sea level, but there's no reason why it should be, if there were advantages to be gained from living at a greater height - such as more oxygen in the blood and so forth.
I know that they can build 'facilities' into space-suits and (presumably) flight suits, but the Angels (in both OCS and NCS) all swan about in those tight-fitting uniforms, so it doesn't look as if they're equipped in that way, and they don't wear an additional/different suit when they're in their planes.

There's a similar quandary over the officer uniforms, when you think about it - they must be terribly hot and uncomfortable in the warmer climes of the planet and, although we do see them wearing a coat, they don't have a 'tropical kit' - unless the fetching safari suits they're wearing in 'Spectrum Strikes Back' represent that? Even then they're condemned to wear colour-coded polo-neck sweaters underneath the jackets (presumably in case they forget their codenames?) ... poor chaps.

[VMR]

Thinking about the engineering side of Cloudbase… Building it strong enough to hold sea level pressure, would require more structural bracing and strength, than if it was built to contain a lower pressure. Still I think that it would be a fine line between a pressure that would cause a significant benefit for the design of Cloudbase and one that would not cause any problems to those who lived in it. Especially those you live they full time.
I know that I wondered if there could be any benefit in living in a lower pressure, but now I’m not so sure. For the captains and, to a lesser extent, the Angels are always heading out on assignment, so returning to a ‘higher altitude’ could cause problems. Altitude sickness pops into mind. Hmmm, it is an interesting question / brainteaser to wonder about: what would be the best atmosphere pressure for the ease of building Cloudbase and the comfit of it occupants?
Now back to the uniforms and their practicability or lack of it. We can’t forget that it’s a TV show, so it all came down to how they look on the screen, and not if they would make sense in real life. I do remember reading that the costume designers had to be careful with their choice of fabric and designs, as some wouldn’t sit the same way in small scale as it did full size clothes. So I guess us fanfic writers will just have to use poetic licence when it comes to the uniforms when needed.
That’s the thing about TV, films, etc. There’s real world physics and movie physics. And movie / TV physics doesn’t always make sense. Another example of it is. Why do the Angels, when they take off, go up? (Especially in NCS) They are already at 40,000 feet.

VMR

[Marion]

'Poetic licence'? Yes, and ingenuity to try and make sense of the nonsensical
Still, I expect the very confusion is part of its ineffable charm; after all, despite the confusion we still adore it and spend our free time trying to make sense of it all. Given that it is a children's show and 50 years old, that's not a bad track record, is it?
In some ways, the uncertainty leaves the gate open to many interpretations and that makes all the fanfic stories so interesting, as you see the way other authors have dealt with the issues.

[VMR]

I couldn’t agree more, and I do love the way it makes us have to think outside the box. You are right there’s not many TV shows of that time period that still have a reasonable fan base.

VMR

[Carrie]

Yes, Gerry and Sylvia gave the entertainment world a legacy that is as complex as its longevity.
I know we all angst about making our stories ring as true as they can, which isn't easy when the originals seem to have quite a few 'what-the-heck' moments that defy logic! But, that's part of their undeniable charm, and gives us some freedom to explore alternatives.
Nice thread, Marion, BTW!

[Carrie]

There's a similar quandary over the officer uniforms, when you think about it - they must be terribly hot and uncomfortable in the warmer climes of the planet

Perhaps their uniforms are made of futuristic fabric, with built-in nano-technology that regulates body-temperature when things get a little 'hot' and allows 'wicking' away of excess 'moisture' as they run after Mysteron baddies.
I'm sure Apple and Google are working on it right now...

[Marion]

Yes, I sort of postulated that something like that might be the answer in one of my stories. Let's hope - for the captains' sakes - that it is right! Just think, if they're having to suffer in silence, all that hot, sweaty masculinity could lead to a rather pongy Officers' Lounge...

[Parker Gabriel]

In regard to the Angels on alert duty, a better-than-even chance exists that Colonel White may have adopted a policy of having flight personnel wait approximately six hours, or ideally twelve hours, from coffee to cockpit.
This is in view of the fact that real-world military combat aviators are required to wait a minimum of twelve hours from bottle to throttle, and of the requirements, imposed on the flight crews of airliners, that they wait a minimum of twenty-four hours from bottle to throttle.

The flight suits the Angels wear could also rely on a similar "waste-collection system" to that used aboard the space-shuttle orbiter vehicles.

[hazel]

With only 5 Angels (that we know of...) that sort of delay would be unmanageable!