"The Inquisition" is the 32nd and final episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions. Written by Tony Barwick and directed by Ken Turner, it was first broadcast on 12 May 1968 on ATV London.
Set in 2068, the series depicts a "war of nerves" between Earth and the Mysterons: a race of Martians with the power to create functioning copies of destroyed people or objects and use them to carry out acts of aggression against humanity. Earth is defended by a military organisation called Spectrum, whose top agent, Captain Scarlet, was killed by the Mysterons and replaced by a reconstruction that subsequently broke free of their control. Scarlet's double has a self-healing power that enables him to recover from injuries that would be fatal to anyone else, making him Spectrum's best asset in its fight against the Mysterons.
In this clip show episode, Captain Blue disappears during a night out after unwittingly drinking drugged coffee. Having fallen unconscious, he awakes in what appears to be the Cloudbase control room in the presence of a Spectrum Intelligence agent, who tells him that he has been missing for months and must prove his identity by giving information about Spectrum's cipher codes. Unwilling to divulge classified material, Blue instead tries to satisfy his interrogator by describing some of Spectrum's operations against the Mysterons, which are recounted in the form of flashbacks.
"The Inquisition" has been negatively received by commentators, who argue that the clip show device makes for an unsatisfying series finale and criticise the story for leaving the war between Earth and Mars unresolved.
Plot
While dining with Captain Scarlet (voiced by Francis Matthews) at the Markham Arms pub, Captain Blue (voiced by Ed Bishop) is served drugged coffee by the maitre d', who unknown to Scarlet and Blue is a Mysteron reconstruction. After finishing the coffee, Blue passes out and disappears. Transmitting to Earth, the Mysterons warn Spectrum that a member of the organisation will betray them all.
Blue comes round in what appears to be the control room of Spectrum Cloudbase, which is deserted except for a man who introduces himself as a Spectrum Intelligence agent called Colgan. Blue is told that he has been missing for three months and must prove his identity by giving details of Spectrum's secret cipher codes. Unwilling to divulge classified information, Blue tries to satisfy Colgan by describing some of Spectrum's operations against the Mysterons. However, his efforts are futile: his overview of the Mysterons' attempt to destroy London ("Big Ben Strikes Again") is judged useless, while his first-person account of the destruction of their base on the Moon ("Crater 101") is rejected due to the extensive coverage that the event received in the news media. His third example – the attempted assassination of the world's air force leaders ("The Trap") – is also rejected, even though the details were never made public.
Increasingly suspicious of Colgan's interest in the codes, as well as the absence of other Spectrum personnel, Blue attempts to leave the control room but finds his way blocked by a man armed with a gun and a hypodermic syringe, which Colgan says contains a truth serum. Realising that he has been abducted by Mysteron agents, Blue hurls himself through an observation window and lands on a painted-sky canvas, revealing "Cloudbase" to be nothing more than a replica built inside an empty warehouse. Scarlet arrives in a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, orders Blue to get clear and destroys the warehouse with the SPV's rocket launcher. Informing Blue that he went missing just hours before, Scarlet suggests that he tell his story "back on the real Cloudbase".
Production
Captain Scarlet is one of a number of Supermarionation productions to feature a clip show series finale, the first of which was Stingrays "Aquanaut of the Year" (1965). This practice continued for the Andersons' next three puppet series, ending with Joe 90s "The Birthday" (1969).