Episode no. Episode 12 Written by Tony Barwick Editing by Bob Dearberg | Directed by Robert Lynn Cinematography by Julien Lugrin Production code 16 | |
"Lunarville 7" is the 12th episode of the British Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 15 December 1967 (1967-12-15) on ATV Midlands. It was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Robert Lynn, and forms the introduction to a story arc that is resumed in the later episode "Crater 101".
Contents
In this episode, Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green are dispatched to a lunar colony following reports of unauthorised construction on the far side of the Moon. In the 1980s, footage from "Lunarville 7" was re-edited and incorporated into Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars, a Captain Scarlet compilation film.
Plot
In a transmission sent from Lunarville 7, the Lunar Controller declares the Moon officially neutral in the war between Earth and Mars. Intelligence, meanwhile, has revealed the Humboldt Sea on the far side of the Moon to be the site of a new, unidentified and unauthorised construction. Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green are dispatched to Lunarville 7 ostensibly to hand over the World President's letter of response to the Controller, but also secretly to investigate the base and follow up on Spectrum's orbital reconnaissance.
On arrival, Scarlet, Blue and Green are met by the Controller, his assistant, Orson, and Lunarville 7's Control Computer, an artificial intelligence called "Speech Intelligence Decoder" (SID), which identifies humans via recognition discs. After the officers hand over the World President's letter, Orson agrees to take them on a trip outside in a Moonmobile, a vehicle reliant on the Moon's low gravity to jump and glide over the lunar surface. However, Orson refuses to go as far as the Humboldt Sea, and the men's suspicion of their hosts mounts when they uncover concealed listening devices in their accommodation.
Waking in the early hours of the morning, Scarlet finds that he is unable to request a Moonmobile from SID, which has been re-programmed by the Controller to accept only his commands. The Controller has also declared a state of emergency and ordered the evacuation of all personnel. Scarlet switches recognition discs with the sleeping controller to trick SID into granting the Spectrum officers Moonmobile access. In the Humboldt Sea, Scarlet, Blue and Green discover a Mysteron computer complex under construction in an unnamed crater, marked on the map as "101".
Returning to Lunarville 7, Scarlet, Blue and Green confront the Controller and Orson who, it is apparent, are Mysteron reconstructions. SID prepares an Earth-bound shuttle for immediate departure on Scarlet's orders. The insane Controller opens fire on SID with a gun when it rejects his commands, causing an explosion that kills him and Orson. Scarlet, Blue and Green blast off from Lunarville 7 in the shuttle before further explosions destroy the whole colony.
Production
In his speech that opens the episode, the Lunar Controller states that the Moon is home to about 4,000 humans. In Tony Barwick's original script, the character was then to discuss the self-sufficiency of lunar bases in greater detail, stating, for example, "We were all born on Earth, but I see a future where men will be born, spend their lives and die on the Moon." This dialogue was edited out of the finished episode. The appearance of the Moonmobiles that feature in "Lunarville 7" and its sequel, "Crater 101", influenced the design of the SHADO Moonmobiles that would appear in the later Century 21 TV series, UFO. The incidental music for this episode makes extensive use of an Ondes Martenot, played by composer Barry Gray himself, for sequences set in and around Lunarville 7. The music was recorded in the same studio session as that for "The Launching", on 23 July 1967 (1967-07-23) with four instrumentalists in attendance.
Reception
Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett summarise "Lunarville 7" as a good episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. The British Board of Film Classification notes one "mild" instance of violence in its U rating.