"Big Ben Strikes Again" is the third episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by Tony Barwick and directed by Brian Burgess, it was first broadcast on 13 October 1967 on ATV Midlands.
Set in 2068, the series depicts a "war of nerves" between Earth and the Mysterons: a hostile race of Martians with the ability to create functioning copies of destroyed people or objects and use these reconstructions to carry out specific acts of aggression against humanity. Earth is defended by a military organisation called Spectrum, whose top agent, Captain Scarlet, was murdered by the Mysterons and replaced with a reconstruction that later broke free of their control. The double of Scarlet has powers of self-repair that enable him to recover from injuries that would be fatal to any other person, which make him Spectrum's best asset in its fight against the Mysterons.
In this episode, the Mysterons attempt to destroy London by hijacking a transporter truck and turning its cargo – a nuclear device – into a time bomb. Spectrum's key to locating the device before it detonates lies in solving the mystery of the truck driver's claim that he heard Big Ben strike 13 at midnight.
Along with the previous episode, "Big Ben Strikes Again" was postponed during the BBC's 2001 Captain Scarlet re-run after comparisons were drawn between the storyline and the attacks of September 11, 2001. The clip show series finale, "The Inquisition", features a flashback to this episode.
Plot
The Mysterons (voiced by Donald Gray) announce that they intend to destroy London. Aided by Captain Black, they use their powers to seize control of a transporter truck carrying a nuclear device through the city. The transporter and its driver, Macey, are sealed inside Park View, an underground car park. Macey, who was knocked out during the hijack, wakes up not knowing where he is. Turning on his radio to hear Big Ben strike midnight, he is surprised to hear 13 chimes instead of 12. The Mysterons start the nuclear device's 12-hour detonation countdown then knock Macey out for a second time and dump him in a side street.
In response to the device's disappearance, Spectrum is put on red alert. Macey is found by Captain Scarlet (voiced by Francis Matthews) and taken to Cloudbase to relate his ordeal to Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray). Although there are more than 2,000 car parks in London that match Macey's description of Park View, Captain Blue (voiced by Ed Bishop) narrows these down to Park View and one other after remembering Macey's claim that Big Ben struck 13 and calculating that the car park must be within one mile of Big Ben.
With less than an hour to go before detonation, Scarlet and Blue fly to London, proceed to Park View in a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and locate the device. As the defusing procedure would take too long, White orders the captains to drive the transporter to its intended destination – a nearby construction site – and leave the device to detonate in a specially-prepared underground excavation. With just minutes to spare, Scarlet and Blue reach the site and Blue lowers the transporter, driven by Scarlet, into the excavation using a large elevator. Scarlet abandons the transporter and begins his ascent, but seconds later the device explodes, obliterating the elevator shaft. Scarlet is fatally injured but recovers thanks to his powers of accelerated healing.
Later, while dining at a restaurant with Scarlet, Melody Angel and Destiny Angel (voiced by Liz Morgan), Blue explains how he was able to work out the car park's approximate location and why Macey thought he heard Big Ben strike 13. In reality, Macey was hearing two sets of chimes: one on the air, the other on his radio. However, the former were delayed by the speed of sound, so the "thirteenth" chime was actually a repeat of the twelfth that had already sounded over the radio. Following this explanation, Scarlet decides to make 13 his "lucky number".
Production
The script included a number of short scenes that were ultimately unfilmed. Set immediately after Colonel White orders the red alert, these would have introduced Spectrum captains codenamed "Yellow" and "Purple" and shown Captain Scarlet resting in Cloudbase's "Room of Sleep", which is mentioned (but never seen) in later episodes. The script stated that this room contains "special couches" that enable users to condense a full night's sleep into one hour.