Gerry Anderson Encyclopedia
Register
Advertisement
Captain Scarlet
Captain scarlet
Description
Gender Male
Real Name Paul Metcalfe
Born 17th December 2036
Hair Black
Eyes Blue
Details
Series Captain Scarlet
Affiliation Spectrum
Role Spectrum Field Agent, Senior Staff Officer and Colour Code Captain
Voice Actor Francis Matthews
"It would seem that this Captain Scarlet is now indestructible. This presents us with a clear and exciting expectation that he will become our greatest asset in the fight against the Mysterons."
— Colonel White debriefing his fellow members about how valuable Captain Scarlet will be


Captain Scarlet (real name Paul Metcalfe) is the main hero of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, as well as its CGI remake.

He was a senior officer of Spectrum and after his death and reconstruction by the Mysterons, he became the organisation's indestructible number one agent in the fight against them.

He was voiced by Francis Matthews.

Character biography[]

Paul Metcalfe was born in Winchester, Hampshire, England on December 17, 2036 to a family with a long military history, he graduated from Winchester University in 2057, at the age of 21, and then went to West Point Military University; he later transferred to the World Army/Air Force, where within 2 years, he became the youngest colonel the WAAF had known to date.

Years later in 2067, he was approached by Spectrum and became one of the first of their senior officers Captain Scarlet. During his time in the organisation, he became close friends with fellow officer Captain Blue and was very popular with rest of his colleagues.

Sometime after that, the Mysterons, alien beings from the planet Mars who had the power of Retrometabolism had threatened to destroy all life on Earth because of an attack on their complex by other fellow Spectrum officer Captain Black and his crew on a Zero X mission to Mars who mistook their scanning device for a weapon. Their first threat was to assassinate the World President.

Scarlet was sent to New York with another fellow officer Captain Brown to rendezvous with the President and escort him to a secure Maximum Security Building. But along the way, the Mysterons used their powers to sabotage one of the tyres of their Spectrum Saloon Car. The car swerved off the road and dropped to the bottom of a gully, exploding into flames, killing them both.

From the dead corpses of the two men, the Mysterons created exact likenesses of them with the goal of carrying out their threat. When the attempt by Brown in New York failed, Scarlet hijacked the President on the route to London, whilst being chased by Spectrum and they trapped him by leading him to the Car-Vu skypark where a massive fight ensued between himself and Blue. The Mysteron attempt to take control of Spectrum Helicopter A42 to pick up Scarlet and the President and attack Blue failed after the angels attacked it and caused it to crash into the skypark, which destroyed the support structure.

Blue asked Scarlet to give himself up, but the Mysteron Agent just fired shots at him, leaving him with no other choice but to kill his friend. The agents fired their guns back and forth until one of Blue's bullets caught Scarlet in the chest, making him lose his balance on the gantry that he and the President were standing on and fall 800 feet to the ground below, whilst the President was carried away to safety by Blue and the whole skypark finally collapsed.

Spectrum recovered Scarlet's Mysteron body and took it back to Cloudbase. There they were amazed that his fatal injuries were healing without a trace and he was no longer under Mysteron control with the personality and memories of his former self returned. He had retained the ability of retrometabolism making him indestructible.

Since that day, Scarlet has become Spectrum's greatest asset in the fight against the Mysterons and his friendship and loyalty to the organisation is as strong as ever.

Main article: Captain Scarlet's Missions

Powers[]

  • Like most Mysteron copies, his original body was destroyed and then reconstructed as a Mysteron agent. However, unlike most Mysteron agents, Captain Scarlet retains his original memories and personality, whilst retaining all powers of Mysteron copies, including:
    • The ability to regenerate damaged tissues (Retrometabolism)
    • X-ray photographs will not show bones, only a normal body
    • The inability to be photographed normally, will only show a silhouette.

Also, at least for the first few episodes, Captain Scarlet would have a "sixth sense" which made him nauseous in the presence of another Mysteron agent or any other reconstruction nearby; this ability mysteriously disappeared soon after. In spite of his Mysteron powers, he is still capable of being killed with high voltage electricity which is the main weakness of any Mysteron reconstruction.

Gallery[]

This artwork by Ron Embleton that always appeared in the end credits, showed Captain Scarlet in various life-threatening situations that showed his indestructibility:


Trivia[]

  • Captain Scarlet's puppet was later reused for bumbling agent Paul Blake, in the television series The Secret Service, coincidentally sharing the same name of Paul. According to the Century 21 magazine, the resemblance of the two characters was due to the fact that Blake was Scarlet's grandfather (although some do not accept this source as canonical).

External Links[]



v - e - d
CaptainScarlet Logo
Characters
Spectrum
Spectrum Officers: Captain ScarletCaptain BlueColonel WhiteLieutenant GreenCaptain BlackCaptain BrownCaptain GreyCaptain OchreCaptain MagentaDoctor FawnCaptain Indigo
The Angels: Destiny AngelSymphony AngelRhapsody AngelMelody AngelHarmony Angel
Other Staff: Spectrum Guards
Other Characters: The Mysterons
Revamp Puppets: World President YoungerLieutenant DeanNavigator ConwayDirector-General Xian YohDelta Garage AttendantDT19 PilotDT19 Co-PilotAirport ChiefAirport OperatorDirector-General ImpersonatorSpectrum Agent 042AssassinMacey1st London Police Officer2nd London Police Officer3rd London Police Officer4th London Police Officer5th London Police Officer6th London Police OfficerWoman DriverHarris (Manhunt)Security Chief RichardsGeiger OperatorDelta Garage MechanicCulver Guard 1Culver Guard 2General WardEddieSergeant MarshallLieutenant BurroughsTrapperRed Deer Sentry JoeCariboo SentryBig Bear SentryDead BodyBob LynnTVR-17 ControllerHelijet PilotUSS Panther II CaptainLieutenant BelmontSoamesDavidsonClarkCommodore GoddardCaptain HoltMortonDistillery AttendantDr. Theodore MagnusGeneral TiempoDr. Turner1st Medical Student2nd Medical StudentPorter BensonRadiographerNurse (Operation Time)MorganDoctor (Operation Time)General PetersonDoctor Giadello1st Warden (Post 14)2nd Warden (Post 28)MasonSteeleKramerDice Club CroupierBarmanNuclear City Security ChiefAttendant Delta garageKrugerDoigCarlFire WardenLunar ControllerOrsonS.I.DShuttle PilotSupreme Commander of Earth ForcesColonel StormMajor BrooksGeneral CopeCaptain HasselPeteMCA Tanker Driver's MateArabAndre VerdainHelgaGabrielleCasino commissionaireModelFairfieldJacksonFire ChiefMajor StoneJoe JohnsonPhil MachinMajor ReevesLinda NolanFrazerShroederDoctor BreckDoctor CarterDoctor AngeliniDoctor KurnitzDoctor Kurnitz' SecretaryKinleyCharlie HansenJason SmithMajor GravenerDoctor BaxterDoctor MitchellNurse (Treble Cross)Harris (Treble Cross)Doctor ConradBill WilliamsNewspaper ReporterJoe (Flight 104)Airport AnnouncerDoctor DentonJudith ChapmanAirport MechanicGeneral RebusNeilsonRhodesCaptain (Expo 2068)Doctor SommersDriver (Expo 2068)Seneca PilotLumberjack (Expo 2068)RaynorMervin BrandPresident RobertsVice PresidentVice-president's WifeProfessor Gabriel CarneyPresident Conrad OlafsonPresident John L. HendersonSKR4 CaptainSKR4 NavigatorMajor MoranSergeant (Inferno)Commander WilliamsMaxwell Airbase SergeantColganMysteron Agent (The Inquisition)
TV Series Episodes
The MysteronsWinged AssassinBig Ben Strikes AgainManhuntAvalancheWhite as SnowThe TrapOperation TimeSpectrum Strikes BackSpecial AssignmentThe Heart Of New YorkLunarville 7Point 783Model SpySeek and DestroyTraitorRenegade RocketCrater 101Shadow Of FearDangerous RendezvousFire at Rig 15Treble CrossFlight 104Place of AngelsNoose of IceExpo 2068The LaunchingCodename EuropaInfernoFlight to AtlanticaAttack on CloudbaseThe Inquisition
Audio Adventures
Introducing Captain ScarletCaptain Scarlet and the MysteronsCaptain Scarlet is IndestructibleCaptain Scarlet of SpectrumCaptain Scarlet versus Captain Black
Compilation films
Captain Scarlet Vs. The MysteronsRevenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Books
Young CorgiThe Vault
Vehicles and Craft
Spectrum Saloon CarSpectrum Pursuit VehicleMaximum Security VehicleAngel InterceptorSpectrum Passenger JetSpectrum HelicopterSpectrum HovercraftSpectrum Radar VanMagnacopterZero-X
Advertisement