Color code merited WHEN?

by **Parker Gabriel** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:52 am

How high in the ranks of the Spectrum Organization WOULD an officer have to rise before being assigned a code color?

Or has that question even been answered to the Colonel's satisfaction?

by **Marion** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:32 am

I was under the impression that no one below the rank of Lieutenant had a colour code, and possibly only Lieutenants that are posted to Cloudbase?
There are references (mostly in comics and annuals) to colour-coded captains other than the ones we see on Cloudbase, and these, I assume are ground-based. Captain Indigo (Spectrum Strikes Back) is never seen on, or refered to as having been on, Cloudbase.
The one I have some confusion with, is Major Stone, at Koala Base. Stone might be his real name, or possibly it is a colour code. He does not wear the typical Spectrum Uniform, so it is hard to be sure. I think he's the only 'major' we encounter as well. Certainly Scarlet and Blue defer to him when they arrive at the base.
From what I remember of comic stories, and the odd-appearance of 'guards' in TV episodes, the rank and file agents all wear charcoal-coloured uniforms with pale sashes, so having a colour codename would be pointless.
Besides, you start to run out of colours after a while

by **Parker Gabriel** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 8:04 pm

The Spectrum Organization's rank structure has long been the subject of much debate. If the Colonel can be believed, then color codes preceded by "captain" would actually be the same as colonelship in the World Army-and Air Force and/or the World Marine Corps. But would color codes preceded by "lieutenant" be the same as major or lieutenant colonel in those services?

All I'm asking for is for SOMEONE to clear up the question.

by **chrisbishop** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:06 pm

Which Colonel are you referring to?

The ranks question is not one easily answered. Rather, those ranks are a red herring, a 'code name' to hide the real rank hidden behind, and the real identity of the bearer of that name. At least, I take it that way, and I know I'm not the only one.

The Spectrum personel composing the core of Spectrum senior staff, as we know it, did not raise through ranks WITHIN Spectrum. They have been taken from other military corps - and even civilian organisations. So what are we to know that you can actually raise within the organisation's ranks to reach the 'colour-code' ranks? Maybe it's not even possible. As far as we know, Koala Base might only be the training ground for recruits coming from other organisations - and as such, already hand-picked for their chosen jobs (security guards, officers, whatever...)

Beside, there was not THAT many details given on the series, on even in official published texts, so all we can come up with will be speculations.

by **Mary Metcalfe** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:50 am

One of your "Cloudbase Captains" also with the given name of Mary (no relation, but I do admire her parents' good taste) has already posted rather a good hypothesis on the matter of the Spectrum ranking system, Mr. Gabriel. I suggest you read it.

by **Parker Gabriel** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:43 am

Mary Metcalfe wrote:One of your "Cloudbase Captains" also with the given name of Mary (no relation, but I do admire her parents' good taste) has already posted rather a good hypothesis on the matter of the Spectrum ranking system, Mr. Gabriel. I suggest you read it.

Will do, once I have it dispatched to me.

by **Marion** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:00 pm

There is a whole thread devoted to a very similar topic elsewhere on the Spectrum 'board'.
Try this and see if it answers your questions. Apart from that I think Colonel Chris is right; these matters are never explained in the canon information and everything is speculation.
The officers we see in the TV show are the first wave of Spectrum recruits, and they are from military and civilian backgrounds, some of them never had a rank. The fact that the Spectrum ranks are so 'low key' compared to other military and security services, might well be an indication of their relative obscurity - a deliberate attempt to play down their importance? Just a thought.
You can have new and different ideas and include them in any fan fiction you write, just as other fans have done.
http://spectrum-headquarters.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?p=809&highlight=#809

by **Parker Gabriel** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:25 pm

Ah...the thread "Another take on Spectrum ranks." I'll be sure to study that in more detail. Thanx!

by **Marion** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:32 am

Marion wrote:

The one I have some confusion with, is Major Stone, at Koala Base. Stone might be his real name, or possibly it is a colour code. He does not wear the typical Spectrum Uniform, so it is hard to be sure. I think he's the only 'major' we encounter as well. Certainly Scarlet and Blue defer to him when they arrive at the base.

I know the annuals are often at odds with accepted canon derived from the TV show, but I have just discovered - in a comic strip in the 1969 CS and Thunderbirds annual, called 'Runaway' - a MAJOR Sepia, working (in the story) on Cloudbase on testing a new 'remote control' driving system for SPVs - so that (and I quote) 'field agents can make patrols without even leaving Cloudbase'.
It goes wrong, of course, and the SPV is Mysteronised, but Scarlet saves the day by using the power units from three pistols to (as he says) 'turn my helijet into an electrode bomb!'
:-;)

Good thinking that man! But it does have a whiff of the Heath Robinson about it :wink:

Translators note: W. Heath Robinson is best known for drawings of eccentric machines and "Heath Robinson" entered the English language as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contraption. (The corresponding term in the US is Rube Goldberg machine, after an American cartoonist with an equal devotion to odd machinery.)
http://www.pr.gov.br/batebyte/edicoes/2003/bb137/imagens/torto2.gif