SPECTRUM PERSONNEL: OFFICERS
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BACKGROUND DETAILS: Born in Winchester, England, his mother was Ann Brightman, an English astrophysicist, his father, Tom Metcalfe, an American pilot who later joined the International Space Agency. As a boy of ten, Paul watched his father take humankind's first steps on Mars andvowed to follow in his historic footsteps. He studied astrophysics at MIT before joining the US Air Force. But the outbreak of global terrorist wars, which saw the death of both his parents, changed his focus. He transferred to US Special Forces and commanded an elite unit that saw action across the world. His second in command was Lieutenant Conrad Lefkon, who became his closest friend. With the end of the wars, a new security organisation was established: Spectrum. Paul was an obvious choice for the new organisation, and became Captain Scarlet. His good friend Lefkon was also signed up as Captain Black. Scarlet later became Spectrum's special weapon in its war of nerves with the Mysterons; a weapon created by the Mysterons themselves when they killed Scarlet during a mission on Mars with Captain Black. After they had discovered the Mysterons’ city, Black fired a destructive shot against it, believing they were under attack. The two men watched in astonishment as the city rebuilt itself, and tried to flee to escape their fate, only to be killed afterwards. The Mysterons rebuilt Scarlet as an invincible human replica to infiltrate Earth and lead their war against the planet. While controlled by the Mysterons, Scarlet tried to destroy Skybase, but was stopped in his efforts by Captain Blue. Falling down through a plasma stream, Scarlet was killed, but recovered later on in Sickbay, under the astonished eyes of Doctor Gold and other on-lookers, and revealed himself fully free of the Mysterons' control. Metcalfe's human psyche had survived and regained control of his physical body. Instead of being killed by the power surge, the genetic mutation of the Mysteron retrometabolisation process that leaves Scarlet virtually indestructible was discovered (Events described in 'Instrument of Destruction, Part 1'). Scarlet is a dedicated Spectrum officer, first and foremost he's a soldier on the frontline of Earth’s defences. But he’s also tormented by what he has become - not fully human. Utterly fearless and dedicated to saving the human race, for all Scarlet's heroism there's one thing that makes him very uneasy - his growing feelings for Destiny Angel, girlfriend of his late friend, Captain Black. POWERS: The genetic mutation of the Mysteron retrometabolisation left Scarlet virtually indestructible. This process was coined 'Retrometabolism'. So far, Captain Scarlet can survive, and heal from any injuries, even the more devastating ones. In a few episodes, it is stated that he can feel a Mysteron's presence, by feeling nauseous and unwell. In the pilot episode ('Instrument of Destruction', parts 1 and 2, it is also said that Scarlet shared a kind of telepathic link with Captain Black - which is considered by Colonel White as an advantage in the war against the Mysterons that he cannot dismiss. During the episode 'Rat Trap', the Mysterons were able to contact Scarlet and to talk to him, while nobody else could hear them. It is not clear if this phenomenon was because he was on the Mysterons' home planet, or if he would hear them, wherever he might be, if they chose to contact him again.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND INTERESTING FACTS: The features of the CGI Captain Scarlet character were based on those of the original Captain Scarlet puppet. Scans of the head of the original character were made and dozens of screen-grabs from the original 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons' TV shows were also used, combined with other elements from a variety of references that helped refine the CGI character's features. The voice for Captain Scarlet was provided by Wayne Forester, who had a previous connection to Gerry Anderson production, as he had been seen on stage in the Mime Theatre Project production Thunderbirds FAB - The Next Generation, and appeared as various different characters in Space Precinct. He also performed the motion capture movement for Captain Blue in the 'Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons' CGI test short. In this short, the voice of Captain Scarlet was performed by original voice artist Francis Matthews. In 2006, Wayne Forester was a guest of the Fanderson convention. Along with fellow voice artists Mike Hayley, Julia Brahms, Jules de Jongh, Chris Finney and Shane Rimmer, he performed the voice-over and sound effects for an on-stage performance based on the script of 'House of Dolls'. He played, of course, Captain Scarlet. For the 50th anniversary of the original 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons' series, Wayne Forester was one of the three performers hired to performe the voices for the audio adaptations of the 1967 John Theydon's Captain Scarlet books: Spectrum File 1: Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Spectrum File 2: Captain Scarlet and the Silent Saboteur and Spectrum File 3: The Angels and the Creeping Enemy. For the occasion, he performed the voices for all male characters including, of course, Captain Scarlet. Elizabeth Morgan performed the voices for all female characters, while David Graham did the narration. In the original TV show 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons', the character's real name was also 'Paul Metcalfe'. In the TV show, he and Captain Blue were the only characters to whom real names were given, while the other characters only received real names in other medias. In the 'New Captain Scarlet series, only Scarlet, Blue and Colonel White retained the same names as their counterparts from the original show. |
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