The Trap (Captain Scarlet episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Trap
Series = Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Season = 1
Episode = 7
Airdate = November 10, 1967
Production = 17
Writer = Alan Pattillo
Director = Alan Perry
Episode list = List of "Captain Scarlet" episodes
Prev = White as Snow
Next = Operation Time

"The Trap" is the seventh episode of the Supermarionation television series "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons". It was the 17th episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was November 10, 1967 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Alan Pattillo and directed by Alan Perry.

Synopsis

A commodore and his pilot are killed and reconstructed by the Mysterons while flying to Cloudbase to discuss arrangements for the secret International Air Conference. Captain Scarlet travels to Glen Garry Castle in Scotland to check security on the venue. However, when he discovers a plot to murder the delegates, can he escape from the castle dungeon before the conference ends in disaster?

Plot

During a storm, Melody Angel escorts Commodore Goddard and his pilot, Holt, to Cloudbase to finalise arrangements for the secret International Air Conference. However, Melody loses visual contact with their XQR plane and fails to notice the craft being hit by lightning. Goddard and Holt fight to regain control of the aircraft, but the XQR crashes to the ground and explodes.

Transmitting to Earth, the Mysterons warn that the "wings of the world" will be clipped as the clock chimes on the next morning. At the scene of the crash, the Mysteron rings pan over Goddard and Holt’s bodies and the wreckage of the XQR. When the storm passes, Melody reports that the plane has gone missing. However, Cloudbase is contacted by Holt and the reconstructed XQR lands on the flight deck.

Typing up her report in the Amber Room, Melody suspects that Goddard and Holt were struck by lightning but Symphony points out that visibility was practically zero. Meanwhile, Goddard reminds Colonel White and other personnel that the purpose of the Air Conference is to discuss methods of countering the Mysterons. Captain Scarlet is surprised to learn that the commodore has switched the venue to the remote Glen Garry Castle in Scotland to increase safety.

Assessing castle security on the evening before the conference, Scarlet meets the caretaker, Morton, who reveals that Glen Garry is not a popular tourist attraction because it is not ruined. Scarlet notices a strange portrait and Morton explains that it conceals the entrance to the disused castle battlements. Goddard bids Scarlet a good night but the captain is unaware that he is being observed through spy holes on the painting.

In his room, Scarlet informs Colonel White that he is confident on the safety of the conference delegates. He agrees to confirm security in the morning. However, through binoculars, he is baffled to see a figure walking along the battlements. Entering the conference hall, Scarlet heads for the portrait and pushes down an arm on a suit of armour beside it. He is shocked when the painting slide upwards and reveals Holt with a mounted machine gun. Holding Scarlet at gunpoint, Goddard admits that he is a Mysteron agent and that the delegates will be gunned down at their seats at 10 o'clock the next morning.

The guests arrive on Cloudbase for screening and Symphony Angel flies them to Glen Garry by Magnocopter. At the castle, Goddard imitates Scarlet's voice when calling Colonel White over his headset radio to confirm security. Scarlet is then manacled and gagged in the dungeon. The Magnocopter touches down and Symphony is puzzled by Scarlet's absence, but Morton cannot find him. However, while searching for the captain in his room, Symphony is also captured by the Mysteron agents and incarcerated with Scarlet.

Melody Angel takes off from Cloudbase to investigate her fears of a lightning strike and soon locates the remnants of the original XQR. Colonel White realises that Goddard and Holt are Mysteron agents and that the cryptic Mysteron threat is to assassinate the delegates. Lieutenant Green discovers that he cannot contact either Scarlet or Symphony by radio. White assigns Captain Blue to fly to Glen Garry immediately.

In the dungeon, Scarlet manages to knock over a pole and Symphony raises one of the ends by lifting a foot. Scarlet is able to grab the rod and jab at a vent in the ceiling. On the floor above, Morton lifts up the moving grille and finds Scarlet and Symphony shackled below.

Shortly before 10 o'clock, the delegates begin seating themselves in the conference hall as Blue requisitions an SPV from a garage. Suddenly, Scarlet bursts into the room and is instantly shot at through the portrait. Sustaining a bullet, Scarlet returns fire and Holt falls through the painting dead. Goddard flees and the Spectrum officer orders the guests to reboard the Magnocopter.

Arriving outside the castle in his SPV, Blue sights Goddard manning another mounted gun in the battlements. Realising that the Magnocopter will be in his line of fire, Blue commands Symphony to delay launch. Scarlet, wounded, meets Blue and dons a Spectrum jet pack. He then flies up to Goddard and diverts his fire, giving Symphony time to take off. With the Magnocopter clear, Scarlet orders Blue to open fire with the SPV’s cannon before being shot down by Goddard. Blue complies and blasts the battlements, killing the Mysteron agent.

Later, on Cloudbase, Morton is confused by Scarlet's lack of injuries. Scarlet reckons that he could be indestructible and is sure that the caretaker can understand a joke.

Cast

Regular voice cast

*Captain Scarlet — Francis Matthews
*Captain Blue — Ed Bishop
*Colonel White — Donald Gray
*Lieutenant Green — Cy Grant
*Symphony Angel — Janna Hill
*Melody Angel — Sylvia Anderson
*Voice of the Mysterons — Donald Gray

Guest voice cast

In speaking order:

*Commodore Goddard — David Healy
*Holt — Gary Files
*Morton — Jeremy Wilkin
*Attendant — Jeremy Wilkin

Notes

*Footage from "The Trap" is used as a flashback in the clip show episode, "The Inquisition".
*The Glen Garry Castle model previously appeared in the "Stingray" episode "The Loch Ness Monster", and as the Erdman Gang hideout in the "Thunderbirds" episode "30 Minutes After Noon".

External links

* [http://www.fanderson.org.uk/epguides/scarleteg2.html#Episode%20Seventeen Fanderson.org.uk: "Captain Scarlet" Episode Guide: "The Trap"]
* [http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Capt%20Scarlet%20Timeline.htm# Clivebanks.co.uk: "Captain Scarlet" Episode Guide]