Gerry Anderson is a name of legend. “Thunderbirds” and “Space 1999” might be his most recognizable creations, but there are a number of other fantastic series he worked on. Here we have his follow-up to “Thunderbirds” – “Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons” a fantastic series set in the future where Earth finds itself going up against an ancient race of martians, The Mysterons.
One of the things making this war difficult is the Mysterons ability to take on the form of any person that has been killed. Infiltration and subversive plots are one of the things I remembered the most about this series from when I first saw it nearly 40 years ago. While it can be seen as a kid’s show, “Captain Scarlet” is something that has a broad appeal. Think of it more as family entertainment.
Helping to defend Earth is SPECTRUM, a security agency that is housed in the Cloudbase, a flying aircraft carrier. Headed by Colonel White, the agency’s best agent is the titular Captain Scarlet, who in the first episode has such a brush with the Mysterons he takes on their healing properties.
What makes “Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons” such a compelling series was not just its themes, but also significant deaths. Yes, characters die in the series. “Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons” might be Gerry Anderson’s darkest series.
There are a number of great characters in “Captain Scarlet And the Mysterons” and the writing is such where you really feel these aren’t just carbon copy archetypes. While the marionette style execution may appear to be presenting one thing, the writing offers up something else. Gerry Anderson and company never dumbed down anything for the audience.
While not the first time available on DVD this is the first time some of the special features have appeared. Gerry Anderson died a couple of years ago, so one has to wonder where these were and why they haven’t surfaced before. We have an interview with the co-creator and producer of the series as well as audio commentary on two of the episodes. Then there are some featurettes which look at the making of the series.
As 32 episodes there seems like a lot of time to tell the story, which finishes, but of course leaves enough open to have a follow-up series. The thing is, at 30 minutes, each episode moves along at a fast pace for a series that came out 40 years ago. And it holds up today. Well worth purchasing.