Traitor (Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons)
A defective valve, not a traitor, causes hovercraft crashes.
"Traitor" is the 17th episode of the British Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by series script editor Tony Barwick and directed by Alan Perry, it first aired on 14 January 1968 on ATV London. The episode follows Spectrum's investigation into a series of hovercraft crashes suspected to be sabotage by a Mysteron-controlled traitor.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
- Episode
- 17
- Air date
- 14 January 1968
- Production
- SCA 21
- Writer
- Tony Barwick
- Director
- Alan Perry
- Photographer
- Ted Catford
- Editor
- Bob Dearberg
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The Mysterons declare that a traitor is operating within Spectrum. After several unexplained hovercraft crashes in the Australian Outback, Colonel White sends Captains Scarlet and Blue to the Koala Base training facility, suspecting a double agent is sabotaging the fleet. They arrive ostensibly to lecture cadet hovercraft pilots. Base commander Major Stone and cadet leader Joe Johnson suspect Johnson's patrol partner, Phil Machin, of being the traitor.
Machin, however, publicly questions Scarlet's loyalty after Blue recounts how Scarlet, while under Mysteron control, abducted the World President. A fire in Scarlet and Blue's quarters, apparently deliberate, seems to confirm Machin's guilt. The next day, during a hovercraft patrol with Johnson and Machin, the vehicle loses control. Machin accuses Scarlet and holds him at gunpoint, but is disarmed when the hovercraft lurches.
All four men jump to safety before the craft crashes and explodes. Analysis of the control panel reveals the cause: a defective valve in the hydraulics, whose molecular structure appears altered by the Mysterons. The fire's cause remains unknown.
Production
Filmed on Century 21 Studios' Stage 3 immediately after "Dangerous Rendezvous", also written by Barwick, "Traitor" was produced when filming was several weeks behind schedule. To save time, Barwick wrote a flashback to the first episode into each script, reducing new footage requirements and allowing both episodes to be filmed in 15 days instead of 20. Barwick's script specified that no footage from the first episode was to appear in the clip show series finale, "The Inquisition", which instead uses scenes from other episodes.
Although the script allotted about six minutes for old material, the finished flashback—in which Captain Blue recalls his gunfight with a Mysteron-controlled Scarlet—runs about five minutes, adding credibility to Machin's suspicions while reminding viewers of Scarlet's indestructibility. Several plot changes occurred from script to screen: the original script made clear there was no traitor, that the valve failed due to extreme Outback temperatures, and that the fire was accidental.
A shot of Machin lurking outside the room before the fire was filmed but cut, leaving only a glimpse of a departing figure. Cut dialogue indicated Johnson was Major Stone's nephew, explaining why Stone did not suspect him. Model-maker Mike Trim based the Spectrum Hovercraft, which appears only in this episode, on his design for the Spectrum Passenger Jet, incorporating a similar forward-swept tail fin. The shooting model ran on rubber tyres hidden by its rim and used a Jetex motor to create a realistic dust trail. Some design elements of the Koala Base model had previously appeared in "Avalanche" and "Special Assignment".
Broadcast and reception
First broadcast on 14 January 1968 on ATV London, "Traitor" was originally scheduled for 12 January in the ATV Midlands area but was postponed until 23 April, by which time it had also aired on Granada and Anglia Television. James Stansfield of Den of Geek ranked it the fifth-best episode of the series, calling it a "nice whodunit episode" that keeps viewers guessing about the traitor's identity. He noted that the inserted flashback is "a little unwelcome" but that Blue's narration "gives it a nice touch".
Fred McNamara offered a negative review, praising the episode's ambition in casting doubt on Scarlet's loyalties but criticizing the writing and execution as "messy" and the weakest Barwick script. He argued the whodunit mystery lacks "conviction and resolve" by not focusing enough on distrust between Machin and Scarlet and failing to make any character particularly suspicious. McNamara also cited "unhelpful" plot twists, the "overly long" flashback, and the weak resolution of a single faulty valve causing the crashes, questioning why no one salvaged a black box earlier.
He concluded the episode is spoiled by its "muddled, ambiguous nature", suggesting it was a sign that the series' vision sometimes fell short. Commentators Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett praised the hovercraft design as "an impressive addition to the Spectrum fleet", though its exact function is never explained.
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