Captain Scarlet 50th Anniversary

[MadeIndescribable]

So today's the 50th anniversary of the first airing of Gerry and Sylvia Andersons' Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. (I have to admit I'm not watching it today though, as I finished my rewatch last night....)

I think it's great that so many series from the 60s are still well known and loved even today (especially sci fi), and how much the effects of the 'Supermarionation' series really hold up against todays modern CGI.

Anyone else a fan of Captain Scarlet, or other Anderson series?

 

[Marc]

the last series that Anderson was involved was a CGI version of Captain Scarlett which originally aired in 2005 and had two season. might be worth your while to track down a copy.

Big finish who do the Doctor Who audios (amongst many others), have some Captain Scarlet stories as well. I haven't heard any of them but the believe they're small cast than a full blown audio adaption.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

the last series that Anderson was involved was a CGI version of Captain Scarlett which originally aired in 2005 and had two season. might be worth your while to track down a copy.

Big finish who do the Doctor Who audios (amongst many others), have some Captain Scarlet stories as well. I haven't heard any of them but the believe they're small cast than a full blown audio adaption.

Yeah, I started watching the New Captain Scarlet a while ago, but then lost my copies. Have to admit I've been tempted to get the Blu-Ray now thats been released. And yeah, the new audios are basically remakes of older stories. Don't think there's many of the original cast still alive to make new ones

 

[J.T.B.]

It's interesting. I loved Thunderbirds when I was a kid, but never saw any other Supermarionation shows until a year or two ago. They are available (with commercials) on Shout!TV in the US. I found I really couldn't get into watching the Captain Scarlet characters with the smaller "more realistic" heads. I found them vaguely creepy, unlike the big cartoony heads in the other shows. I don't know if it's an Uncanny Valley thing or if I was just imprinted at an early age with what they should look like.

And another thing about Thunderbirds: As an adult, I find their strange de-populated world eerie and, again, vaguely creepy.

But that's just me!

 

[Solariabsg25]

A big Scarlet fan, was first shown the year I was born. Thought it had the edge on Thunderbirds simply because Spectrum sometimes lost, adding more suspense to the stories. And the pure ruthlessness of The Mysterons, as in their second episode they actually killed a whole airliner full of people just to get their target.

 

[Marc]

A big Scarlet fan, was first shown the year I was born. Thought it had the edge on Thunderbirds simply because Spectrum sometimes lost, adding more suspense to the stories. And the pure ruthlessness of The Mysterons, as in their second episode they actually killed a whole airliner full of people just to get their target.

Thunderbirds had the Hood do something similar but not in until a bit later.

Not something a kids show would do today.

 

[JD]

I've heard of this and of course Thunderbirds, but the closest I've come to watching them is Team America: World Police.

 

[Solariabsg25]

Thunderbirds had the Hood do something similar but not in until a bit later.

Not something a kids show would do today.

The Thunderbirds 6 movie released in 1968 including The Hood's team executing the crew of the airship, then dumping their bodies overboard into the sea at night. Joe 90 blew opponents away without many qualms and he was a nine-year-old kid, and then of course it reached the levels of UFO and Space:1999, the latter still regarded as a kid's show, yet look at episodes such as The Troubled Spirit and Dragon's Domain.

 

[Marc]

The Thunderbirds 6 movie released in 1968 including The Hood's team executing the crew of the airship, then dumping their bodies overboard into the sea at night. Joe 90 blew opponents away without many qualms and he was a nine-year-old kid, and then of course it reached the levels of UFO and Space:1999, the latter still regarded as a kid's show, yet look at episodes such as The Troubled Spirit and Dragon's Domain.

UFO and Space:1999 were aimed more at the adult audience so we'll given them some lee (and a trend which Anderson began with Doppleganger in 1969).

I'd forgotten about the killing of the Airship crew in Thunderbird 6 (a clip from which has become a meme over the years).

Never seen Joe 90.

 

[Solariabsg25]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Apart from the inappropriate level of violence in Captain Scarlet and Joe 90, it's the almost ubiquitous instances of recreational smoking in Thunderbirds that usually attract the most criticism.

 

[Solariabsg25]

At that time smoking was fine. I believe that cigarette companies still had sway on some US networks that bad guys in shows were not permitted to smoke as it showed cigarettes in a "bad light". But yeah, people today are more enraged at Lady Penelope sparking up than her shooting some guy off the road for trying to take a photo of Thunderbird One.

 

[Saul]

After Thunderbirds I loved this show. I would have liked to have seen some kind of conclusion eventually.

 

[MacLeod]

When I was a child growing up in the UK you tended to grow up on reruns of the various Gerry Anderson shows, such as Stingray, Captain Scarlet and of course THunderbirds. (Not mention others shows such as Star Trek, Mission Impossible)

Time for the end theme though I think

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[MadeIndescribable]

Time for the end theme though I think

I had a rewatch on DVD last month, and was so dissapointed at the amount of episodes which don't have the full song over the end credits!!

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I loved Captain Scarlet and especially Thunderbirds as a kid. But my mom was not thrilled by the violence at all, starting with the gunplay in the opening of Captain Scarlet. In terms of what disturbed me the most, I think it was the exploding bracelets on Thunderbirds; I don't recall whether Captain Scarlet had those.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

I loved Captain Scarlet and especially Thunderbirds as a kid. But my mom was not thrilled by the violence at all, starting with the gunplay in the opening of Captain Scarlet. In terms of what disturbed me the most, I think it was the exploding bracelets on Thunderbirds; I don't recall whether Captain Scarlet had those.

Yeah, I remember those. When someone was being blackmailed to open the massive safe?? Definitely not something you'd see in a kids programme these days...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, I remember those. When someone was being blackmailed to open the massive safe?? Definitely not something you'd see in a kids programme these days...

That's the one!

 

[Solariabsg25]

Deaths were very memorable, from drowning sub crew to crashing space DJs. But why did Captain Black have such a beef with garage workers??

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

But seeing this crash in Thunderbirds where the people in the car were thrown through the air in what was obviously a fatal collision, but miraculously they survived - maybe The Mysterons were on Earth earlier than anyone thought??

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies