Expo 2068

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“Expo 2068”
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 25
Written by	Shane Rimmer
Directed by	Leo Eaton
Production no.	23
Original airdate	March 26, 1968
Episode chronology
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"Noose of Ice"	"The Launching"
List of Captain Scarlet episodes

"Expo 2068" is the 25th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was the 23rd episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was March 26, 1968 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Shane Rimmer and directed by Leo Eaton.

1 Synopsis
2 Plot
3 Cast
- 3.1 Regular voice cast
- 3.2 Guest voice cast
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A truck carrying a nuclear reactor is taken over by the Mysterons. Can Scarlet and Blue locate and neutralise the overheating device before devastation is brought to the Atlantic Seaboard of North America?

[edit] Plot

A stable nuclear reactor is being prepared for overnight shipment to the Manicougan Power Complex, USA. At the loading area of the compound, Dr Sommers, the head of the project, sees off the driver as he departs in a truck carrying the device. Meanwhile, Captain Black pulls up at a junction in a car and switches a diversion sign using the Mysteron influence. The driver realises too late that he has been led down an unsafe road and the truck plunges off the end of a collapsed bridge, crashing onto the hillside below. The Mysteron rings track the body of the driver and a second truck appears on a nearby road, with the man's duplicate at the wheel.

Transmitting to Earth, the Mysterons threaten to bring devastation to the Atlantic Seaboard of North America. On Cloudbase, Colonel White orders Lieutenant Green to launch the Angels and check for possible targets for the Mysteron threat. Green finds out about the in-transit reactor and White contacts Dr Sommers for further information. Sommers assures the Colonel that the device has been neutralised and that the transporter has passed through two of three security checkpoints. Nevertheless, White dispatches Captains Scarlet and Blue to investigate the truck.

The officers requisition an SPV and pursue their target along Highway 83, unaware that the Mysteron agent has turned off the road into a forest. Meanwhile, at the construction site of Expo 2068, a futuristic building project, Captain Black holds a remote-controlled freight helicopter operator at gunpoint. He orders the man to program one of the Seneca Company's craft to fly as he commands.

The truck driver stops in a clearing and watches as a Seneca helicopter lands nearby. On the orders of Black's disembodied voice, the Mysteron agent removes the reactor's thermal safety valve and then transfers the device to the helicopter's wooden cargo crate. An inquisitive lumberjack approaches the clearing but the agent shoots him. The helicopter takes off and the driver departs in his truck.

Scarlet and Blue have still not sighted the transporter. White informs them that it has missed the third security checkpoint and believes that the driver has left the highway. The Spectrum officers turn back and locate the forest clearing. They tend to the wounded lumberjack but are confused by his mutterings of the word Seneca. Blue confirms from the tyre tracks that the truck has passed through the area and Scarlet finds the thermal safety valve on the ground. Reporting back to Cloudbase, the Captain asks for details on the valve and tells White that the injured man will be taken into hospital.

Flying over Manicougan, Destiny Angel spots the truck on the highway and Scarlet and Blue intercept in their SPV. In his desperation to evade Spectrum, the driver fails to notice a bend in the road. The transporter crashes, killing the Mysteron agent. However, Scarlet and Blue find the cargo hold empty and realise that the reactor has been switched.

Dr Sommers tells Cloudbase that, without the thermal safety valve, the nuclear reactor will start to overheat and go critical, and will explode when its temperature reaches 200 degrees. White tells Scarlet that security has blocked off the whole of Manicougan and that the only vehicles moving in the county are the Seneca helicopters building Expo 2068. Scarlet recognises the name and deduces that one of the aircraft must contain the reactor.

As the device heats up inside its crate, Captain Black orders the remote operator to move the helicopter into a position directly above the Expo Tower. Speeding to the danger zone, Scarlet and Blue identify the rogue craft. Scarlet dons a jetpack and ascends to the crate while Black, noticing Spectrum's presence, commands the operator to crash the helicopter. When he protests, Black guns him down and the controls ignite, upsetting the helicopter's orientation.

Scarlet arrives at the crate and saws an entrance through the wood. Inside, he confirms that the reactor is nearing 200 degrees and is instructed by Sommers to activate the coolant supply. However, the temperature continues to rise and Scarlet is almost crushed when the helicopter suddenly lurches, slamming the device against the wall. Sommers gives a list of external circuits which must be disconnected to prevent an explosion. Scarlet manages to complete the objective just as the temperature is touching 200, but the helicopter crashes into the Expo Tower and explodes with him still inside. Blue sets off for Cloudbase in a medical helicopter carrying Scarlet's body.