"Although you have discovered our complex on the Moon, it will never reveal its secrets. Anyone who dares to enter will be destroyed. You have been warned. We have not forgotten."

The strange thing is that, when we rejoin the episode after the Mysteron threat / second opening credits sequence, Scarlet, Blue, Green and Colonel White sit in complete silence looking at each other for sixteen seconds, almost as if in sadomasochistic reverence of their Martian aggressors and their entirely feeble threats. Either that or they’re waiting for the Spectrum sting of music twittering in the background to finish off. I suppose it could be both.

Carrying on from the discovery of a Mysteron complex on the Moon back in Lunarville 7, Colonel White decides to once again send Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green to the lunar surface, this time on a double-barrelled mission: a) to find out information on the base’s power source, and b) to destroy the base completely. Once on the Moon the three are aided by Lunarville 6 controller Miss Nolan, who takes a shine to Scarlet, giving him a "lucky charm": a bracelet given to her after a Neptune probe mission, inscribed with "We made it ahead of schedule." The Spectrum officers are to go and investigate the base whilst a lunar technician, Frazer, follows on with an atomic device primed to explode at midnight Standard Earth Time, destroying the Mysteron complex. Unknown to all, however, is that Frazer is actually a Mysteron agent himself, who sets the bomb to explode two hours earlier than it should! Will Captain Scarlet secure the Mysteron power source and escape the complex alive?

The lunar Mysterons seem to have a squadron of what are either vehicles or robots on their side, which attack Scarlet and co. when they enter the crater in their lunar tractor. "Swerve!" The machines are eventually disabled when Lieutenant Green destroys the central control vehicle. However, these vehicles could simply be human-manufactured ones that the Mysterons have nicked.

Another suicidal mission that doesn’t result in death for Captain Scarlet. A brave man. And so good looking, as we’ll be told once or twice later on.

The lunar tractor antics in the crater come to a halt when Captain Blue drives the thing into a ditch made by a Mysteron robot, which wasn’t too clever. Lieutenant Green also appears to be a tad thick in not being able to interpret Miss Nolan’s signal for them to evacuate the complex (an unmanned Neptune rocket, reminding Scarlet of the bracelet; "Ahead of schedule!"). It would have been a good bit of characterisation to have had Green work the danger out but he gets nothing technical to do here at all. Spectrum’s attitude towards the Mysteron agent is quite strange as well (see "Additional Notes").

One of those rare episodes in which Spectrum has its own scheme instead of the Mysterons thinking one up. Annoyingly, Spectrum succeeds.

Spectrum: 15 Mysterons: 3

MISS NOLAN: "We have decided to use a low-yield atomic device."

Low-yield atomic device? Eh? Apparently they’ll be transported to Crater 101 inside one of those damned moon mobiles again. "The journey will take two hours," Nolan says, presumably neglecting to say, "Or you could walk the same distance in ten minutes, tops."

___

MISS NOLAN: "That gives you six hours, Captain Scarlet. Two to get to Crater 101, and four hours to remove the power source and get clear."

So Man’s first attempt to investigate an alien complex is being allotted… about three and a half hours. Assuming Scarlet and co. can actually enter the base, find the power source, steal it and not encounter any resistance along the way. Brilliant.

SCARLET: "We were shocked when we saw it from the moon mobile!"

WHITE: "It must, of course, be destroyed as soon as possible."

Fnarr fnarr.

___

SCARLET: "Take it easy, Lieutenant, you’re forgetting the low gravity!"

___

The spacesuits are worth a bit of a giggle. Captain Blue in particular looks a bit of a knob. A blue, spangly knob if you will.

Colonel White asks Captain Scarlet whether he wants to join Blue and Green on the Crater 101 mission:

SCARLET: "Well, Colonel, I am due for forty-eight hours’ furlough in Miami, but I couldn’t really relax knowing the trouble these two would get into without me!"

Ha ha! Excellent native Cockney wit!

___

Lieutenant Green destroys the Mysteron control vehicle:

GREEN: "Do I get a coconut?"

SCARLET: "If we ever get out of this, Lieutenant, I’ll buy you all the coconuts you can eat!"

Um… OK then. I haven’t a clue what you’re on about but I hope the Spectrum budget will allow you to live up to that promise.

Colonel White doesn’t even show up for the ending so instead we’re given a payoff to the "Miss Nolan fancies Captain Scarlet" subplot which, to be fair, is actually quite charming in its own way.

WHITE: "It has been decided to divide the operation into two distinct assignments."

BLUE: "Two assignments, Colonel?"

"…You can barely keep up with one of them at the best of times…"

___

SCARLET: "Let’s hope we’re as successful."

MISS NOLAN: "Be careful, Captain."

SCARLET: "Don’t worry. We intend to come back."

Well I’m sure we’re all glad to hear that, Scarlet. Your mission would be a bit pointless if you all got killed, after all…

There’s a truly bizarre moment when Scarlet leaves Lunarville 6 to go to Crater 101, and Frazer announces:

FRAZER: "A brave man. And very good looking."

Given that Frazer is revealed to be a Mysteron in a few minutes that doesn’t make much sense. Unless we’ve got a gay Mysteron. That’s a nice theory right there. Though seeing a Mysteron teasing the controller about her attraction for a bloke ("Yes, Miss Nolan…") seems a trifle out of character as well.

This mission is on a strict volunteer basis, so of course the Colonel offers it to Scarlet and Blue straight away, knowing that they’ll accept it as fast as their stoic vocal chords can vibrate like the little sycophants they are. At least he’s allowing Lieutenant Green to leave the base as well though, even if it’s just because he knows Green is the only one capable of using equipment more advanced than play-doh.

Of course, with the Lieutenant going away it means that the communications post at Cloudbase would be unmanned, so…

MAGENTA: "I have Captain Scarlet on the Interspace Radio Link, sir!"

Thank you, Captain Magenta. Your medal is in the post. Yes, it’s a chocolate one, just as you like it…

It’s stated here by Miss Nolan that the Lunarville 7 controller six episodes ago was in fact a Mysteron agent, which sort of opposes my theory that he could have just been a run-of-the-mill fanatical human. However, since this woman wasn’t around to witness the Lunarville 7 disaster, and I have said recordings right here on DVD, I reckon I’m more able to give an informed opinion on the matter than she is. So ya-boo-sucks to her.

It’s also heavily inferred that Frazer is a Mysteron though, once again, it’s never explicitly stated. The idea of Mysteron spies actually being positioned in strategic outposts, as opposed to being created to immediately kill somebody in front of lots of witnesses, is quite a frightening one, though.

Spectrum loses none of its own equipment.

Captain Blue crashes the lunar tractor but a small ditch doesn’t really constitute a cliff edge.

About six large explosions and four smaller ones; very little happens in this department until the end but the destruction of the Mysteron complex is – here’s that phrase again – very satisfying. Oh yes.

No forenames here. Scarlet doesn’t even give his to Miss Nolan, the heartless brute.

The Colonel doesn’t smile very much in this one. He’s not very impressed with Scarlet’s attempts to make him laugh earlier on, either.

The first line of Crater 101 is Colonel White’s "Stop the picture!" which is dubbed over the opening shot of the episode, so for one bizarre moment it seems as if the puppet is interrupting Captain Scarlet to bring us a news bulletin or to complain about the production or something. Then of course it turns out that the Spectrum officers are watching the footage in Cloudbase control and the whole situation becomes much clearer, if a great deal less amusing.

Ah, a female guest character! Guess it’s time for Sylvia Anderson (Gerry’s wife) to peddle out her old somewhere-vaguely-in-Eastern-Europe-though-still-instantly-recognisable-as-the-voice-of-Lady-Penelope accent for the occasion. And I’d be right. Seriously, could that woman only do two voices or what? There’s an episode of Thunderbirds where Sylvia voices both Lady Penelope and the female villain that Penny spends most of the episode opposing and the result verges dangerously on farce throughout (in fact, her evil villain voice from that episode is the same one she uses here). However, to give her credit, I never knew she also voiced "I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto!" Melody Angel until I looked her up just now on IMDB. And, for your info, Destiny, Rhapsody and Harmony were all voiced by the same lady (Elizabeth Morgan) apart from one episode later on in which Harmony was actually voiced by an Asian actress (at last!!!). Aren’t you feeling educated all of a sudden?

The scale model of Crater 101 that Miss Nolan presents has been built up from aerial reconnaissance over "the past few days", so, bearing in mind that Spectrum found the Mysteron base six episodes ago, either the citizens of the Moon have been faffing about for several weeks doing nothing to sort out the menace on their doorstep, or else the events of the past six episodes have all occurred in those "few days". And since those six episodes comprised at least two important military personnel being assaulted and Scarlet zipping about between Monte Carlo, Paris, Australia and various US states then I’m leaning towards the former possibility of the Lunarville people simply being a bunch of lazy gits.

Frazer, Miss Nolan’s assistant cum Mysteron agent, looks absolutely terrifying. The puppet’s been used in the series before but he’s especially creepy in this one, the monkey-faced bastard.

The Mysterons display a disregard for nationality when Frazer calls Miss Nolan, a lunar citizen, "Earth woman."

The direction of this episode is generally superb, especially once we get to the Mysteron complex, the sets of which are pleasingly weird, alien and very, very 60s. It’s a shame we only spend a few minutes inside the place, really, but the sequence where Lieutenant Green is hypnotised by mysterious lights is quite creepy. There’s also a happy variety of vehicles in this episode: a moon mobile, a lunar tractor, a lunar tank, the Mysteron defence vehicles…

It wouldn’t be Captain Scarlet if we didn’t have some obvious plot problems and Crater 101 is no exception. First of all it baffles me why the Mysterons should be willing to completely obliterate their entire moonbase in order to kill off three men – a bit OTT, isn’t it? Wouldn’t that base be quite useful? Otherwise why bother building it? So, given that the Mysterons aren’t fussed about self-sacrifice, I’m not quite sure why Frazer merely sets the bomb to explode two hours early instead of detonating it immediately once he enters the crater, which would have killed the Spectrum officers instantly. He can’t be looking for time to get away so why not just destroy everybody there and then? This, however, leads us onto the most glaring problem: what happens to Frazer?! Once he’s set the bomb, the agent never appears again! Not hunted down, not destroyed, not caught in the destruction of the complex; nothing. He’s last seen getting away in the lunar tank so presumably that means there’s still a Mysteron agent roaming the surface of the Moon in a dangerous and well-armed vehicle, which is something Spectrum really should have seen to before they left.

And Scarlet removes the crystal power source controlling the entire Mysteron complex with a pair of tongs.

Another glimpse into the world of the Mysterons with some great model work, topped with another round of big explosions. Despite the plot once again knocking it down a mark, I rather like Crater 101.

Special effects!

Mysteron crystals!

And, erm, a Spectrum knob. Honestly, look at him. What a silly arse.