CAPTAIN SCARLET DUN DA DUN DA DA DA DUN DA DUN.....
So Gerry Anderson, the creator of my childhood, died over the Christmas period.
Firstly, my thoughts go to his family, who must be devastated. Christmas is a fucker at this time of year for death and misfortune. I can only hope that his legacy gives them comfort. Considering that there wasn't much reported about his death and nobody close to me seem to know who he really was or what he was about, my father and I decided to have a grand Anderson Marathon by ourselves
My father and I had a very turbulent last year together. I had returned from Uni two weeks ago and I'd be a bare faced liar if I didn't admit that I was worried that my return would cause ripples. I have no idea how things have been in my absence. I don't know how his illness is, or how much has gone on. My Aunt's death still plays heavily on my father's mind and he has used that against me while I've been here. I still suffer from anxiety attacks that can cripple me without a moments notice. While my Mum has become about a thousand times more understanding and learnt a heck of a lot with in a year, to even approach my Dad with these problems would set him over the edge.
Boundaries, as ever, are still a major problem within this family. However, this marathon has brought Dad and I closer together as two people who share mutual interests and I am so grateful for that. We've created headcanons for the characters together, mad jokes and stayed up until the very early hours of the morning, watching episode after episode.I guess it was luck that my father and I had mutual interest. They were the TV shows of his own childhood that I also happened to adore.
I started my Anderson obsession when I was about six, and I have my Dad to thank for that. He introduced me to the Thunderbirds movie and bought me all of the volumes for each series (so retro, being all on video) and more importantly he watche them with me. The Stingray series and that awful 'Marina' song. Joe 90 where I could remember every note of the theme tune perfectly. Scarlet and his adventures across the planet. Most importantly, that dimple cheeked Scott Tracy (VERY IMPORTANT that he had dimples as I was teased mercilessly for mine) and his brothers with some of the most fantastic machinery I had ever seen in my life. To HELL with all of the mainstream programs that were being shown at the time. I had an entire futuristic world at my fingertips.
While Thunderbirds (and more importantly, Scott Tracy) was the love obsession of my childhood. There is no doubt that Captain Scarlet has got to be one of the greatest TV series that I have had to pleasure to watch again as an adult and fully appreciate. There is so much to see, so many layers. How the plot lines figure into events at the time. The idea of world unity and leadership. How Anderson displayed the human fault of aggression. The relationship between Blue and Scarlet-
Oh and Captain Scarlet Damn hat a character. A stoic man who over the course of the series comes to terms with his own abilities. Who was unorthodox in his methods but still became a Senior officer at Spectrum. Importantly he was no the famed and ever-increasingly popular isolated anti-hero that today's shows insist on cramming down our throats, but a very empathetic man who worked hard at a friendship with Blue, despite his obvious isolation from humanity.
The Marathon and the re-watch of the Scarlet series has rekindled my passion for stories, which in the midst of all the work I have been doing, had nearly been killed off. I understand a lot more about how to create a character, and creating quirks and allowing room for mystery. So cheers, Anderson :)