"Crater 101" is the 21st episode of ''

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions for distributor I ...

'', a British

Supermarionation Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", "marionette" and " animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet T ...

television series created by

Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice presi ...

and

Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In a ...

and filmed by their production company

Century 21 Productions AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

. Written by

Tony Barwick Anthony Clive "Tony" Barwick (10 July 1934 – 18 August 1993)https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10182/biographical-summaries-of-notable-people?itemId=447240&action=showRecord was a British television scriptwriter who worked ex ...

and directed by Ken Turner, it was first broadcast on 26 January 1968 on

ATV Midlands Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...

. Set in 2068, the series depicts a "

war of nerves War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

" between Earth and the

Mysteron The Mysterons are a fictional race of extraterrestrials and the antagonists in the 1960s British Supermarionation science-fiction television series ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' (1967–68) and its 2005 computer-animated remake, ''Ge ...

s: a race of

Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pred ...

s with the power to create functioning copies of destroyed people or objects and use them to carry out acts of aggression against humanity. Earth is defended by a military organisation called Spectrum, whose top agent, Captain Scarlet, was killed by the Mysterons and replaced by a reconstruction that subsequently broke free of their control. Scarlet's double has a self-healing power that enables him to recover from injuries that would be fatal to anyone else, making him Spectrum's best asset in its fight against the Mysterons. "Crater 101" is the second part of a three-episode

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vide ...

that begins in "

Lunarville 7 "Lunarville 7" is the 15th episode of ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company Century 21 Productions. Written by Tony Barwick and di ...

" and concludes in "

Dangerous Rendezvous "Dangerous Rendezvous" is the 22nd episode of ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions. Written by To ...

". The plot of the episode sees Scarlet, Captain Blue and

Lieutenant Green Lieutenant Green is a fictional character in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' and its 2000s computer-animated remake, ''Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet''. In both series, Green serves ...

set out to destroy a Mysteron installation being built on the

far side of the Moon The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from Earth, opposite to the Near side of the Moon, near side, because of synchronous rotation in the Moon's orbit. Compared to the near side, the far side's terrain is ru ...

. The events of "Crater 101" are recalled in flashback in the series'

clip show A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicte ...

finale, "

The Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

". The episode is one of four that were later reedited and combined to create ''

Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars ''Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars'' is a 1981 television film based on the 1960s British puppet TV series ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Produced by the New York office of the series' distributor, ...

'' (1981), a ''Captain Scarlet''

compilation film A compilation film, or compilation movie is a film composed of scenes and shots taken from two or more prior films and edited together so as to make a new film, whether on the same or a different subject. The most common example would be a docum ...

produced by the New York office of distributor

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

Plot

Following the destruction of Lunarville 7, Spectrum and the lunar authorities have made plans for the

complex in Crater 101, on the

, to be destroyed with an atomic device. However, to prevent the complex from being reconstructed, its power source will need to be removed first. Volunteering for the mission, Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and

(voiced by Francis Matthews,

Ed Bishop George Victor Bishop (11 June 1932 – 8 June 2005), known professionally as Ed Bishop or sometimes Edward Bishop, was an American actor. He was known for playing Commander Ed Straker in ''UFO'', Captain Blue in ''Captain Scarlet and the Myste ...

and

Cy Grant Cyril Ewart Lionel "Cy" Grant (8 November 1919 – 13 February 2010) was a Guyanese actor, musician, writer, and poet. In the 1950s, he became the first black person to be featured regularly on television in Britain,Kurt Barling '' The Inde ...

) travel to Lunarville 6, where they are briefed by Controller Linda Nolan and her colleague Shroeder before departing for Crater 101 in a Moonmobile. Reaching the crater, they transfer to a Lunar Tractor. Automated sentry vehicles move to attack them but are immobilised when Green destroys the control vehicle with the tractor's rocket launcher. Donning space suits and entering the complex, they discover the power source to be a pulsating crystal embedded in machinery. However, unknown to the Spectrum officers, the Mysterons have killed and reconstructed Frazer, a Lunarville 6 colonist who has transported the atomic device to Crater 101 by Lunar Tank. Frazer has rigged the device to detonate two hours early to ensure the failure of the mission. Learning of Frazer's sabotage, Nolan and Shroeder realise that they have no way of warning the Spectrum officers because Crater 101 is beyond radio range. They instead try to send a signal by firing an unarmed CB29 rocket into the crater. The CB29's arrival reminds Scarlet of the inscription on a

good luck charm In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

that Nolan gave him: in

2058 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...

, Nolan oversaw the launch of a

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

-bound CB29 space probe that reached its destination "ahead of schedule". Repeating this phrase, Scarlet realises that the atomic device will detonate prematurely. He orders Blue and Green to return to the Moonmobile and clear the area while he attempts to extract the crystal. After much effort, Scarlet succeeds and escapes in the Lunar Tractor seconds before the

nuclear explosion A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission or nuclear fusion or a multi-stage cascading combination of the two, t ...

engulfs the crater and destroys the Mysteron complex. Scarlet, Blue and Green return to Earth with the crystal.

Production

"Crater 101" is one of several ''Captain Scarlet'' scripts by

to include a mention of 10 July (the inscription on Nolan's charm states that the CB29 probe reached Neptune on 10 July 2058). Barwick liked to insert references to this date as it was his birthday.Bentley 2001, p. 79. The script indicated that Lunarville 6 is smaller than Lunarville 7, which was destroyed in the episode of the same name. However, the two colonies are introduced with the same

establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...

, which was duplicated from the earlier episode for its appearance in "Crater 101". The scene of Frazer setting off in the Lunar Tank features a newly built Lunarville filming model that recycled a number of elements from earlier episodes, including a Frost Line dome painting from "

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

" and a part of the Mini-Sat 5 probe model from "

Shadow of Fear "Shadow of Fear" is the 12th episode of ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions. Written by Tony Barw ...

".Bentley 2001, p. 78. The Lunarville 6 control room console was a re-use of the Lunar Controller's console from "Lunarville 7". For its re-appearance in "Crater 101", the Moonmobile model was fitted with a cargo module intended to store the Lunar Tractor. The script described the Lunar Tank as running on "ball tyres"; however, the miniature model used

caterpillar tracks Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle b ...

. The Moonmobile cockpit seats were a re-use of the ''

Thunderbird 2 The Thunderbird machines are a series of vehicles imagined for the mid-1960s film and television '' Thunderbirds'' series developed by Gerry Anderson. The released work began with the Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and w ...

'' and '' 3'' seats from the film '' Thunderbirds Are Go'' (1966). The episode's on-screen title is rendered as "CRATER I0I" in the series' customary Microgramma font, with letter "I"s replacing the "1"s. This was done as it was thought that Microgramma "1"s looked too similar to "7"s and that rendering "101" entirely in numerals would be confusing to viewers.

Broadcast and reception

Although "Crater 101" is a direct continuation of "Lunarville 7", distributor ITC's official recommended broadcast order places it several episodes after "Lunarville 7" to conceal the fact that the puppet that plays Shroeder also appears as the XK3 pilot in the earlier episode.

Critical response

Anthony Clark of ''sci-fi-online.com'' comments that the pace of "Crater 101", like that of "

" and "Dangerous Rendezvous", "could hardly be described as breakneck." However, he adds that the episode begins "an interesting story arch ."

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

, Martin Day and

Keith Topping Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 in Walker, Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is most well known for his work relating to the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'' and for writing numerous official and unofficial g ...

praise "Crater 101" for its creativity in " akingthe fight to the Moon", describing it as being among the "finest pieces in the Anderson canon". They list "Lunarville 7" and "Crater 101" as influences on the 1969 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serial ''

The Seeds of Death ''The Seeds of Death'' is the fifth serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Brian Hayles and an uncredited Terrance Dicks and directed by Michael Ferguson, it originally aired ...

''. Reviewing "Lunarville 7", "Crater 101" and "Dangerous Rendezvous" for ''Andersonic'', Vincent Law writes positively of various aspects of "Crater 101". He notes that the episode's "discordant"

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

implies "something ominous" about Frazer and praises the scene of Scarlet " akinga grab for the crystal" for demonstrating the puppet's mobility. Law also praises the role of Lieutenant Green in both "Lunarville 7" and "Crater 101", writing that the character is given an opportunity to "get his feet stuck in on the action" and applauding the scene in which Green destroys the master sentry vehicle. Andrew Thomas of ''

Dreamwatch ''Dreamwatch'' was a British magazine covering science fiction and fantasy films, books and television programmes. Published monthly by Gary Leigh (July 1983 to January 2001) and then Titan Magazines (2001 to 2007), it was a leading genre entert ...

'' magazine considers the sentry vehicles to be an example of the series' occasionally "shoddy" miniature model work, commenting that they "look disturbingly like something out of ''

Michael Bentine's Potty Time ''Michael Bentine's Potty Time'' was a British children's show, written by and starring Michael Bentine, and directed and produced by Leon Thau for Thames Television on ITV. It ran from 1973 to 1980. Bentine had introduced The Potties on a ...

''." Writer Fred McNamara praises the episode, suggesting that it lacks the "wistful impact" of its precursor but commending Turner's "superb" direction, arguing that the scenes inside the Mysteron base feature "some of the most spellbinding visuals ever seen in ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons''." McNamara also lauds the use of

point-of-view shot A point of view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being position ...

s and Lieutenant Green's expanded role. His review is not without criticisms, calling the resolution involving the CB29 space probe "rather trite" and judging the supporting characters to be poorly written (especially Frazer, who is strangely never seen again after delivering the sabotaged bomb). Nevertheless, McNamara regards "Crater 101" as the "high point" of the three-episode story arc beginning with "Lunarville 7". The

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

certifies the episode U, noting that it contains "infrequent, very mild" violence.

References

Works cited

* *

External links

*
"Crater 101"
at TheVervoid.com {{Captain Scarlet 1968 British television episodes Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episodes Television episodes set on the Moon