|
"The Cham-Cham" is the 25th episode of ''Thunderbirds'', a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The penultimate instalment of series one, it first aired on 24 March 1966 on ATV Midlands. Alan Pattillo both wrote and directed the episode, which opens with a United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft being shot down during the radio transmission of a popular instrumental music track. International Rescue suspects sabotage, and Lady Penelope, Tin-Tin and Parker are dispatched to investigate the band's current tour venue — a hotel in the Swiss Alps. There, it is discovered that the attacks are being co-ordinated with the aid of a "Cham-Cham", an advanced computer sensitive to microtones and ultrasonic harmonics. Filmed in late 1965, "The Cham-Cham" inspired innovation in AP Films' use of puppet characters; towards the end of the episode, the Penelope character performs a carefully choreographed cabaret dance, despite of the difficulties inherent in producing movement from the marionettes.〔〔 Additionally, the episode marks the first occasion in any Supermarionation series that characters are seen skiing.〔 Scripted to incorporate themes of espionage and show business, the filming of "The Cham-Cham" entailed the collaboration of singer Ken Barrie, who wrote the lyrics to series composer Barry Gray's Latin rhythm "Dangerous Game".〔〔 The episode has attracted positive critical reception, with the production design and the soundtrack singled out for particular praise. Sylvia Anderson values "The Cham-Cham" for its "charm", as well as its visualisation of the Paradise Peaks resort, but considers the plot "far-fetched"; Stephen La Rivière compliments the episode for its technical accomplishments, in addition to its writing.〔〔 Cultural historian Nicholas J. Cull comments on the undertones of some of the episode's characterisations in the context of the Cold War.〔 "The Cham-Cham" was adapted for audio in the 1960s.〔 ==Plot== A succession of RTL2 cargo aircraft running missile shipments have been shot down by enemy fighters shortly after take-off from Matthews Field USAF Base. On Tracy Island, Alan (voiced by Matt Zimmerman) points out that all the attacks have coincided with a live performance of "Dangerous Game" from the hit band Cass Carnaby Five, broadcast on Radio Maxwell; with Brains (David Graham), he examines a recording of the latest transmission to determine whether the tune contains a hidden code inserted to disrupt the RTL2 flights. Meanwhile, Jeff (Peter Dyneley) dispatches Tin-Tin (Christine Finn) and Lady Penelope (Sylvia Anderson) — the latter posing as a singer, "Wanda Lamour" — undercover to Paradise Peaks, a deluxe Swiss Alps hotel that is currently playing host to Carnaby and his group. Parker (Graham) secures a job at the bar. Carnaby's manager is the mysterious Mr Olsen, who regularly makes last-minute changes to the arrangement of "Dangerous Game" before the band perform on-air. Ski-ing down the mountain to Olsen's private lodge, Penelope and Tin-Tin film him working at an unidentified computer, which is decrypting musical notation into a typed message revealing the date and time of the next RTL2 flight. Realising that he has had uninvited guests, Olsen contacts his associate — Banino, a waiter — with orders to dispose of the International Rescue agents. Parker overhears the telephone conversation and thwarts Banino's attempt to assassinate Penelope and Tin-Tin using a sniper rifle, tumbling down the mountainside with his adversary (and forming a giant snowball in the process) until Banino is knocked unconscious. On Tracy Island, Brains identifies the device in Penelope and Tin-Tin's film as an ultrasonically-sensitive supercomputer known as a "Cham-Cham". Jeff contacts Washington, D.C. to report IR's findings, but the Matthews Field Commander refuses to postpone the upcoming missile run. That evening, the Cass Carnaby Five start to perform Olsen's latest arrangement of "Dangerous Game". It seems that the next flight of the RTL2 is doomed until Penelope, in the guise of Wanda Lamour, steps out onto the stage to sing a lyrical version of Brains' own composition. Accepting without question the new coordinates encoded in Radio Maxwell's transmission, the airbase that launched the previous attacks misdirects its own fighters, which quickly find themselves in the airspace above Matthews Field. Landing at the scene in ''Thunderbird 1'', Scott (Shane Rimmer) alerts the Commander and USAF interceptors are scrambled to shoot down the enemy. Fearing Olsen's next move, Jeff dispatches Virgil (David Holliday) and Alan to fly Tin-Tin, Penelope and Parker back from the Alps in ''Thunderbird 2''. The IR agents depart from Paradise Peaks in the hotel's cable car, only to find themselves speeding uncontrollably down the mountainside when Olsen sabotages the terminus. With ''Thunderbird 2'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Cham-Cham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|