Colonel White facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Colonel White |
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The 1960s puppet character
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| First appearance | "The Mysterons" (29 September 1967) |
| Created by | Gerry and Sylvia Anderson |
| Designed by | Tim Cooksey (Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons) |
| Voiced by | Donald Gray (Captain Scarlet) Mike Hayley (New Captain Scarlet) |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Robert Snow (Captain Scarlet) |
| Occupation | Commander-in-chief of Spectrum |
| Spouse(s) | Diana (New Captain Scarlet) |
| Children | Victoria (New Captain Scarlet) |
| Nationality | British |
Colonel White is a character in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its 2005 CGI remake, Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet. In both series, he is the commander-in-chief of Spectrum, the security organisation dedicated to defending Earth against the Mysterons, a race of Martians. He is also the commander of Spectrum's airborne headquarters, Cloudbase.
Conception
In a 2001 interview, series creator Gerry Anderson said that his choice of name for the character was a logical extension of the colour-based codenames given to the rest of the puppet cast: "All the colours together add up to white, so their boss would be Colonel White."
The original script for Captain Scarlet's first episode, written by Anderson and his wife Sylvia, described the character's appearance as "an odd mixture of youth and middle age". The face of the puppet character was modelled on its voice actor, Donald Gray.
Depiction
Captain Scarlet
In the original series, White spends much of his time at his circular desk in the Cloudbase control room. The only episodes in which he is seen to leave the base are "White as Snow", "Spectrum Strikes Back", "Special Assignment" and "Flight to Atlantica". His assistant is Lieutenant Green. Thoroughly dedicated to his work, White expects high levels of discipline from his agents but has complete faith in their abilities.
Very little of White's identity or background is revealed. In the episode "White as Snow" he goes undercover and uses the alias Robert Snow, this being the only time in the series that he refers to himself by any name other than his Spectrum codename.
New Captain Scarlet
In the 2005 remake, White is a former Royal Marine and SIS agent. He was recruited to the SIS from the Marines and reached the position of director. He subsequently moved on to the UN Security Development Committee, which in turn created Spectrum.
In contrast with his depiction in the original series, he is frequently seen on the move around Skybase (the re-imagined Cloudbase) and elsewhere. His interests include chess, fishing and fencing. He is married to Diana, with whom he has a daughter, Victoria. He has a residence on an estate in Gloucestershire, England.
