The Secret Service – 9. Recall To Service

The episode opens on a bright and sunny day at the World Army Experimental Vehicle Division’s base. The Feathered Spies previously featured the World Air Force on its signage but just like in that episode, the script for Recall To Service makes no such reference to a unified global military force because such a thing didn’t exist in the contemporary 1969 setting of The Secret Service. The special effects department, however, clearly had other ideas and continued to slap world military symbols all over the sets and vehicles they were producing for the series just as they had done for Joe 90 previously when such a concept actually made sense.

Sitting in a truck having a lovely day out is Professor Graham. There was a Professor Graham in the Stingray episode In Search of the Tajmanon but, again, that’s probably just a coincidence. Now you may not recognise this character instantly but put him in a blonde wig and you would have Spectrum’s answer to Robin the Boy Wonder, Captain Blue – specifically this is his frowner head that the puppet department have decided to repurpose as a new guest character. I wish him the very best with his new acting career.

You might recognise this ‘ere concrete blockhouse from the EUROSEC base in the Anderson feature film Doppelgänger produced at the same time as The Secret Service. It’s a charming little property ideally situated in the middle of bloomin’ nowhere so that you can enjoy the peace and tranquillity offered by a home rendered in reinforced bomb-proof concrete.

Computer components seen last week in the control room for Hole In One have been transferred over to this new set which looks like a cross between a movie theatre and an operating theatre. Keith Wilson’s art department has once again done that very clever thing of rigging up a ceiling with a hole cut just above the puppets’ heads so that it looks like they don’t have wires but actually they do.

This is Colonel Blair (previously seen as Captain Grey in Captain Scarlet) and his colleague Captain Mitchell. In Pat Dunlop’s original script, Captain Mitchell was actually named Captain Sanders. I’d like to say the change was made because of the ridiculous resemblance to that world-renowned purveyor of fried chicken, Colonel Sanders, but I’m only finger-licking guessing.

Today, we’re watching the shiny new Aquatank being put through its paces. We’ll get a closer look at it later, but so far my first impressions of this vehicle are that it’s… fine? I suppose the model department couldn’t go too out there with the design because of the contemporary setting. The script describes it as, “Heavily armoured, exceptionally fast, the superstructure is a hybrid of advanced tank and submarine design.” I suppose it does fit that brief. Maybe I’ll like it more when I see it running around blowing things up.

Tanky the Tank is tanking along looking for a fight… if it doesn’t catch fire from firing its own round first that is.

The Aquatank manages to slip through unharmed despite getting hit directly by the shells and charging through some terrific fireballs. Inside the blockhouse, Blair and Mitchell watch on their widescreen TV which also happens to be in colour. Speaking of which, the ITV Network in England didn’t start transmitting in colour until November 15th 1969… two weeks after this episode was broadcast. The first episode of the series that UK viewers could have actually watched in colour would have been The Deadly Whisper which aired on November 16th. Just another piece of dry, dry trivia for you.

Tanky the Tank doesn’t fare too well when the Aquatank opens fire, and it turns into a flaming meatball before our very eyes. Honestly, I’m not sure Tanky had a long career ahead of them if a single blast on the battlefield was enough to nobble it.

Mitchell is showing his hand early doors by saying the Aquatank would be, “a very forceful addition to anybody’s army…” as if it won’t be the British/World Army who’ll end up keeping it for themselves. Also, and I hope he doesn’t take this the wrong way, Mitchell clearly has the face of a nasty person. There’s something about him which just looks like he stays up late watching puppies come into close contact with dangerous, pointy objects. Of course, Colonel Blair is none the wiser, and just remarks on how bloomin’ invincible the Aquatank is supposed to be. Right, well I’m glad we’ve got our villain and our oblivious idiot established for this week’s episode.

The Aquatank is switched over to its computer-controlled program and does that thing that all Anderson shows like to do to make ground vehicles look impressive… jumping over small ditches… and I may scoff but it works because I’m warming up to the Aquatank now.

Curiously, the script specifies here that the Aquatank “negotiates a number of very difficult obstacles. Their exact nature is left to Special Effects.” I guess Special Effects looked at that and decided a small ditch was the most difficult obstacle they could manage.

We learn that the Aquatank is going to be unveiled to the top brass at NATO on Tuesday… and that’s further proof that the “World Army” label slapped on the front of the base is a bit pointless because surely if a global military force were a thing, it would make NATO redundant. So, as per the script, what we’re supposed to be seeing here is strictly a British Army operation rather than the World Army.

Mitchell once again chooses to be tremendously helpful and signposts the fact that he’s a baddie by saying, “she certainly will, sir,” in a deliberately dodgy tone. And I mean just look at him. That’s the expression of someone who enjoys setting fire to children’s toys and donating the burnt out remains to a donkey sanctuary.

The script suggests that the Aquatank should be “completely submerged” after it rolls into the water. It isn’t, because that would be a little bit far-fetched, but it does get pretty moist while blowing up a building with an almighty bang. The effects department really delivers on the explosions front this week.

That’s it for the testing so the order is given for the Aquatank to be taken home to bed. I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling it’s not going to go quite that smoothly…

Time to panic as the Aquatank fails to be brought back under manual control. Jeremy Wilkin as Colonel Blair offers up a fascinating delivery of the line, “She’s heading straight for the cliff.” The emotion he’s conveying is a mixture of bewilderment and mild irritation. It’s the sort of reaction you might have to finding a fly in your soup.

Also in the dodgy line-reading department, we have Keith Alexander as Professor Graham saying, “The computer has conflicting instructions,” like he needs to make an urgent visit to the toilet.

Not too many live-action inserts this week because… well because the plot is borrowed from Captain Scarlet so there isn’t a lot of call for Stanley Unwin to walk gingerly up some stairs or chase a Morris Minor around the leafy lanes of Burnham Beeches. But Professor Graham has been ordered to break the main circuit by hand because it’s a lot more exciting than him flicking a breaker switch.

The live-action stunt hand gets out of shot sharpish while the fuse explodes.

Wow, when Blair said “she’s heading straight for the cliff” in that unaffected monotone, he really meant it. The Aquatank stops just shy of the edge and that is a pitch perfect moment to cut to the opening titles!

The title on Pat Dunlop’s original script for this episode was “You’re In The Army Now” as a reference to the 1917 American song by Isham Jones with lyrics by Tell Taylor & Ole Olsen… not the Status Quo banger that came later. Couple of thoughts from me on why the title might have been changed. The first is purely practical reasoning that “Recall To Service” is snappier and the words fit on the screen better. The second is that the original song is very American and doesn’t really fit the tone of The Secret Service all that well. Also, being recalled to service is a more accurate description for what actually happens to Father Unwin in the episode as we’ll see in a few moments.

Father Unwin sitting in the garden reading his bible. The Bishop sat at his desk in Whitehall briefing his agent. Just a regular Monday morning basically. In the bottom right of the frame, however, we can see that Matthew’s been doing an abysmal job keeping weeds away from the edges of Unwin’s lawn.

To the plot – we learn that the Aquatank is absolutely fine but the Bishop wants Father Unwin on the case to ensure there are no further accidents in the run-up to the NATO demonstration on Tuesday. And that’s about it really. Nothing particularly convoluted or out of the ordinary for Father Unwin to take care of this week. It’s almost as if this was a task which could have been undertaken by any other secret agent working for British Intelligence… they just happened to choose the one who sticks out like a sore thumb in every setting he’s placed in.

We come to the first bit of dialogue that’s in the original script but was deleted from the finished episode somewhere along the way. I’ll share it in full because there’s a bit to unpack:

41 INT. VICARAGE – DAY

Start close on MRS. APPLEBY

There is just detactable [sic] a note of vanity in UNWIN’s voice –

UNWIN: It’s a long time since I wore this stuff, Mrs. Appleby. Over twenty years.

PULL BACK to show UNWIN is wearing an Army Chaplain’s uniform except the tunic which is on a hanger held by MRS. APPLEBY.

CUT TO:

42 MS – MRS. APPLEBY

MRS. APPLEBY: I can see that, Father.

MRS. APPLEBY gives the tunic a shake. A cloud of dust flies out, followed, if not too difficult technically, by a large moth.

MRS APPLEBY: It certainly has been a long time.

CUT TO:

43 CS – UNWIN

UNWIN: Will you hold the tunic up for me, please Mrs. Appleby?

CUT TO:

44 MS – MRS. APPLEBY

She is now holding out the jacket with her two hands.

MRS. APPLEBY: There we are, Father.

We hear the door open.

CUT TO:

45 LS – DOORWAY

MATTHEW stands framed in the doorway.

MATTHEW: Well, I say don’t we look smart today.

The rest of the scene plays out as it does on-screen. Starting from the top of the deleted dialogue, we have Father Unwin clearly emphasising that he had previously served in the military around twenty years ago which suggests some sort of involvement in the Second World War. Although the finished scene does mention that he’s a reservist, the scripted scene would have given us much more of a glimpse into Father Unwin’s past. We know next to nothing about his history prior to the events of the series such as how long he’s been a priest or how long he’s been a secret agent. But now we know that he’s had prior military experience as an Army Chaplain in WWII. The role of an Army Chaplain since 1796 has been for an ordained minister to provide pastoral care, spiritual support and moral guidance to all British Army soldiers. Although they hold military ranks at multiple levels, chaplains are universally addressed as “Padre” regardless of rank. Father Unwin could have been posted to any part of the world with a British Army presence during the Second World War, and might even have undertaken special training such as parachuting depending on which regiment he was working with. All of this may have contributed to him being selected for serving BISHOP as an undercover agent later on.

The business with the dusty old uniform serving as a home to “technically difficult” large moths was likely cut because it was… well… technically difficult. The process of Father Unwin putting on the tunic would have required additional live-action inserts inside the vicarage because puppets can’t easily be shown getting dressed by themselves. Instead, the finished scene shows Unwin already in full uniform.

As per the script, Mrs Appleby has nothing positive to say about Matthew when she learns that he’ll be skiving off work for the rest of the day… even though it’s painfully obvious that he’ll be with Father Unwin the entire time so whatever he’s getting up to can’t be that bad. Seriously, what is your issue Mrs Appleby? 

In order to fill the time left as a result of earlier dialogue being removed, an unscripted moment is added to the final episode to show Father Unwin using the Minimiser. The sequence plays out as we’ve seen in previous episodes but with new live-action inserts of Stanley Unwin (or somebody else because we don’t actually see his face) operating the device while dressed in the military uniform. It’s been a few weeks since the Minimiser has made an appearance on-screen so it’s nice to have a reminder of how everything works.

Yes! It’s a new Gabriel launch sequence! Specially shot for this episode, we have the Model T leaving the vicarage with Stanley Unwin sitting inside dressed in military uniform. What a treat!

After that, new puppet shots of Unwin driving in uniform are mixed with every viable stock shot of the live-action Model T driving through the country lanes of Buckinghamshire while Matthew watches from the case. It’s a charming little montage, but it goes on a bit.

A little tank chugs along in the background as we head back to the World Army Experimental Vehicle Division. The script indicates that the sign is supposed to say: “MINISTRY OF DEFENCE. NO ADMITTANCE UNLESS AUTHORIZED.” It’s an American spelling of the word ‘authorised’, but the ‘Ministry of Defence’ definitely suggests British rather than World Army.

With one or two simple modifications, what we are essentially looking at here is the entrance to Port Trennick Desalination Plant from the episode A Question of Miracles. It’s possible that the ‘Ministry of Defence’ sign I just mentioned was added to this particular set rather than the previous one, but it’s too small to read for certain.

They’ve even got the same security guard that we saw at Port Trennick, or at least they’re portrayed by the same puppet. In the script, this character is called Welsh.

Captain Unwin, using the rank he presumably held during the Second World War, announces himself as the base’s new chaplain and all appears to be above board. Then the guard spots the case and is compelled to ask what’s inside. In the script, Pat Dunlop makes an attempt at writing in Unwinese but ultimately Stanley Unwin decides to improvise his way through as he usually does. Either way, it ends with Captain Unwin giving the order for the poor baffled lad to stand to attention and let him through the gate without the case being checked. Throughout this nonsense, Matthew looks neither impressed, nor disappointed with Unwin’s efforts.

At this point, the script says that we’re supposed to be looking at Gabriel parked outside the blockhouse. Instead, we have the front of the base again with two familiar trucks resting next to the fence. Both vehicles started out life as Crablogger support vehicles from the Thunderbirds episode Path of Destruction. More recently, the one at the front was seen as Spectrum’s top secret Yellow Fox Tanker in the Captain Scarlet episodes Winged Assassin and Dangerous Rendezvous. The one at the back nearest the camera was last seen in the Joe 90 episode Trial At Sea wearing the same livery it does now.

Frankly, everyone’s a bit confused as to why a new Padre has been stationed at the base, but Captain Unwin is still treated fairly politely. With all the subtlety of a stripper visiting a monastery, Unwin decides to reveal there and then that he knows about the Aquatank in order to put the Colonel, the Professor, and dodgy Mitchell on edge. Apparently the Prof has evidence to suggest the person responsible for the sabotage is someone in authority. Clearly he’s just trying to shift the plot along for us so that we can just single out Mitchell and have done with it. If they’ve narrowed the culprit down to someone at the base in the officers’ class, surely the solution is just to bring in all new personnel to run the operation while the others are being questioned. No, no, let’s send in a vicar to figure it out and play detective instead, that’s much more efficient.

Later that evening, Unwin and Matthew are sneaking around near the Aquatank’s garage. Unwin tries to hide behind a wall when the light from a patrol comes near. He vaguely turns away from us which I think is his version of hiding. Matthew is clearly ready for a taste of action, having presumably been shut up in the case for most of the day. The poor guy must get seasick being carried around in that thing for hours on end.

A closer look at the Aquatank’s garage. Nothing spectacular. It could be your average branch of Kwik Fit.

The Professor’s workshop on the other hand is rather interesting because the set was previously seen as Professor McClaine’s basement workshop in Joe 90, complete with some of the same equipment.

The sentry from earlier has swapped from being on the main gate to guarding the Aquatank. He’s full of the joys of spring when Unwin turns up to annoy him once again. Professor Graham for seemingly no reason at all, allows the chaplain to enter the lab despite the strict security. Maybe the Prof is in need of some pastoral care, or perhaps he wants to get the new Padre figured out.

Unwin pops the case on the floor… but not in a particularly subtle way, or in a way that actually conceals it from view. Come on Father Unwin, this is supposed to be the bit you’re good at. Casually dropping the suitcase out of sight is pretty much the only reason Matthew needs you on these missions in the first place.

Once again, Unwin has totally failed to come up with a decent pretext for going to see the Aquatank and instead just tells the Professor he’s “always interested in weapons of war,” which makes him sound like a bit of a dangerous freak. You could have been dropping off a fresh bible or dishing out blessings to the hard-working military scientists on the base who don’t have time to attend church, but no, just flat out admitting you’re harmlessly poking around to look at the Aquatank won’t raise any suspicions at all. Maybe that’s the point? Maybe Unwin is deliberately trying to put everyone on edge so that they panic and reveal their true intentions too early. Basically, he’s either a genius or a blundering fool.

Time for Matthew to do his thing. It’s a shame he doesn’t get his own military uniform. Wouldn’t it be fun to dress Matthew up like an Action Man doll? Oh it’d be just darling.

Because Unwin completely fouled up putting the case in a hidden location, Professor Graham spots it closing and starts to lose his cool. Oh, don’t worry, Stanley Unwin is on hand to offer up more gibberish that’s supposed to put the Prof at ease, but really just makes him all the more suspicious of the Padre.

With Matthew out of the case and making no effort to actually hide behind those paint cans, Father Unwin departs the scene. Sure enough, Professor Graham gets on the blower and immediately reports the Padre for being too nosey. I thought the two of them were going to be chums but apparently the Prof can’t stand him. Ah well.

Father Unwin pulls up on the battlefield next to the Aquatank’s control vehicle and checks in with Matthew who has concealed himself amongst the Aquatank’s electronics. In the script, this conversation takes place while Unwin is standing inside the control vehicle itself, rather than from the comfort of Gabriel. In some deleted dialogue, Unwin gets caught by Welsh the guard once again, and this time he isn’t standing for any nonsense and threatens to report the Padre to Colonel Blair after the demonstration tomorrow. This exchange was probably cut for timing reasons since it would have come just before the commercial break. It was also likely cut because it’s a bit bloomin’ silly for Unwin to have waltzed into the control vehicle and not have expected to be caught. Then there’s the fact that Welsh doesn’t plan to tell on Father Unwin until after the demonstration, leaving the Padre free to still do anything he likes before the demonstration, which really wouldn’t help the army out very much if they suspect him of being the saboteur.

Instead, we enter the commercial break on slightly sturdier ground, taking one last look at the Aquatank tucked up in bed before tomorrow’s all-important demonstration. Are you excited? I’m excited.

Bright and early the next morning, everyone’s getting ready for the demonstration. The militaristic music which opens this second act is more than a little bit Captain Scarlet-esque. We learn that Mitchell will be in charge of security while Colonel Blair is responsible for looking after the NATO Chiefs of Staff. So bad boy Mitchell is doing all the actual work while Blair is running around serving tea. That sounds sensible.

By pure coincidence, the Colonel gets a call from the Ministry of Defence telling him to let Captain Unwin do whatever the heck he likes wherever the heck he likes. This was probably supposed to be a callback to the deleted scene before the break which would have seen Unwin apprehended inside the control vehicle. As it is, what actually happens is that Blair remains utterly unbothered by the Padre, and Mitchell becomes even shiftier than he was already. He gets on the phone after Blair has left and talks to… someone… and lets them know that Unwin must be part of, wait for it, the Secret Service! BOOM BOOM!

This isn’t definite confirmation that Captain Mitchell is pure evil but he’s definitely up to something for sure. I wonder whether maybe we’re supposed to suspect either him or Professor Graham at this point. The deleted scene might have also put the sentry guard Sergeant Welsh in the lineup too. But it’s bloomin’ obvious that Mitchell is the baddie because he’s got a face like a wild, hungry possum foraging through a disposed packet of crisps.

The Aquatank sets off, clipping its antenna on the way out of the garage. Could they not have put together a hangar with a slightly taller ceiling? Matthew is clinging on for dear life yet again. The little guy can never find himself a comfortable seat during one of these hide-in-a-vehicle missions, can he?

And here they are, the crème de la crème of NATO. Basically, every military uniform you’ve ever seen in Captain Scarlet or Joe 90 is on display here to represent the various forces. According to the script there’s supposed to be the sound of “expectant babble among the assembled brass,” but they look more like a group of disinterested dads watching a school nativity play.

The Frenchest French General who ever Frenched is sat closest to Colonel Blair and wants to know if it’s time for the demonstration to start because he has a dentist appointment he needs to get to or something. Blair demands 15 minutes of patience. Plenty of time to pop out for a nap in the back of the car.

Parked on the rugged terrain of the testing ground, Captain Unwin is keeping an eye on things from the comfort of Gabriel. The script suggested that for this scene “the car is parked on one of the roads in the camp overlooking the testing ground.” The effects department obviously preferred to show Gabriel waiting at the heart of the action. Nowadays, because we view the Model T Ford as a veritable antique, we might think it unrealistic to see one traversing a battlefield. In actual fact, Ford built the car to be tremendously durable over rugged terrain. An early publicity stunt in 1911 saw a real Model T driving over Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain, across snow, rocks and steep slopes without issue. The lightweight car can be pushed out of any trouble it gets stuck in, but its simplicity also makes it incredibly uncomfortable to ride in on rough ground.

The Aquatank runs around the base like a puppy off its leash.

Matthew reports that there’s been no trouble and nobody venturing inside the Aquatank to poke around with a screwdriver. So that means little Matthew has been awake all night keeping watch yet again while Unwin probably had a nice snooze in his quarters. Maybe the reason Mrs Appleby thinks Matthew’s a lazy good-for-nothing is because she finds him fast asleep in the flower beds after every mission!

Time for a very dull lecture from Colonel Blair as he attempts to drum up enthusiasm for the Aquatank from his captivated audience.

They look immensely interested in everything they’re being told. Folding your arms is the internationally recognised body language to indicate you’re thoroughly engaged in what’s happening.

More clever set design here with the beams running across the ceiling and leaving gaps for puppet wires and lighting. It perfectly creates the atmosphere of a claustrophobic bunker, while remaining practical for the puppeteers above.

Having explained that the Aquatank is programmed to destroy a target building and receive a bombardment from conventional tanks, aircraft and land mines, Blair also reminds us that everyone watching from inside the blockhouse is perfectly safe… we’ve all heard that one before… literally, we have, it’s all in the plot of Point 783. Captain Mitchell gives the order for the demonstration to begin. He’s quietly haunting the back of the room from his little control console like a dodgy bloke standing around some school gates.

Professor Graham, sitting in his little truck with his big boy headset on, sets the Aquatank in motion.

Nope, your eyes are not deceiving you. That really, truly is stock footage of an Angel Interceptor from Captain Scarlet being used to stand in for the aircraft attacking the Aquatank. Now, in fairness to the effects department, the script doesn’t specify any shots at this point of aircraft coming in to attack, so these might have been included in post-production by the editor to supplement Colonel Blair’s earlier dialogue. The script simply says of the Aquatank, “It moves away across the training ground,” and then “The Aquatank is going through its paces – land mines explode around it without effect.” So it’s possible that the effects department weren’t instructed to film any aircraft shots so therefore didn’t provide any, and the editor just had to work with the most dynamic material they had available from the archive. Arguably, they could have found something a bit less recognisable than an Angel Interceptor but hey, what can ya do?

The various Generals sit in stunned silence watching the explosions on the telly. Without movement or expression, I really can’t tell whether they’re loving this or hating it. To be honest, that’s not really relevant to the story. The point is that they’re big important men with big important jobs that Captain Mitchell wants to murder, and I suppose that comes across just fine.

Recognise this tank? Yes it’s very similar to the one we saw getting blown up earlier, but it also happens to be footage lifted from the Joe 90 episode, Business Holiday. Again, I’m suspecting that because the script doesn’t ask for any more tanks, nobody filmed any more tanks so the editor resorted to archive footage. It doesn’t stick out quite so badly as the Angel Interceptor does though.

Ummm… hi. Did someone leave your face on the radiator for too long?

The French General runs headlong into the stereotype with a declaration of, “Magnifique!” to let us all know that he is indeed French and that, despite appearances, everyone is enjoying themselves as the big bangs continue. The Angel Interceptor continues its assault, still looking exactly like an Angel Interceptor.

With everyone utterly engrossed by the stock footage and the same shot of the ground exploding over and over again, Captain Mitchell decides that now is the opportunity to slip away quietly and get up to no good.

A shot of the Aquatank nearly getting blown up is paired with an even more spectacular shot of the tank from Business Holiday getting completely blown up. The script actually does specify that “The fire from a conventional tank has no effect,” so someone probably was supposed to film some new shots of a tank but maybe the budget didn’t quite stretch far enough. Unfortunately, this type of thing does happen quite a bit in The Secret Service for that budgetary reason. I’m mostly okay with the use of footage from earlier shows – it’s only because I’m a sad twerp that I even point these things out.

Blair spots that Captain Mitchell has gone missing. That French General is still enjoying himself, honest.

In fact, he’s so enthralled he doesn’t care where Mitchell’s gone and just encourages everyone to marvel at the TV screen and watch the Aquatank. I’m finding this chap difficult to read. I’m also wondering why the other Chiefs of Staff haven’t said a single word about anything yet.

Mitchell almost manages to get away with closing a door without getting caught but fails because it’s that ruddy Sergeant again. Does this base only have the one guard who’s just expected to be everywhere?!

Somehow, Captain Mitchell has been lit and filmed in such a way that he looks like even more of a demon-man than he did before. Furiously, he orders the guard to naff off and get back to work.

Well, that’s the Chiefs of Staff screwed then. If this is the control for sealing the electronic doors, why does the control say ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ as opposed to something more obvious like ‘LOCKED’ and ‘UNLOCKED’ or ‘OPEN’ and ‘CLOSED’. The script specifies that what Mitchell was supposed to sabotage was a fuse rather than a big lever, so that might explain the odd choice of labelling. The question is, now that the doors are sealed, how does Captain Mitchell plan to exit the building safely?

Just to remind us they’re still in this show, we check in briefly with Unwin and Matthew who have no idea that things are about to go south. In fact Unwin might as well be having a lovely picnic under that tree. Matthew just hopes the Chiefs of Staff are having a nice day out too. Well done boys, really got your fingers on the pulse today.

Right. I guess Mitchell got out of the blockhouse through sheer willpower. Logically, if he’s managed to find a way out which bypasses the sabotaged electronic doors, everyone else could do the same thing too.

Anyway, the Captain pulls his gun out so that all the slow audience members watching at home can hopefully clearly see that he’s the bad guy, just in case that wasn’t obvious from the start. He wants the Prof to change the Aquatank’s route so that it targets the blockhouse.

Professor Graham protests, but still the Aquatank turns around. I have to say, the more I see the Aquatank on-screen, the more I like it. It’s a vehicle with a strong presence and it’s being steered and filmed very effectively. Mitchell takes a moment to explain his evil scheme to Professor Graham. He’s going to go and hide in the redundant target building while the Aquatank ploughs on through the blockhouse and kills the NATO Chiefs of Staff. We don’t actually learn why he’s so keen on murdering everyone, but it’s probably a safe bet that he’s working for whichever foreign military force the British government has got a thing against this week.

We ever so briefly switch to the Captain Blue puppet’s blinker head for this shot of Professor Graham getting smacked about by Mitchell. Why Mitchell doesn’t just shoot him I don’t know… probably for the convenience of the plot… that darn plot.

Then, Mitchell fires his revolver into the computer to ensure nobody can reprogram the Aquatank. The puppet’s arm gets whipped out of shot very, very quickly because nobody was probably planning for the flames to get that big.

Destiny Angel is still very much trying to blow the bananas out of the Aquatank and failing.

Matthew can immediately sense that something’s up and explains to Unwin that the Aquatank has gone off course and somebody in the control truck must be responsible. I have questions. How does Matthew know the exact details of the Aquatank’s original program? How does he know that the Aquatank has gone off course when he can’t exactly see where he’s going from the bowels of the vehicle’s electronics? And how does Unwin not understand the very obvious implications of the Aquatank going off course when he’s presumably been briefed in the same way that Matthew has on the basic principles of the Aquatank’s function?  All this, once again, comes down to the convenience of the plot… that darn, darn, darn plot.

Unwin, feeling unusually keen to undertake a suicide mission, decides he’s going to drive Gabriel half a mile across the minefield, and the Aquatank’s path, in order to reach the control truck. At last we’re getting somewhere! Father Unwin has once again been quite passive through much of this episode but finally he’s getting to do something exciting.

Now things are really kicking off. Unwin’s driving for his life, Matthew’s getting a bumpy ride in the Aquatank, and the explosions are bigger than ever. Destiny Angel opens fire on Gabriel which is rather mean-spirited. Sweetly, the vicar reminds his beloved car that they’re both in the army now… which would have been a reference to the episode’s original You’re In The Army Now title had it not been changed. Around this point, the script actually does specify that a jet dives to the attack firing its rockets. So I guess the effects department just couldn’t or didn’t need to film a new shot of a jet diving, perhaps because the Angel Interceptor footage had already been earmarked for the job. Fortunately, the amazing shots of the Model T crossing the flaming battlefield more than make up for any shortcomings in the aerial footage.

Pat Dunlop has basically given up on describing the carnage at this stage. The script for this scene simply says: “Shots at Special Effects convenience demonstrating the Model T’s near miraculous progress through a succession of explosions.” I think that says it all really. The humble Model T coming up against enormous fireballs is a magnificent sight to behold. It’s the sort of thing the series should have been going for all along. It’s the contrast between the quaint old-world charm and the enormous spectacle of modern technology and warfare that The Secret Service should have been all about from the beginning because it’s unusual and interesting to watch. It means that Gabriel and Father Unwin get to be the heroes despite being out of date, and it means we get exciting action sequences that play well on-screen. Yes, it’s mad and a bit silly, but it’s much more enjoyable than Unwin watching Matthew from the sidelines, or venturing off into the land of ridiculous dreams as per Errand of Mercy. This is Father Unwin at the heart of some real, actual peril as he jolly well should be as the star of a Supermarionation show. 

Oh, also, I would have loved to have seen this sequence done with live-action instead of models. It probably wouldn’t have looked nearly as impressive, but something about beloved comedy actor Stanley Unwin driving an antique Model T across a muddy field in Buckinghamshire with explosions going off all around him tickles me immensely.

Meanwhile, the Colonel and the French General, who really does seem to be the only officer in that group capable of stringing two words together, have worked out that the doors are locked. Suddenly, all enthusiasm for the Aquatank demonstration has faded. Colonel Blair doesn’t seem to indicate any sort of emergency exit or secret hatch which Mitchell might have used to escape earlier. So either that’s a massive plot hole or Colonel Blair is an idiot.

The script says that this shot was supposed to depict Gabriel plastered with mud and roaring to a halt next to the control truck. Instead, we have Gabriel, lightly speckled with dirt, already parked some distance away from the truck. Not quite so dramatic.

Because Mitchell inexplicably decided against killing him earlier, Father Unwin finds Professor Graham regaining consciousness on the floor of the control truck. With the computer smashed and the blockhouse locked up (apart from whatever exit Mitchell used earlier) it seems there is no hope left for the NATO Chiefs of Staff. But Unwin somehow manages to convince the Prof to participate in some “hypothetical” chatter about how someone inside the Aquatank might be able to stop it…

I’d like to point out that the script doesn’t specify that this red protecting panel should have ‘Auxiliary Controls Unit’ clearly marked on the front of it… probably because if it did, Matthew might have thought about opening it earlier and operating said auxiliary controls.

The Aquatank really doesn’t want to give in to any of these explosions. It is a sturdy beast, that’s for sure.

Matthew struggles to get the panel off because his tiny little arms have all the strength that you might expect of a two-foot tall woodland imp.

Finally, he gets the cover off and it’s honestly something of a miracle that the floor puppeteer who must have been holding Matthew’s arms has managed to stay out of shot this entire time.

Some lovely tension now as Unwin tries to get the Prof to give further instructions without convincing him one way or the other that there’s a tiny man inside the Aquatank. The pressure really builds nicely because the chaotic frenzy of Matthew struggling to regain control is at odds with Professor Graham, in a state of some pain, slowly and defeatedly offering up instructions that he feels are utterly pointless. It’s a nice spin on what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill action sequence, albeit still an exciting one.

Desperately approaching the nick of time, Matthew manages to use all his impish strength to change the program just before the Aquatank opens fire on the blockhouse. Instead, the vehicle turns dramatically and blasts…

The target building. One last big bang for this tremendously explosive episode.

Father Unwin is very much milking this moment now by calling it a miracle and waving his hands around like it means something.

Not present in the original script, for some reason we get this gruesome shot of Captain Mitchell looking very dead in the remains of the target building. Lovely. I know I didn’t like the guy but I probably didn’t need to see that. It’s quite a grim note to end on.

Then, a sermon to finish the episode. We haven’t had one of these for a while although a few have previously been scripted and then cut out of the finished episodes. The message of the sermon today is “Poetic justice. They who live by the sword shall perish by the sword.” That’s probably why we got that last shot of Mitchell’s lifeless corpse. It’s tonally bizarre and not exactly a comfortable way to end. It’s intensely out of character for Father Unwin to say, “yes, that bad person got exactly what they deserved.” He would usually preach repentance and forgiveness as per episodes like The Feathered Spies. 

Curiously, the original script ends with a totally different sermon. Father Unwin is written as saying, “The theme for my sermon this morning, my dear Brethren, is a very simple one – “Seeing is believing”.” This seems much more gentle and whimsical, and references the final conversation with Professor Graham in the last scene. It’s simplistic, as Unwin says, but at least it’s a positive note to round up the episode and better fits Unwin’s character.

Aside from that dodgy ending, Recall To Service is considered by many to be the gold standard of episodes for The Secret Service, and I completely agree. The fun that’s had with the military theme makes this a memorable outing for Father Unwin. It builds on his character and once again doesn’t shy away from making him an unlikely hero doing brave and daring things in his trusty old car. Matthew also gets to save the day by reprogramming the Aquatank at the last moment, meaning we’ve finally reached a balance where both leading characters can have immense involvement in the climax of an episode. The partnership has become equal. They both risked their lives and they communicated perfectly to resolve the crisis. 

Of course, the special effects are the starring attraction for this episode. If you like your Supermarionation to contain lots of bangs and various heavy vehicles battling it out, Recall To Service checks all those boxes. But it isn’t just a boring fireworks show, because our characters are still the ones driving the action here. There’s a strong connection between moments such as Mitchell’s scheming and Matthew’s struggle to regain control, and the elaborate model sequences. Sure, there’s some stuff which probably only happens to keep the plot moving in the right direction but ultimately it’s the heroes and the villain of the piece who get us through this tightly plotted story. There’s no excess flab here. Only a few bits of extraneous dialogue are trimmed from the original script for practical reasons more than anything else. Otherwise it all plays out as written and it does so marvellously. A solid effort from all involved. More, please!