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The Fires Of Mercury

Synopsis:
Pluto is approaching its furthest point from the sun and the rapidly falling temperature threatens to stop mining operations there. By accident, Haggarty discovers a way to transmit heat in the form of radio waves and a mission to build a tower on Mercury is undertaken by Galasphere 347. Disaster threatens when the nuclear generator on Pluto fails and Dart has a race against time to set up the tower and transmit life saving heat to the miners...

The Fires Of Mercury
Cast
Captain Larry Dart
Husky
Slim
Colonel Raeburn
Marla
Professor Haggarty
Cassie
Gabbler
Commander Brog
Martian
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 Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
Ronnie Stevens
Murray Kash
Libby Morris
Ronnie Stevens
Libby Morris
Libby Morris
Dick Vosburgh
Libby Morris
And The Moral Is:
• If You Can’t Stand The Heat... get a job on Pluto!

Today I Will Be Mostly Learning... :
• Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
• It is possible to alter radio frequencies to create heat (the basis of microwaves) but it would probably not be realistically energy effective to transmit them in the way shown here.

Huskyisms:
• “It’s not a place I’d choose for a vaccination.”
• “That was a close hair-cut!”

Slimantics:
• “I didn’t join Space Patrol to be transformed into an ice lollypop.”
• “Venusians never consume sausages.”

Raeburnt:
• A bit of male bonding with Dart after he arrives, suggesting the Colonel is a little stressed out.

A Venusian Has...:
• The ability to chill with her friend Cassie.

“Don’t Call Me Pop!”:
• Haggarty has made a machine for translating the language of ants.

The UGO Needs You:
• Voluntarily in some cases, as Raeburn tells Dart of the mission to Mercury “If you don’t want to go, I can’t force you.”

Riding Along In My Monobile... ‘:
• Raeburn visits Haggarty, than takes Dart to see him too.

‘I’m An Alien!‘:
• Gabbler thinks sausages are wonderful and eats Husky’s.

Ooh, Bitch... :
• About to embark on a mission, Dart tells Husky to “...stop stuffing your face!”

Continuity:
• In this story, we find out why Pluto is being colonised (first mentioned in The Swamps Of Jupiter and followed up in The Slaves Of Neptune).
• Galasphere 347 has just returned from a mission to Pluto.
• Flight time to Mercury is 3 days, 4 hours.
• Gabbler says he has been taken in a Galasphere to Mars before but that, according to Dart, was ‘a special occasion’. This could refer to events in The Forgers, implying The Fires Of Mercury is meant to come after it in viewing order.

2100?:
• Haggarty has an old fashioned electric fire because he ‘liked the look of it’.
• Dart says, "Keep your walkie-talkies open" to Husky and Slim on Mercury.

Harmony For Strings:
• When seen travelling on his hover jet on Mercury, Dart’s head stays tilted at an odd angle.

Haven’t I Seen... ?:
• The view of the sun from Mercury is from the title sequence.

Take A Break:
• As Robot Control on Galasphere 347 has prevented one dangerous landing, Dart says "It's alright now.". The Galasphere then lands. The break actually comes right after the Galasphere lands - if you watch the video release of the episode closely, the Galasphere shifts slightly and the background atmospherics change.

"And without Plutonite, we can't build Galaspheres.
It'll be the end of Space Patrol."
Colonel Raeburn


Astro Viewer Working:
• The version of the theme opening this episode is the 'standard' version heard through most of the series, but lacks the atmospheric backing as the Galasphere approaches Earth. The only other episode to feature it is The Planet Of Light.
• The device that Raeburn indicates as the heat tranformer in Haggarty’s laboratory is seen earlier in the episode (and countless others) outside Haggarty’s residence.
• The hoverjets sometimes emit vapour.
• Off duty, Marla and Cassie are seen wearing a long dresses and scarves.
• We never overtly see any Martian females but considering Libby Morris voices one of the colonists on Pluto, can it be assumed this was one, and that they don't look too different from the males?

Hoorah!:
• The pulsating, bubbling atmospherics for Mercury manage to convey a nice sense of the heat of the planet.

Boo!:
• The dial that indicates ‘thousands of miles per hour’ actually has ‘knots’ on it.
• Galasphere 347 apparently takes the scenic route home, as its return fight (taken from the titles) is past Saturn!

Computer Central:
• First screened: April 28th 1963 (ABC Midlands)
• Running time: 24 minutes 38 seconds
• BFCC Classified - 26th February 1998
• VHS - Volume 4
• DVD - Complete Series Box Set, Disk 3

Listings
• London, July 25th 1963:
When a planet becomes too cold to support life, something must be done quickly if the inhabitants are to survive. Space Patrol is given the task of solving such a problem.

Ready To Lift ?:
A nice dramatic epiosde that uses some interesting physics as its basis and nearly, but not quite, descends to melodramatics for its ending.






On to the next episode
Episode Guide Series One
The Swamps Of Jupiter
The Wandering Asteroid
The Dark Planet
The Slaves Of Neptune
The Fires Of Mercury
The Shrinking Spaceman
The Robot Revolution
The Cloud Of Death
The Rings Of Saturn
Volcanoes Of Venus
Mystery On The Moon
The Miracle Tree Of Saturn
The Forgers
Episode Guide Series One
Episode Guide Series Two
Episode Guide Series Two
We close on the blazing sun in space before fading to a view of ringed planet Saturn. A gyroscope-like ship, enclosed in a flickering bubble of energy, speeds past us and beyond accompanied by almost musical radiophonic tones. We see it pass the Moon before spinning away to the twilight of the Earth's curved horizon... As we hear a grinding rhythmic electronic score, we see scenes of a futuristic city under a dramatic sky. Some buildings and antennae rotate, light pours from other structures as bullet-shaped and spherical vehicles move rapidly back and forth... 'This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all.'
We close on the blazing sun in space before fading to a view of ringed planet Saturn. A gyroscope-like ship, enclosed in a flickering bubble of energy, speeds past us and beyond accompanied by almost musical radiophonic tones. We see it pass the Moon before spinning away to the twilight of the Earth's curved horizon... As we hear a grinding rhythmic electronic score, we see scenes of a futuristic city under a dramatic sky. Some buildings and antennae rotate, light pours from other structures as bullet-shaped and spherical vehicles move rapidly back and forth... 'This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all.'
We close on the blazing sun in space before fading to a view of ringed planet Saturn. A gyroscope-like ship, enclosed in a flickering bubble of energy, speeds past us and beyond accompanied by almost musical radiophonic tones. We see it pass the Moon before spinning away to the twilight of the Earth's curved horizon... As we hear a grinding rhythmic electronic score, we see scenes of a futuristic city under a dramatic sky. Some buildings and antennae rotate, light pours from other structures as bullet-shaped and spherical vehicles move rapidly back and forth... 'This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all.'