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Dangerous Rendezvous

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"Dangerous Rendezvous"

"Dangerous Rendezvous" is the 19th episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by Tony Barwick and directed by Brian Burgess, it was first on 9 February 1968 on ATV Midlands.

In this sequel episode to "Crater 101", Spectrum uses the crystal pulsator removed from the Mysterons' lunar outpost to contact the enemy and propose a cessation of hostilities between Earth and Mars.

Plot

Following the success of Spectrum's mission to destroy the Mysterons' lunar outpost, the Nash Institute of Technology's Dr Kurnitz has discovered that the extracted crystal power source can be used to communicate with the Mysterons on Mars. Captain Scarlet (voiced by Francis Matthews) escorts Kurnitz to Cloudbase, where an interplanetary transmitter has been built. After the pulsator is integrated with the machine's circuitry, Colonel White (Donald Gray) hails the Mysterons; recalling the Zero-X mission to Mars, he insists that Captain Black's destruction of their city was motivated not by aggression, but fear. White concludes his broadcast with an offer of peace; the Mysterons, however, have vowed to destroy Cloudbase itself at midnight. Hourly sweeps with Mysteron Detectors have so far failed to uncover any suspicious devices.

Two hours after the transmission, Cloudbase receives a response from Mars: the Mysterons agree to negotiate on the condition that a Spectrum officer, unarmed and carrying no communications equipment, depart Cloudbase on a pre-determined flightpath. Volunteering to represent the organisation, Scarlet leaves in a Spectrum Jet. Ordered to bail out over Greenland by the disembodied Mysteron voice, Scarlet observes from the air as his aircraft loses altitude and crashes. On landing, the captain is picked up by a car driven by the Mysteron force; he is then driven to what appears to be a derelict shack but which in fact contains modern interiors and a viewing monitor.

Believing that he is in the presence of the Mysterons themselves, Scarlet is unaware that Captain Black is sitting behind the monitor. Ordering Scarlet to relay a "message" to Spectrum, the Mysteron agent starts a tape recording – in which the Mysterons re-state their desire to destroy all life on Earth – and departs. Suspecting that the meeting is a trap, Scarlet smashes the monitor to discover a second Mysteron crystal – which grows brighter and hotter as it starts to pulsate. Scarlet escapes the shack just before it is destroyed in the resulting explosion.

Scarlet realises that the first pulsator poses a danger to Cloudbase. He commandeers the empty saloon and speeds to an unmanned radar station, from which he signals to Cloudbase in Morse code. With midnight fast approaching, White deciphers Scarlet's message. On the colonel's orders, Captain Ochre shoots out an observation window and jettisons the white-hot pulsator, which detonates harmlessly in the atmosphere. Later, White concedes that Spectrum still has much to do if it is to gain the Mysterons' trust; he affirms, however, that the organisation will not abandon all hope of a diplomatic solution to the war between Earth and Mars.

Production

The third and final part of the story arc initiated by "Lunarville 7", this episode was in fact filmed before the preceding instalment, "Crater 101".[1][2]

Initially running under the standard 25 minutes of a Captain Scarlet episode, the plot of "Dangerous Rendezvous" was padded out with the insertion of various scenes that did not appear in Tony Barwick's original script: while a flashback was added to the scene of Colonel White's transmission (recounting events leading up to the declaration of war on Earth in "The Mysterons"), the wait for a response from Mars is extended by sequences in which Scarlet, Blue and White demonstrate Spectrum's cap-communication devices and organise an Angel launch for the benefit of Dr Kurnitz.[1][2]

Cloudbase is again threatened with destruction in "Attack on Cloudbase"; in this later episode, the Mysterons' tactics are more direct, with the deployment of a fleet of assault spacecraft.

Reception

The episode is named the worst of Captain Scarlet by TV Zone magazine, which describes "Dangerous Rendezvous" as an anticlimactic "low-key effort" that "ends a trilogy of otherwise superb episodes on a let-down ... wasting two episodes' worth of superb build-up".[3] Anthony Clark of sci-fi-online.com comments that the pace of the episode "could hardly be described as breakneck" but adds that, along with "Crater 101" and "Shadow of Fear", "Dangerous Rendezvous" helps to "progress Spectrum's fight back against the Mysterons".[4]

Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett praise the scene in which Scarlet, Blue and White explain Spectrum's methods of communication to Dr Kurnitz, writing that it adds interest to "Dangerous Rendezvous"; Chris Bentley, meanwhile, points out that it is essentially padding.[2][5] However, Drake and Bassett go on to question the wisdom of arranging a demonstration Angel launch when the security of Cloudbase is at risk.[5]

Cultural historian Nicholas J. Cull argues that the premise of "Dangerous Rendezvous" is inspired by contemporary events: the possibility of a truce between Earth and Mars, he suggests, echoes "shifting attitudes within the Cold War" during the 1960s.[6] Comparing "Dangerous Rendezvous" with Tony Barwick's other work for Gerry Anderson, Cull observes that his scripts commonly "reflected a yearning for Détente and an alternative to the divided world."[6]

Awarding the episode a U rating, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) notes that "Dangerous Rendezvous" contains a single "very mild" example of violence.[7]

Later appearances

Footage from "Dangerous Rendezvous" was re-edited for inclusion as a segment of Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars, a Captain Scarlet compilation film released on home video in 1981.

References

  1. ^ a b Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. London: Carlton Books. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-84222-405-2.
  2. ^ a b c Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  3. ^ Payne, Stephen, ed. (Summer 2004). "The Anderson Files". TV Zone Special (57). London: Visual Imagination: 41. ISSN 0960-8230. OCLC 438949600.
  4. ^ Clark, Anthony. "Captain Scarlet: Volume 5 – Video Review". sci-fi-online.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme (1993). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. London: Boxtree. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-852834-03-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b Cull, Nicholas J. (August 2006). "Was Captain Black Really Red? The TV Science Fiction of Gerry Anderson in its Cold War Context". Media History. 12 (2). Routledge: 201. doi:10.1080/13688800600808005. ISSN 1368-8804. OCLC 364457089.
  7. ^ "'Dangerous Rendezvous' rated 'U' by the BBFC". bbfc.co.uk. London: British Board of Film Classification. 11 September 2001. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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