A fantastic reminder of one of the best Gerry Anderson series. Cue the tympani: GED, BBBE…

To an extent overlooked by the fuss over The Prisoner anniversary (which was deserved, before anyone starts complaining), Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons also officially turned 50 on Friday September 29, 2017, and given Jamie Anderson’s close connections with Big Finish, it was hardly surprising that the company would do something special to mark the occasion.

And I’m delighted they have. The box set brings together a host of audio items that will be completely new to many (somewhere I’ve got the cassette versions of two of the original audios, but they’ve not been played in 20+ years), as well as some amazing oddities, such as the proposed end title themes. Play them once. You are unlikely ever to want to hear them again!

Century 21 were to an extent the Big Finish of the 1960s, creating original stories for some of the characters in the Anderson series – the Thunderbirds tales, of course, recently formed the basis for the three new episodes created by Stephen la Riviere and his team – and there are four completely new stories at the start of this set (once you get past a reworked version of the opening episode, retitled Introducing Captain Scarlet). Each is an enjoyable addition to the saga, with Captain Scarlet versus Captain Black in particular showing a different side to the Mysteronised bad guy.

Following that come the “newer” mini albums from the 1990s, which are similar to the BBC Audio releases of the missing Doctor Who soundtracks – Ed Bishop returned to voice Captain Blue in these eight revisted episodes. And finally we get the piece de resistance of the set: a new documentary about the series. It doesn’t go down the obvious routes in terms of describing the genesis and the production of the show, using a mix of archive and new interviews to bring that period of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s careers back to life.

You’re reminded constantly throughout this set of just how different Captain Scarlet was from its immediate predecessor, Thunderbirds, not simply in terms of the puppet shapes, but the whole tone of the show. “First they must destroy,” Captain Blue intones at the top of each episode, and the whole series is predicated on people being killed so that the Mysterons can carry out their acts of vengeance. It’s dark, and it made a big impression on many (it was one of the first shows I saw in colour).

Big Finish have pushed the boat out with the packaging too: the box includes a lot of extra material, some bits in universe, some behind the scenes. As with the restoration of the audios – notably Captain Scarlet versus Captain Black – this has clearly been a labour of love for those involved.

Verdict: An excellent tribute to an extraordinary show. 10/10

Paul Simpson