Several Questions

[Captain Indigo]

But White said (in Manhunt I think) that Black disappeared on his return, indicating he came back with the MEV. I don't think they would have let him leave if he'd brought back two dead bodies.

It's possible that he disappeared as soon as the MEV returned, using the Mysterons' powers, and therefore, was never apprehended by whoever met the expedition back on Earth.

[color=#00cc99]4. An interesting question. I can only assume that there's some subtle movement of the head that causes the microphone to activate.

Wonder what happens when they get a twitch!

I never said it was a good explaination, because that had me giggling too.

[color=#00cc99]However, Black was the second in command - irreplacable.

Since when?

Again, this was something established off screen in the annuals, I believe. Black was not only the oldest of the captains by quite a signifncant degree, but he'd served with Colonel White previously, and they were quite good friends. Also, he had been involved with Spectrum from the very beginning of the project, and was heavily involved in the construction of Cloudbase. All of this leads to his being second in command, and therefore irreplacable.

Yeah, I didn't mean the combination of flashes or anything, but the actual positions of the lights in relation to each other.

It's also possible of course that this is another continuity error. Remember that this show was written for children, and wasn't really ever meant to stand up to the critisisms of adults nearly fourty years later.
Give the guys their credit instead of picking hairs, they made a show that HAS lasted thirty-five years, and is still enjoyed by people of all ages, not just the children it was intended for!

[mb2000]

mb2000, I think you may be forgetting that not only does White's whole desk swivel, but his seat inside it does as well. (How else could he see all those lights and control pads behind him?) He might just be seated in a different position...

Possibly, but I meant the row of llights directly opposite the gap where White would enter the desk.

[chrisbishop]

Obviously, there isn't any satisfactory answer to that particular question. It's been said a few times within this thread that it was a props or continuity error. So better leave it that way.

[Marion]

As Chris says - a continuity slip-up - and one that makes little difference to anything much.
Of far more mind-boggling complexity is: How do their epaulettes flash different colours?
Obviously, Spectrum has powers we cannot hope to understand

[mb2000]

Of far more mind-boggling complexity is: How do their epaulettes flash different colours?
Obviously, Spectrum has powers we cannot hope to understand

I always thought that the epulats contained different coloured LEDs or small bulbs (with one for each colour agent) and a system of mirrors or other reflective surface to make the light from the LED fill the whole tube. These LEDs would be connected to a small controlling computer chip which would active the corresponding light for who ever was calling/being called and maybe even send a signal to activate the cap microphone. There would also need to be some form of battery. (Maybe thats where Ochre's and Magenta's epulats were in "Winged Assasin" - they were being recharged).

[Marion]

Wow - that's quite an explanation! . I always thought it would make more sense - and be a lot easier (cheaper) to manufacture - if they just flashed the one colour of the officer - ie Scarlet's flashed red, Blue's flashed blue etc... much less exciting of course.
Does anyone recall seeing any epaulettes flash to announce a call from Captain Grey or - in the good old days - Captain Black! That'd be hard to achieve...

[Doc Denim]

Greetings all;

Some good questions mb - but I think you need to let the indicator lights thing go, it's a bit of a non-issue. However, this is one I've been thinking about for a long time:

The Captain Black & Crew Question (which may deserve a thread of its own....)

I seem to recall (and this goes back many, many years) seeing one and only one of the Captain Scarlet Annuals, which had a story in it that explained what had happened to the crew of the MEV. (I know I asked about this in the old Forum, and just don’t remember if anyone responded to it or not….) This particular book may well have been one of the first Annuals, as it was ’68 or ’69 when I first laid eyes on it. It had many of the character bios, and a comic story about a threat to destroy New Baghdad – which was ultra modern, encased in glass, and if the air conditioning went out the citizens would fry in the desert sun – but there was also a bit that explained that the MEV had been returned to Earth orbit, where two of the crew (I am presuming Black’s crew) were removed suffering from something called zircon fever – or similar. And that Captain Black had been with them, and on return to Glenn Field (or wherever) had subsequently disappeared. I know I didn’t make any of those things up myself, because I’d never heard of Glenn Field and something like zircon fever wouldn’t have crossed my mind. And I’ve also wondered ever since, exactly WHEN the War of Nerves was actually ‘engaged’. How long did it take for the MEV to return to Earth? Did the Mysterons pick it up and drop it back into Earth orbit by whatever mysterious means of teleporting things they have, or did they allow the MEV to make its own way back (which would likely be several months, space travel time) giving Black/the crew time to report the error of their ways and for the Earth to prepare for the consequences? No real time lapse is actually shown in the series (and wasn’t necessary, storyline-wise) but there must have been some sort of a ‘delay’ before the Mysterons actually announced their very first threat and carried it out. (I have speculated about this in some half-written fan-fic, I shall have to dig it out.)

Does anyone out there remember this particular Annual? I know it’s old, but I’m also convinced that I got this information from that sort of ‘official’ source – I had very limited access to any ‘Anderson’ related material, so it would be difficult for me to have confused it with something else along the way.

No matter what, I’d be interested in anyone’s thoughts about the ‘time-line’ as regards the commencement of hostilities, and I will try to see what other speculative notes I have in the meanwhile…..

Doc Denim

P.S. - I did a quick google, and found a site selling the 1967 Annual - the cover pic they showed looks quite familiar, so it may have been the '67 annual I'm thinking about. Does anyone have it in their collections?

[chrisbishop]

Check the following page, Doc:

http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/books.html

Many of the Captain Scarlet books are listed there - with description and pictures. The annuals included!

[Doc Denim]

Further to some Zero-X and World Presidential /Spectrum and time line speculation: (Moderators: please feel free to move this anywhere it may more properly belong...) Here's a bit of upcoming fan-fic (rather old, note it is NOT TB canon, so call it mulitverse, as it's a part of CS/TB's crossover I have in the works) that just happens to recap all in one 'scene' the general situation regarding the War of Nerves - as seen from a non-Spectrum viewpoint, circa 2071 or so.....

to set the scene: Spectrum has invited International Rescue to particpate in an operation to rescue a high level official from a devastated Security facility, in order to avert a global political crisis:

****

An Excerpt from Siobhan Zettler’s Motherlode Trilogy (A CS/TB Crossover story....)

Virgil was always about twenty minutes behind him. Scott glanced at his watch, reckoning the time factors and giving Virgil enough time-lag to get himself airborne and well underway before calling him up. There were a few things he wanted to discuss.
This mission, he figured, was going to be different. For a number of reasons.
“Thunderbird One to Base,” he said into his com when he had his course laid in. “”Airborne. Estimated time to arrival at Danger Zone, thirty two minutes, mark.”
“Right, Scott.” His father’s voice came back almost immediately. “Hold the line. I want Virgil in on this too.”
Another light winked to life on his console, Virgil breaking into their transmission. “Thunderbird Two to Base. Okay, I’m in on it, father,” Virgil said.
“Spectrum advises that the whole area is under maximum security- and that includes a restricted airspace being patrolled by their own craft. They’re arranging an Angel escort for the both of you, from co-ordinate IFS 10987, approximately 100 miles from touchdown. Expect it. Operation codename is Motherlode. Angel pilots will request that information, and if you don’t give it to them they will shoot you down. Is that clearly understood?”
“Yessir,” Scott responded. “Military, this time.”
“Got it,” Virgil echoed. “I understand Spectrum doesn’t horse around much.”
“They can’t afford to horse around, boys. And neither can we. You just said it, Scott...military, and don’t either one of you forget it. First names only today. These people have resources to tap and I don’t want them breaching our security, not even inadvertently. The less they see for themselves, the better.”
“Will do, father.” Scott acknowledged. “We’ll handle our own security if it can be done.”
“As far as possible, Scott. But don’t compromise your own safety or that of the equipment. Spectrum has a good reputation and I seriously doubt they’d like to tarnish it by messing around with ours. I’m assured of Spectrum’s complete co-operation.”
“Any particular on-site contact that we’re aware of?”
“Yes, Scott - Spectrum field commander for Operation Motherlode is Captain Scarlet. He’ll brief you on the current situation as soon as you touchdown, and you can relay the pertinent information to Virgil once you’ve assessed the circumstances.”
“F.A.B..”
“Understood, father.”
“And boys---one more thing.”
“Father?”
“Yessir?”
“Be careful. This is a Spectrum operation, and that means we’re not dealing with just the military, but with the Mysterons as well. Keep it in mind.”
“Got it, father. Thunderbird Two, out.” Virgil signed off.
“Likewise,” Scott said. “Thunderbird One, standing by.”
Mysterons.
Mysterons, Scott thought. Worth checking into....
“Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Two,” Scott decided it was time to do a little research. “You still there, Virgil?”
“Where else would I be?” Virgil signed back on. “What’s up, Scott?”
“My curiousity, that’s what. What do you and I know about Mysterons, Virg?”
“Not a whole hell of a lot, really. I suppose we could ask John---he’s nosy enough to know.”
At once, the space station’s indicator flashed active on the board. “I heard that,” John said sourly, and Scott couldn’t help but grin, because John had just proved his own reputation as the family cloak-and-dagger agent well-founded again.
“You’re maintaining your rep as an ace eavesdropper there, Johnny-boy.” Scott replied.
“Huh. Yeah.” It was an old, old family joke, although there had been times around the house that he and Virgil, teenaged, had not much appreciated John’s preteen and annoyingly accurate investigative reportings. “I much prefer to consider myself well informed.”
“So, go ahead, then. Spill it.” Virgil prompted. “Just what do we know about Spectrum in general and the Mysterons in particular?”
‘Hmmm, well...” John began slowly. “You know about as much as I do about how the whole thing got going in the first place, with all that Zero-X business a few years back.”
“Yeah...we were there. Saved the crew just before the Zero-X went down.”
“We saved the civilian crew. The military personnel were removed from the ship before they reached Earth. It was a dual expedition...civilian crew were the public front for the military’s secret investigation of suspected intelligent alien presence on Mars.”
“Found it, too. Big scandal, when that blew up in their faces.” Virgil commented. “I remember that.”
“Scandal, nothin’.” Scott chimed in. “Toppled the incumbent World Government and put Younger in with a landslide. Spectrum was his baby, wasn’t it?”
“You bet---” John confirmed. “Younger’s a moderate. One of the best peacekeepers around and the previous bunch went and landed him in the middle of an interplanetary war. Spectrum had been what - maybe twenty years on the drawing boards as the global peacekeeping agency the UN proposed way back when. Good thing they were operational when the War of Nerves got going, or we’d probably all be toast by now.”
“Mysterons really all that bad?” Virgil wondered aloud. “It’s an acronym, isn’t it?”
“Short for Mysterious Persons...that’s what the aliens were termed by the military before they actually found’em, and that’s the term the Mysterons adopted for themselves. Do all their dealings in English, anyway. Guess they want to be understood.”
“Too bad we had to start it.”
“As a planet, we have a few serious regrets that we can’t seem to get across. Spectrum’s tried. Anyway, to make a long story short, the Mysterons, for whatever their own reasons are, wage this thing called a War of Nerves. They announce their intentions to devastate something or someone, and then it’s up to Spectrum - or anyone who knows and cares to take a crack at it - to try to stop them. Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t. Spectrum’s got a tough job...the Mysterons have a few really amazing tricks up their proverbial sleeves and they use ‘em on a regular basis.”
“Such as?”
“They, quote ‘take people or things over’ unquote.”
“Meaning?” Scott asked.
“Meaning they’ll trash things and bump off people. Kill ‘em and xerox ‘em.”
“I’ve heard that,” Scott said.”They turn ‘em into zombies and get ‘em to do their dirty work for them.”
“Sounds an awful lot like invasion of the body snatchers or something.” Virgil commented. “You’re sure this isn’t just some bad science fiction, John?”
“Lots of people wish it was, Virg. You wouldn’t believe most of the stuff I pick up on Spectrum freqeuncies sometimes.”
“That’s how you know all this?” Scott inquired.
“Don’t know anything, Scott...it’s mostly inference. Like I said, they’ve got some fascinating transmissions on their wavebands. I practically know some of those guys by now.”
“They don’t use secure wavebands?” Virgil didn’t believe that one, Scott could tell just from his tone. “What kind of security do they call that?”
“Be serious, Virg. You know that’s not a problem for us. If it was, we wouldn’t be in business. Brains’ll have to give you a refresher on encryption decoding. Last update he did got us into the military bands, too. I’m sure though, that Spectrum wouldn’t appreciate it, so you’d both better play it real dumb if they start to tell you any of this themselves. They’re not dummies, and they’ll put two and two together pretty quick if they think we know too much.”
“So what are they gonna do? Sue us? What can they prove?”
“They have clout. Comparatively speaking, guys, we’re pipsqueek. They could have World Tech Central on our backs in a cold second if they thought they had a leak that needed to be plugged.”

*****
(there's more, but I think that's all that's relevant for this discussion....) Have fun!

Doc Denim

[mb2000]

Does anyone recall seeing any epaulettes flash to announce a call from Captain Grey or - in the good old days - Captain Black! That'd be hard to achieve...

I don't think Captain Black was ever seen using his cap microphone as he was a Mysteron after a few minutes and then didn't need it.

Captain Grey always seemed to recieve calls, never make them. One time I can remember that he might have called someone was when they were at that Observatory in the mountains and one of scientist was killed while looking through the telescope at Mars. Grey was using a Mysteron detector from a helicopter, but I think he might have had the Angel piloting the helicopter to report to Scarlet and Blue.

As for Black and Grey's lights, I would think they would have done someting to similar to what was done in Power Rangers for the Black Ranger - have purple lights instead. (but then the Power Rangers didn't have an Indigo Ranger would have needed purpleish lights.

And how do the Captains tell whether Colonel White or an Angel is calling, as they all have white lights?

[Captain Indigo]

Doc, is there any chance of that crossover appearing any time soon? It sounds GREAT!

mb2000, I think the captains just panic and HOPE that it's an Angel calling them and not Colonel White!

[Marion]

Alternatively - they just consult the script

[Captain Indigo]

:roll: Or they could do that...

[FlicCity]

Hello, everyone! I've decided to join the discussion. And I've come up with a real doozy of an explanation for the epaulettes...
There are materials which change colour when an electric charge is passed through them. The epaulettes are made of one of these; the colour they turn depends on how high the charge is. And they flash brighter when the Colonel calls then they do when it's one of the Angels. (By the way, this means that they wouldn't glow when Captain Black called, merely change to black.)
No idea how the caps are activated, though. Unless Spectrum has patented telepathic electronics I'm not touching the one about Colonel White's desk, either.
The reason they don't reuse colour codenames might be superstition. After all, soldiers and sailors are known to be superstitious, and history repeats itself; would you want to risk being blown up by the Mysterons because you'd been given the codename 'Captain Brown'?

[Doc Denim]

For what it's worth, here's a thought or so on the questions:

I think the epaulettes 'flash' due to LED's inside, as mb has suggested - LED's can be quite small, and it only takes a couple of 'color' bulbs in combination to make any particular 'hue' - much like a TV screen has only black and 3 separate colors, yet we perceive thousands of subtle shades from screen depending on how they're activated by the electron guns in the back of the cathode tube.

And - as regards the activation of the cap mikes: I think it can be one of two things, and possibly a choice of the officer, depending on the situation: Voice activation - i.e. - saying "Colonel White' firmly and clearly will allocate your frequency to Colonel White's voice address, OR perhaps there is a pressure sensitive 'set-screw' kind of device built into the cap that can detect and react to muscle movement - some variation of the sort of thing that disabled folks can use to communicate with the twitch of a jaw. (Stephen Hawking writes books this way....). I don't think this method would be destination specific, but if an officer didn't want to 'give' his position away by stating code names aloud, it could be used to quietly activate the com functions and engage transmission, allowing other officers to hear what might be going on in the sender's vicinity.

I don't think that this communications issue is an insurmountable 'problem' technically speaking----

Doc Denim