Cloudbase

While developing the series in 1966, Gerry Anderson recalled that during the Battle of Britain, the RAF had found it difficult to counter the Luftwaffe due to the delays caused by having to launch fighters from the ground:{{Cite web|last=Marcus |first=Laurence |title=Gerry Anderson: The Puppet Master – Part 3 |url=http://www.teletronic.co.uk/gerryanderson3.htm |work=teletronic.co.uk |date=October 2005 |accessdate=1 October 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221150836/http://www.teletronic.co.uk/gerryanderson3.htm |archivedate=21 February 2008 |url-status=dead }} "[I]t took [the Spitfire squadron] about 20 minutes to climb high enough to intercept the bombers that were already at 16,000 feet."{{Cite book | last1 = Archer | first1 = Simon |author1-link=Simon Archer (author)| last2 = Hearn | first2 = Marcus | title=What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson | year = 2002 | publisher = BBC Books | isbn = 978-0-563-53481-5 | page = 148}} For this reason, Anderson decided to make the fictional Spectrum's headquarters a floating aircraft carrier: "This could launch aircraft that would then climb to 100,000 feet and intercept extraterrestrial invaders within minutes."

Anderson also noted that Captain Scarlet was made during the Cold War, "when world leaders held conferences on aircraft carriers, and bomber pilots were constantly in the air waiting for attack orders. So I was thinking along the lines of a wartime setting, and had the idea for Cloudbase, a giant flying aircraft carrier, and the Angels, fighter pilots ready for take-off at any time.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Total DVD|date=October 2001|issue=30|editor1-first=Chris|editor1-last=Jenkins|title=Scarlet Is the New Black|first1=Chris|last1=Jenkins|pages=16–18|publisher=WV Publications|location=London, UK|issn=1464-889X|oclc=877789732}} The script for the first episode stated that the base is kept airborne by "powerful jet engines that are pointing downwards and are obviously powered by atomic energy".Bentley 2017, pp. 79–81.

The Cloudbase filming model was designed by special effects director Derek Meddings and measured over {{Convert|6|ft|spell=in}} in length. According to Meddings, it was the easiest Captain Scarlet vehicle to build. The base's wide-angle establishing shot, repeatedly re-used as stock footage, was filmed against a sky backdrop consisting of a background painting, cotton wool clouds and dry ice effects.Meddings & Denham, pp. 88–89. Too heavy to be hung on wires, the model was held in place on the end of a horizontal metal pole.Meddings & Denham, p. 90. Larger-scale sections of the flight deck were built for scenes showing aircraft taking off and landing.

The puppet-size control room set incorporated green Perspex arches and a {{Convert|15|ft||adj=mid|-long}} electrically-driven moving walkway from which Lieutenant Green is shown to operate the base's main computer.Bentley 2017, pp. 44–45. Anderson said that the decision to have Colonel White sit at a round desk, so that during briefings all the attendees are equidistant from him, was influenced by contemporary speculation about the seating arrangements for cabinet meetings, which were typically held at long conference tables and reportedly led to arguments over which members should be seated closest to the head of government.{{Cite AV media|first=Gerry|last=Anderson|author1-link=Gerry Anderson|date=2001|title="Attack on Cloudbase" Audio Commentary|medium=DVD|publisher=Carlton}}

File:Dr Who Museum Bromyard (5381349305).jpg, UK, with Colonel White in the centre]]

An airborne aircraft carrier, incorporating a flight deck and powered by jet engines, Cloudbase hovers at a fixed altitude of {{Convert|40,000|ft|mi km}}. Though usually geostationary, it is equipped with horizontal jet thrusters that enable it to be moved to any point above the Earth's surface. It was constructed in Earth orbit and has a crew of approximately 600.Drake & Bassett, p. 31. The base is pressurised; pilots entering or exiting aircraft on the flight deck do so via airtight shafts and docking ports.

Cloudbase's main defence is its squadron of three Angel Interceptor fighter aircraft, flown by five female pilots.{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1MVihmjGAc|title=Angel Interceptor: Century 21 Tech Talk|date=October 23, 2021|via=YouTube}} One fighter is crewed around the clock, with the others on continuous standby. Auxiliary aircraft include Spectrum Passenger Jets and Magnacopters, which are launched from a different area of the flight deck.Drake & Bassett, pp. 35–39.

Areas aboard Cloudbase include:

• the Control Room, which contains Colonel White's revolving round desk, a viewing screen (which displays the spectral colours when inactive) and Lieutenant Green's mainframe computer, which manages the base's systems
• the Amber Room, the standby lounge for the Angel pilots
• a sick bay, staffed by chief medical officer Dr Fawn
• the Spectrum Information Centre, a data bank powered by "seventh-generation" supercomputers
• an observation room, containing atmospheric and space-monitoring equipmentDrake & Bassett, p. 36.
• the Room of Sleep, a dormitory with hypnotic aids and gimbal-mounted beds to minimise the amount of time needed for personnel to restDrake & Bassett, p. 35.
• a conference room, generator room, radar room and crew lounge

Commentator Ian Fryer praises the interior sets designed by Keith Wilson, noting their use of coloured Perspex and describing them as "both stylish and highly detailed".{{Cite book |title=The Worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson: The Story Behind International Rescue |last1=Fryer |first1=Ian |year=2016 |publisher=Fonthill Media |isbn=978-1-781555-04-0}} Cloudbase has also been viewed as part of a supposed religious allegory in the series.{{Cite book|last1=Taylor|first1=Anthony|last2=Trim|first2=Mike|author2-link=Mike Trim|title=The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim|year=2006|publisher=Hermes Press|isbn=978-1-932563-82-5|page=29}} Commentators have suggested that the base can be interpreted as Heaven, with Colonel White serving as a God analogue and the resurrected Captain Scarlet representing the Son of God; the Devil is symbolised by either Captain Black or the Mysterons.{{Cite book|last1=La Rivière|first1=Stephen|author1-link=Stephen La Rivière|title=Filmed in Supermarionation: A History of the Future|year=2009|publisher=Hermes Press|isbn=978-1-932563-23-8|pages=160–161}}{{Cite web|last=Grant|first=Cy|authorlink=Cy Grant|title=Lieutenant Green and De Anderson CODE – Spectrums, Subconscious Connections & Synchronicities|url=http://nestene1.users.btopenworld.com/cygrant/green.htmlyear=2007|accessdate=16 January 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123195856/http://nestene1.users.btopenworld.com/cygrant/green.html|archivedate=23 January 2008|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/we-love-captain-scarlet-2415955|title=We Love ... Captain Scarlet|date=31 March 2013|first1=Robin|last1=Turner|work=Wales Online|accessdate=11 February 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231235104/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/we-love-captain-scarlet-2415955|archivedate=31 December 2019|url-status=live}} Both Robin Turner of Wales Online and Chris Jenkins of Total DVD magazine compare White to God seated in his "heavenly Cloudbase" (defended by a fighter squadron that happens to be codenamed "the Angels"). Anderson denied that any of this symbolism was intentional.

Sources have discussed the base's feasibility as a hovering aircraft carrier. Using the material specifications of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, an article published by the University of Leicester calculated that if Cloudbase were a uniformly dense cuboid, it would weigh more than 30 billion newtons ({{Convert|30|e9N|e6tf|disp=out|abbr=unit|lk=out}}) when hovering, needing thruster power equivalent to more than half a million Eurofighter Typhoons and energy equivalent to the output of more than 600,000 nuclear power stations in order to maintain its altitude. The article concluded that the phenomenal weight, noise and heat created by such power requirements made Cloudbase a real-world impossibility.{{Cite journal|first1=J.|last1=Bettles|first2=I.|last2=Clarke|first3=M.|last3=Perry|first4=N.|last4=Pilkington|journal=Journal of Physics Special Topics|title=Keeping Your Head In The Clouds|publisher=University of Leicester|date=2 October 2011}}

According to Jim Smith, an aviation consultant, Cloudbase would not be practical as a carrier if it were stationary, because the Angel Interceptors make "controlled crash" landings on ramps at speeds that would not be survivable unless the base were also moving. He wrote: "Operating from a static Cloudbase simply makes no sense, because you won’t be able to land back on board. A conventional carrier landing from an approach speed of [more than] {{Convert|200|kn|mph kph}} is not going to work. The alternative of pitching up to 30 degrees to land on a ramp at 100 knots will not work either. If Cloudbase were moving at 100 knots or so during the landing sequence, then a conventional carrier landing using arrestor wires would be possible, and would be a more flexible and less dangerous solution than the inclined ramp."{{Cite magazine|url=https://hushkit.net/2021/05/20/would-the-joe-90-angel-interceptor-have-worked-in-real-life-we-ask-an-expert/|title=Would the Captain Scarlet Angel Interceptor Have Worked in Real Life? We Ask an Expert|magazine=Hush-Kit|date=20 May 2021|access-date=2 March 2025}}

The Valiant, an airborne aircraft carrier featured in the Doctor Who universe, has been compared to Cloudbase.{{Cite web|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/8984/doctor-who-series-4-episode-5-review-the-poison-sky|title=Doctor Who Series 4, Episode 5 Review: 'The Poison Sky'|author=Anderson, Martin|date=3 May 2008|website=Den of Geek|accessdate=6 February 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609232848/http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/8984/doctor-who-series-4-episode-5-review-the-poison-sky|archivedate=9 June 2012|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/doctor-who-the-sound-of-drums-last-of-the-time-lord-1798180358|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116125206/https://tv.avclub.com/doctor-who-the-sound-of-drums-last-of-the-time-lord-1798180358|archive-date=16 November 2019|first1=Alasdair|last1=Wilkins|title=TV Reviews: Doctor Who: 'The Sound of Drums'/'Last Of the Time Lords'|date=20 April 2014|access-date=31 December 2019|work=The A.V. Club|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|title=Doctor Who: A History of the Universe in 100 Objects|page=158|year=2012|first1=James|last1=Goss|author1-link=James Goss (producer)|first2=Steve|last2=Tribe|publisher=BBC Books|isbn=9781849904810}} The similarity is directly recognised in series 8, when the Twelfth Doctor refers to the Valiant as "Cloudbase". Comparisons have also been drawn with the Marvel Universe's Helicarrier, the mobile airstrip in the 2004 film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and the eponymous floating academy of the 2005 film Sky High.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/11/03/the-best-of-sfx%E2%80%99s-attack-of-the-clones/6/|title=The Best of SFX's Attack of the Clones|work=sfx.co.uk|accessdate=6 February 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204214102/http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/11/03/the-best-of-sfx%E2%80%99s-attack-of-the-clones/6/|archivedate=4 February 2014|url-status=live}}{{Cite newspaper|newspaper=Evening Times|location=Glasgow, UK|date=13 October 2005|first=Andy|last=Dougan|title=Perfect Partners}} According to James Chapman, Cloudbase's design evokes the style of Eagle comic's Dan Dare strips.{{Cite journal|first=James|last=Chapman|author-link=James Chapman (media historian)|title=Onward Christian Spacemen: Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future as British Cultural History|journal=Visual Culture in Britain|volume=9|number=1|pages=55–79|date=1 June 2008|publisher=Manchester University Press|issn=14714787|eissn=19418361}}

In 1993, toy company Vivid Imaginations released a Cloudbase playset.Bentley 2017, pp. 196–197. In 2001, The Independent listed it as one of the 50 best Christmas toys.{{Cite news|title=The 50 Best Toys for Christmas|newspaper=The Independent|first=Isabel|last=Lloyd|date=1 December 2001|pages=4-11}} The Toy Retailers Association also ranked it among the top 50 toys of the year.{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/gerry-anderson/38738/remembering-90s-thunderbirds-captain-scarlet-toys|title=Remembering '90s Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet Toys|date=2 February 2016|first1=Andrew|last1=Blair|work=Den of Geek|accessdate=31 December 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217233707/https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/gerry-anderson/38738/remembering-90s-thunderbirds-captain-scarlet-toys|archivedate=17 December 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.toyretailersassociation.co.uk/top-50-2001|title=Top 50 For 2001|work=toyretailersassociation.co.uk|publisher=Toy Retailers Association|accessdate=31 December 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917201305/http://www.toyretailersassociation.co.uk/top-50-2001|archivedate=17 September 2016|url-status=live}} A secret project in the expansion pack for the 1999 video game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is titled "Cloudbase Academy".

In the animated remake New Captain Scarlet (2005), Cloudbase is re-imagined as Skybase. Stationed at {{Convert|60,000|ft|mi km}}, the base includes robotic deckhands on its flight deck to assist with the take-off and landing of aircraft, as well as new recreational facilities such as squash courts. It is protected by a fleet of Falcon Interceptors, the updated Angel aircraft.

In a 2004 interview, Anderson said that the changes from the original were for commercial reasons, "so that merchandising opportunities aren't confused and all the revenue goes to another company." He likened the role of the deckhands to "a Formula One pit stop".{{Cite magazine|magazine=Televisual|first1=Adrian|last1=Pennington|pages=26-28|date=June 2004|title=Look{{snd}}No Strings|issn=0264-9845|publisher=Centaur Communications}} The CGI model was created using LightWave 3D software under the supervision of Ron Thornton, co-founder of Foundation Imaging.{{Cite web|last=Marcus|first=Laurence|title=Gerry Anderson: The Puppet Master – Part 5|url=http://www.teletronic.co.uk/gerry_anderson_5.htm|work=teletronic.co.uk|year=2005|accessdate=6 February 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203073439/http://www.teletronic.co.uk/gerry_anderson_5.htm|archivedate=3 February 2013|url-status=dead}} Comprising three million polygons (described by Thornton as "way over the top"), it was three times the size of the Enterprise NX-01 model that Foundation had created for Star Trek: Enterprise, and was too large to be rendered in a single step.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|last1=Bentley|first1=Chris|editor1-last=Hearn|editor1-first=Marcus|title=Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault|year=2017|publisher=Signum Books|location=Cambridge, UK|isbn=978-0-995519-12-1|pages=44-45; 79-81; 196-197}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Drake|first1=Chris|last2=Bassett|first2=Graeme|title=Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons|year=1993|publisher=Boxtree|isbn=978-1-85283-403-6|pages=31, 34–9}}
• {{Cite book | last1 = Meddings | first1 = Derek | authorlink1 = Derek Meddings |first2=Sam|last2=Denham| title = 21st Century Visions | year = 1993 | publisher = Paper Tiger Books| isbn = 978-1-85028-243-3|pages=88–90}}

{{Captain Scarlet}}

Category:Captain Scarlet (franchise) vehicles

Category:Fictional airships

Category:Fictional elements introduced in 1967