Expo 2068

Infobox Television episode
Title = Expo 2068
Series = Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Season = 1
Episode = 25
Airdate = March 26, 1968
Production = 23
Writer = Shane Rimmer
Director = Leo Eaton
Episode list = List of "Captain Scarlet" episodes
Prev = Noose of Ice
Next = The Launching

"Expo 2068" is the 25th episode of the Supermarionation television series "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" It was first shown in the UK on March 26, 1968 on ATV Midlands, written by Shane Rimmer and directed by Leo Eaton.

ynopsis

The Mysterons steal a nuclear reactor to bring devastation to the Atlantic Seaboard of North America, damaging Earth's prestige.

Plot

A transporter delivering a nuclear reactor to the Manicougan Power Complex is destroyed by the Mysterons, who reconstruct driver, vehicle and cargo as part of their plan to damage Earth's prestige by destroying the Atlantic Seaboard of North America. Elsewhere, Expo 2068, a futuristic building development, is under construction, with a fleet of the Seneca company's remote-controlled helicopters flying various materials to the site. Captain Black infiltrates the Seneca control room and holds the helicopter operator at gunpoint, forcing him to divert one of the aircraft to a forest clearing. There, the reconstructed driver transfers the reactor from the transporter to the helicopter's holding crate.

When a lumberjack stumbles across the scene, he is shot and left for dead by the driver. Captains Scarlet and Blue have been following the transporter in an SPV and find the wounded man, who is taken into hospital. They also discover that the reactor's thermal safety valve has been removed – without it, the reactor will overheat and explode. Unaware that it is now empty, the officers continue to pursue the transporter but the driver, desperate to evade Spectrum, crashes the vehicle and is killed. Finding that the reactor is gone, the captains remember that the lumberjack kept muttering the word "Seneca", and speed to Expo 2068.

At the site, Black orders the operator to position the helicopter directly over the Expo Tower to ensure maximum destruction when the reactor, which is approaching critical temperature, explodes. However, when Scarlet and Blue arrive, he commands his hostage to crash the helicopter immediately. The man refuses to obey and is shot dead, but Black's bullet damages the controls, causing the helicopter to become unsteady in flight. Wearing a jet pack, Scarlet flies up to the cargo crate and cuts through the wood with a saw to reach the reactor. He ultimately succeeds in stabilising it by cutting a number of external circuits, but the helicopter crashes with him inside. Blue returns Scarlet's body to Cloudbase so that he can revive.

Cast

Regular voice cast

*Captain Scarlet — Francis Matthews
*Captain Blue — Ed Bishop
*Colonel White — Donald Gray
*Lieutenant Green — Cy Grant
*Destiny Angel — Liz Morgan
*Captain Black / Mysteron voice — Donald Gray

Guest voice cast

In speaking order:

*Dr Sommers — Jeremy Wilkin
*Raynor — Martin King
*Driver — Gary Files
*Security Captain — Martin King
*Lumberjack — Gary Files
*Helicopter Operator — Martin King

Notes

*The script for this episode included a scene in which Scarlet and Blue requisition their SPV from a village shop.cite book
author = Bentley, Chris
title = The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet
year = 2001
pages = p.86
publisher = Carlton Books
id = ISBN 1-84222-405-0]
*The script also explicitly states that the Mysterons intend to lower Earth's prestige by destroying Expo 2068 with the nuclear reactor.cite book
author = Bentley, Chris
title = The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet
year = 2001
pages = p.86
publisher = Carlton Books
id = ISBN 1-84222-405-0]
*The Mysteron's vanishing power is seen again in this episode. It is also shown in "The Heart of New York", "Model Spy" and "Inferno".

References

External links

* [http://www.fanderson.org.uk/epguides/scarleteg3.html#Episode%20Twenty%20Three Fanderson.org.uk: "Captain Scarlet" Episode Guide: "Expo 2068"]
* [http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Capt%20Scarlet%20Timeline.htm# Clivebanks.co.uk: "Captain Scarlet" Episode Guide]