Gerry Anderson Encyclopedia
Gerry Anderson Encyclopedia
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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[]



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Characters
Spectrum
Spectrum Officers: Captain Scarlet • Captain Blue • Colonel White • Lieutenant Green • Captain Black • Captain Brown • Captain Grey • Captain Ochre • Captain Magenta • Doctor Fawn • Captain Indigo
The Angels: Destiny Angel • Symphony Angel • Rhapsody Angel • Melody Angel • Harmony Angel
Other Staff: Spectrum Guards
Other Characters: The Mysterons
Revamp Puppets: World President Younger • Lieutenant Dean • Navigator Conway • Director-General Xian Yoh • Delta Garage Attendant • DT19 Pilot • DT19 Co-Pilot • Airport Chief • Airport Operator • Director-General Impersonator • Spectrum Agent 042 • Assassin • Macey • 1st London Police Officer • 2nd London Police Officer • 3rd London Police Officer • 4th London Police Officer • 5th London Police Officer • 6th London Police Officer • Woman Driver • Harris (Manhunt) • Security Chief Richards • Geiger Operator • Delta Garage Mechanic • Culver Guard 1 • Culver Guard 2 • General Ward • Eddie • Sergeant Marshall • Lieutenant Burroughs • Trapper • Red Deer Sentry Joe • Cariboo Sentry • Big Bear Sentry • Dead Body • Bob Lynn • TVR-17 Controller • Helijet Pilot • USS Panther II Captain • Lieutenant Belmont • Soames • Davidson • Clark • Commodore Goddard • Captain Holt • Morton • Distillery Attendant • Dr. Theodore Magnus • General Tiempo • Dr. Turner • 1st Medical Student • 2nd Medical Student • Porter Benson • Radiographer • Nurse (Operation Time) • Morgan • Doctor (Operation Time) • General Peterson • Doctor Giadello • 1st Warden (Post 14) • 2nd Warden (Post 28) • Mason • Steele • Kramer • Dice Club Croupier • Barman • Nuclear City Security Chief • Attendant Delta garage • Kruger • Doig • Carl • Fire Warden • Lunar Controller • Orson • S.I.D • Shuttle Pilot • Supreme Commander of Earth Forces • Colonel Storm • Major Brooks • General Cope • Captain Hassel • Pete • MCA Tanker Driver's Mate • Arab • Andre Verdain • Helga • Gabrielle • Casino commissionaire • Model • Fairfield • Jackson • Fire Chief • Major Stone • Joe Johnson • Phil Machin • Major Reeves • Linda Nolan • Frazer • Shroeder • Doctor Breck • Doctor Carter • Doctor Angelini • Doctor Kurnitz • Doctor Kurnitz' Secretary • Kinley • Charlie Hansen • Jason Smith • Major Gravener • Doctor Baxter • Doctor Mitchell • Nurse (Treble Cross) • Harris (Treble Cross) • Doctor Conrad • Bill Williams • Newspaper Reporter • Joe (Flight 104) • Airport Announcer • Doctor Denton • Judith Chapman • Airport Mechanic • General Rebus • Neilson • Rhodes • Captain (Expo 2068) • Doctor Sommers • Driver (Expo 2068) • Seneca Pilot • Lumberjack (Expo 2068) • Raynor • Mervin Brand • President Roberts • Vice President • Vice-president's Wife • Professor Gabriel Carney • President Conrad Olafson • President John L. Henderson • SKR4 Captain • SKR4 Navigator • Major Moran • Sergeant (Inferno) • Commander Williams • Maxwell Airbase Sergeant • Colgan • Mysteron Agent (The Inquisition)
TV Series Episodes
The Mysterons • Winged Assassin • Big Ben Strikes Again • Manhunt • Avalanche • White as Snow • The Trap • Operation Time • Spectrum Strikes Back • Special Assignment • The Heart Of New York • Lunarville 7 • Point 783 • Model Spy • Seek and Destroy • Traitor • Renegade Rocket • Crater 101 • Shadow Of Fear • Dangerous Rendezvous • Fire at Rig 15 • Treble Cross • Flight 104 • Place of Angels • Noose of Ice • Expo 2068 • The Launching • Codename Europa • Inferno • Flight to Atlantica • Attack on Cloudbase • The Inquisition
Audio Adventures
Introducing Captain Scarlet • Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons • Captain Scarlet is Indestructible • Captain Scarlet of Spectrum • Captain Scarlet versus Captain Black
Compilation films
Captain Scarlet Vs. The Mysterons • Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Books
Young Corgi • The Vault
Vehicles and Craft
Spectrum Saloon Car • Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle • Maximum Security Vehicle • Angel Interceptor • Spectrum Passenger Jet • Spectrum Helicopter • Spectrum Hovercraft • Spectrum Radar Van • Magnacopter • Zero-X
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