Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet by Chris Bentley ISBN 13: 9780995519107. The official guide to Gerry Anderson's television classic UFO is now available as an expanded, deluxe hardback in full colour for the first time. Now compiled with full access to ITV's extensive stills archive, the book includes a complete production history, comprehensive episode guides and full details of vehicles and characters. The chapter on promotion and merchandise is expanded with details on UFO-inspired comics and there is a new section on Anderson's feature film Doppelg�nger, considered by many to be the precursor to UFO. This is the definitive companion to the series that many fans consider to be Gerry Anderson's greatest work. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. A former chairman of Fanderson, the official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society, Chris Bentley was a friend and colleague of the UFO creator for many years. He is the author of The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000), The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001) and The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (2005). Since the original publication of the UFO book in 2003, Chris' ongoing research has revealed new information which will appear in this edition for the first time. Widely recognised as one of the UK's leading television historians, in recent years Chris has become a regular contributor to the official Doctor Who Magazine. ISBN 13: 9781903111659. UFO was first broadcast in 1970 and told the disturbing story of aliens who undertake covert missions on Earth, kidnapping humans to harvest their internal organs. The Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation, led by Commander Ed Straker, is established to defend humanity. The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO is the third in a series of books examining the making of Gerry Anderson's classic television series, the other two being The Complete Book of Thunderbirds and The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. Fully illustrated with many previously unseen stills, The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO features exclusive contributions from the program-makers and stars. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. A former chairman of Fanderson, the official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society, Chris Bentley was a friend and colleague of the UFO creator for many years. He is the author of The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000), The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001) and The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (2005). Since the original publication of the UFO book in 2003, Chris' ongoing research has revealed new information which will appear in this edition for the first time. Widely recognised as one of the UK's leading television historians, in recent years Chris has become a regular contributor to the official Doctor Who Magazine. The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet by Chris Bentley. Melody Angel's voice was provided by Sylvia Anderson. Her facial features were based on actress and singer Eartha Kitt. Born January 10 2043, on a cotton farm in the Deep South of the United States, near Atlanta, Georgia, Magnolia Jones was the sole girl in her large family. With four older brothers it wasn’t surprising that she grew up as a ‘tomboy’, and, to the probable despair of her parents, played truant alongside the boys. Magnolia gave the impression of not being very bright at school, presumably a direct consequence of missing so many lessons, with the result that she left full-time education aged fifteen, a typical ‘high-school dropout’. Magnolia however, was passionate about fast cars and motorbikes, and immediately took up professional motor-racing, something she excelled at. Her parents however, thought differently, and finally decided it was about time their only daughter stopped behaving like a boy and began to act like a lady. Against her wishes, Magnolia was packed off to an un-named finishing school for girls in Switzerland. The feisty girl naturally detested this, until she found out that she was allowed to fly. This became her second obsession, exceeding even that of motor-racing, and after being expelled from school for unruly behaviour, she joined the World Army Air Force in 2061 aged 18. Magnolia took to the air force life at once, loving every minute of it. She began training immediately as a test pilot, and her courage and nerves of steel quickly garnered her reputation as one of the youngest and most renowned test pilots in the WAAF in that period. However, one fateful day, as she took aircraft XKF.115 on a test flight, base control lost radio contact with her somewhere over the South Seas. The WAAF searched for three weeks, but they finally gave up hope, and Magnolia was feared dead. Almost exactly one year later, in 2063, she miraculously reappeared, having rebuilt an air-worthy craft from scratch from the salvageable wreckage of the XKF.115 and flown it back to civilisation. She left the WAAF shortly after, in order to concentrate purely on her flying. Backed by money given to her by her father, thankful for her return to safety, she set up a freelance flying taxi service, providing luxury inter-city flights for business executives. In 2065 her great determination and flying skills brought her to the attention of the selection committee for the new Spectrum organisation. She eagerly accepted the challenge of becoming one of their pilots, and took the codename Melody Angel. On duty, Melody is a pillar of strength. She’s tough and determined, giving encouragement to her fellow Angels in difficult situations. A confident and meticulous pilot, it is through her insistence that she saw Commodore Goddard’s plane hit by lightning that alerts Colonel White to the possibility of Mysteron activity ( ‘The Trap’ ). Off duty, Melody’s forceful personality makes her a natural leader amongst the Angels. Her favourite hobby in her spare time is learning languages, and she is currently trying to master the Japanese tongue, presumably with Harmony’s help. Melody may have a ‘masculine’ nature, but she is not averse to dressing-up when the occasion demands it ( ‘Big Ben Strikes Again’ ), suggesting that the money her parents spent on finishing school was not entirely wasted! In both fan-fiction and authorised novels, Melody is usually portrayed as a feisty, blunt-talking, young woman, whose natural inclination is to take action rather than sit around discussing strategy. ( ‘This Other Eden’ by Marion Woods), and ( ‘The Angels - Creeping Enemy’ by John Theydon). Melody’s Family and Friendships. Melody’s parents and brothers are officially un-named, and we know little about them beyond what has been written above. The ‘Angels’ comic strip in the Lady Penelope magazine featured a story where Melody lands her Interceptor at her parents’ house in Moffatt, a suburb of Atlanta which is her home, and we meet a younger sister called Ellie-Jo. As it is a clear inconsistency with the accepted background where Melody is supposed to only have older brothers, it isn’t clear whether Ellie-Jo is a natural-born sibling or adopted, however she certainly shares the same impulsive nature of her older sister, when she gets into the cockpit of Melody’s aircraft and takes off in it, necessitating a rescue by Spectrum. Up to now, fan-fiction writers have concentrated on Melody’s life within Spectrum, particularly her relationship with Captain Ochre, which seems to provide the authors which lots of scope for tension-filled stories. They range from sarcastically flirtatious ( ‘Sikako’ , by Siobhan Zettler), to romantic ( ‘Master of The Night’ and ‘Twilight of The Gods’ . by Chris Bishop, ‘Room 5’ , by Tiger Jackson, and ‘Lessons’, by Caroline Smith) to tempestuous sparring ( ‘Jochre’s Wild’ , by Sue Stanhope, and ‘ Nightmare ’, by Sage Harper). Marion Woods suggests that Melody regards Ochre as a platonic friend, and her sexual preferences lie in another, distaff direction (‘Something Stupid’ ). Nothing in the series, or official backgrounds support the relationship, however it is interesting to note, that amongst the Angels, Melody is the only one with no outstanding academic qualifications, something she has in common with Ochre, and perhaps this is one reason why the two of them might share a special rapport, despite all their surface bickering. In a couple of ‘future’ stories, Melody dies prematurely. ( From cancer, ‘Valediction’ , by Marion Woods, and in a commercial plane crash ‘Pride and Joy’ , by Lezli Farrington.) Notes of interest. Along with Trinidadian Lieutenant Green, Melody Angel was one of the first major black characters in a television series, and unlike Lieutenant Uhura from ‘ Star Trek ’, which aired around the same time, she was not confined to a typically female role. She appeared in seventeen of the thirty-two episodes of ‘Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons’, had a speaking role in nine, and played a prominent role in several, most notably in ( ‘The Trap’ ). As well as her primary role as an Interceptor pilot, Melody Angel has been on call as a Spectrum helicopter pilot, as seen in episode ‘Shadow of Fear’ . She’s also seen flying helicopters in the comic strips, such as the story ‘The Labyrinth’, written in 1993. The Voice of Melody Angel. Sylvia Anderson and Lady Penelope story book. Sylvia Anderson, then the wife of Gerry Anderson, and co-producer of the series, was the voice behind Melody, and gave the character a rich, husky Southern US accent. In addition, Sylvia provided a number of voices for female supporting characters, such as Judy Chapman (‘ Place of Angels ’), Gabrielle (‘ Model Spy’ ), and Linda Nolan (‘ Crater 101 ’) . Born in Camberwell, London, England, on 25 March 1927, Sylvia Beatrice Thomas met Gerry Anderson in 1957, while working as an office assistant at Polytechnic Films.