The Mighty Atom

Boredom Tours Presents...: Doesn't that tour guide sound bored out of his brain? It could be just a slight miscalculation on an Australian accent, but with so many Australians in the cast anyway, I can't believe they didn't cast an actual Australian in the role...

Here we go again... Okay, so the pumping station thing isn't any more dangerous than all the other atomic power stations in use all over the world. Chernobyl! Excuse me, just clearing my throat... Surely by now, they've realised atomic power isn't actually all that good... They've got all this technology, how about some wind farms, or hydroelectric plants?

Beef up the Grief: "If there was an accident here, the radioactivity would spread right across Australia."
"Well, there's no chance of that, is there."
Oh, you are so dead, little dudes...

This Week, I Are Be Mostly Wearing... So, the Hood's disguised as the Hood? A plan along the 'last thing they'll be expecting' lines, I think.

Stop, You Dirty Rotter!: The guy with the whistle. What was he really hoping to achieve? Personally, when armed with nothing but a whistle, and confronted by a man with a gun, I'd run away very fast and call for backup.

Design Flaws: So, the entire plant can be destroyed with the strategic use of one bullet. I'd put some safety glass in...

Don't Panic: The announcer woman's gotta be feeling a little stupid. She's telling everyone there's no cause for alarm, while big bits of the plant are exploding and there's huge clouds of thick black smoke...

Huh?: Why will cutting off the sea water intake help? And shouldn't you have valves and stuff for that, anyway? As I understand it, they need to shut down the reactor. The sea water's only the stuff that's being moved by the power provided by the reactor. Removing the water won't stop the pumps, and even if it did, the reactor would still be reacting. Of course, if we did have an explanation, it wouldn't necessarily make any more sense...

Rescue Aircraft: TX-204s! Yey! And, chronologically speaking, this is their first appearance. Which (scarily enough) kinda makes sense, if you think about it. Here, they're being used as rescue aircraft, which might have been their original purpose, or they might have just been the nearest planes to hand. But then, when we next see them, in Trapped in the Sky, they've been relegated to towing targets for the US airforce, having been replaced with more up-to-date models.

Boom!: The plant being destroyed is really pretty. I especially like that explosion where the plane's flying overhead, and you get debris flung everywhere. The stock footage of the final explosion isn't quite as impressive.

Ulla: The music for the radioactive cloud reminds me of the music for the Red Weed in the musical version of the War of the Worlds.

Rupert Murdoch, Jr.: "We've been asked to play it down..." Like hell they would have done.

The Tolling Of The Bell: I didn't know you got tumbleweed in Australia.

Fash Pash, Sweety: The Hood's costume's improved no end. You've got the big sword, the gold suit, the shoulder pads... All villians should dress like transvestite Romulans.

A Question of Timing: The first twenty minutes of this episode are taken up by a flashback. Bit much?

Pretty: TBs 3 and 5 docking. Always cool.

Stock Motion: They're using stock footage for Tracy Island again. You don't have to, it's pretty all by itself. Really.

Run!: Oh christ, it's Grandma. And she's doing the standard old people jokes (shudder).

The Peasants Aren't Revolting: Parker and Kyrano are arguing over who gets to wait on the upper-class white people. Hands up who needs to get some fucking self-respect...

No Comprende...: "Never been to a stately home. 'Bout the only thing I haven't." Exactly what is the old freak insinuating?

Awww!: Isn't the Mighty Atom just the cutest little thing? They should so market them as toys.

This Week I Are Be Mostly Wearing... 2: Now the Hood's disguised as a man with a moustache and glasses. Is this an actual false identity he set up? Or did he just show up and go 'I'm a a scientist, let me in?' It would have been cool if he'd have had a load of reusable identities.

Professor Dangly?: Oh, Langly.

The Science Bit. Concentrate. So, the Mighty Atom's programmed to photograph the profile of a human face. That would mean it'd rarely get any shots of the actual dials and controls, as people tend to look directly at them. It should have been programmed to recognise the general shape of a dial. Also, what is it with these espionage guys and taking pictures of dials and controls? I still don't see how that helps, when you'd probably need to be able to recreate the entire device to get any practical use out of it.

Mr Frieze: Why couldn't they use stills for the 'photographs'? It looks damn ridiculous.

Theme Song: The MA theme is annoying. And it also seems completely inappropriate when they play it in the Hood's palace.

Awww! 2: The Hood called the MA his friend! Sweet!

Take Her Down: Lady P wants to go on a rescue, does she? Yes, please take her on a rescue. A very dangerous one, with lots of shooting and wild dogs and evil robots.

Revisionism: So the second plant's in Africa, is it? Then why are all the personnel white?

Improvement - Or Not: You'd have thought that, owing to the first one going belly-up in an immensely spectacular and dangerous way, they'd have made sure that the exact same thing would be quite unlikely to happen at the new plant.

Dude! Gordon got some lines! And they almost entirely consisted of taking the piss out of Lady P. Good episode...

The Interpreter: How the hell did the little control guy figure that the plant had been sabotaged by watching a needle go backwards and forwards quite fast?

Cruelty to Dumb Animals: Jeff, let Lady P go on the rescue. You can use her to block the sea water intake.

Pretty 2: Full launch sequence for TB1, and most of TB2's.

Clothing Issues: Why has Virg got changed, but Gordon hasn't? Slacker.

"Whoever did this to us is probably still around...": Why? So they can get exploded or poisoned by the fallout? It's more likely they've legged it like there's no tomorrow, to be honest. You stupid little puppet man.

But...: Surely there must be some problems with TB2 flying without the pod?

Dude! 2: TB4 got to do something useful!

"The reactor's running away...!": Nah, it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel...

Rod Technique: Not that I object to Scott and Virg trying to shut down the reactor using the rods, but shouldn't they have a qualified nuclear technician around to tell them what they're supposed to be doing? (Now have vision of Homer Simpson in an IR uniform...)

Pretty 3: I like the metal surrounds for the rods. The reflection as it goes in is really cool.

Work!: The situation in City of Fire is reversed... Virg is doing all the work, and Scott is standing around doing bugger-all.

Impatience: I like Gordon fidgiting around while he's waiting for the others to get on with it. Which would have been a lot quicker if Scott had actually helped...

Pretty 4: I really really love the explosion when the sea intake is blown up. This is one of my favorite explosions in the whole series, mostly for that little twisty bit of flame in the middle, but underwater explosions in general are always cool.

Deep Sigh: It's the mouse bit. Oh the hilarity. Excuse me while I pick my head up off the keyboard because it just fell off, I was laughing so hard. See the Lady Penelope rant for more sarcasm.

Revenge: Virg, don't just laugh at her, do a Bond and put her on the ejector seat. She can swim home.

No! Don't Hurt The Mouse...: The Hood squished the Mighty Atom. Awww... Maybe this is why he doesn't have any minions, if he feels the need to crush something to death every time he fails a mission.