White as Snow (Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons)

Plot

Communications satellite TVR-17 is destroyed after Captain Black infiltrates ground control and alters its flight path, causing premature re-entry and explosion. The Mysterons re-create TVR-17 and its crew, locking the satellite on a collision course with Cloudbase. Colonel White orders Symphony Angel to shoot it down despite Captain Scarlet's protests that the satellite may not be under Mysteron control. When the Mysterons threaten to assassinate White, he realizes the satellite was aimed at him and leaves Cloudbase to protect its personnel, appointing Captain Blue acting base commander after Scarlet refuses the role.

The wreckage of the original TVR-17 is discovered, and Scarlet regrets his earlier behavior. Posing as deep-sea fisherman Robert Snow, White takes quarters on the submarine USS Panther II. Ensign Soames drowns as the submarine submerges, and his Mysteron replacement becomes White's steward, entering the colonel's cabin with a gun. After a struggle, the steward fatally shoots the occupant, who returns fire and kills Soames.

The victim is revealed to be Scarlet, disguised as White and killed. Scarlet, revived, explains he stowed away on the submarine. White sentences Scarlet to death for insubordination but grants a reprieve, noting Scarlet's indestructibility.

Production

Filming began on 6 March 1967. The TVR-17 scale model was designed by Mike Trim. The satellite's resident DJ, Bob Lynn, was named after director Robert Lynn as an in-joke. Originally, the episode would have begun with the Mysterons taking control of TVR-17 remotely, but scenes of Captain Black hijacking ground control and causing the satellite to burn up were added after the first cut was too short.

The puppet-sized ground control room and TVR-17 communications room were built at opposite ends of the same puppet set, with computer props originally made for the Thunderbirds episode "Ricochet". The tune played by TVR-17, also titled "White as Snow", was composed by Barry Gray and recorded on 28 May 1967 in a four-hour session with a 14-member band, featuring a Hammond organ played by Gray himself. The tune later appeared in the Captain Scarlet episode "Special Assignment" and episodes of Joe 90 and The Secret Service.

The USS Panther II scale model was originally made for the Thunderbirds episode "Atlantic Inferno", and the helijet transferring White was first seen in "30 Minutes After Noon". A continuity error shows the Mysteron reconstruction of Soames armed with different handguns between shots.

Reception

Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, authors of The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, praise "White as Snow" for its depiction of Scarlet losing faith in Colonel White, naming it one of "the finest pieces in the Anderson canon". Chris Drake and Graeme Bassett note the comic depiction of Captain Blue, who schedules pointless science lectures and unnecessary target practice during his stint as commander. James Stansfield of Den of Geek considers it the third-best episode of the series, arguing that Blue's humorous tenure makes it "probably the funniest" instalment, and applauds the tension between Scarlet and White as an early display of differing personalities in Spectrum.

Fred McNamara writes that the episode places character-driven drama above spectacle-driven adventure, with the conflict providing the essence of its lasting appeal, though he argues the gunfight underlines puppet limitations and the bizarre finale shows uncertainty in wrapping up the story. Andrew Pixley of TV Zone names Barry Gray's "White as Snow" a standout track, while Andrew Thomas of Dreamwatch believes Soames' drowning portrays violence graphic and shocking for a children's show.