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The Investigator: TV Century 21, 1966
Bar Secret Agent 21, which was set in the 'past' of the 2040s, The Investigator was the first strip in TV Century 21 to be set in the 2060s without actually being based on a television series. The 2060s had already been mapped out quite extensively, and there was obvious mileage in the future history to add some more drama.
Previewed by a single full page in issue 73, we are given introductions to Universal Engineering Incorporated who, we are told, "is the biggest engineering organisation in the world, making everything from miniature atomic piles to half a million ton tankers.
 "Situated in Australia, with its head offices in Sydney, U.E.I. have been responsible for every major technological break-through for the past twenty years. Builders of Fireflash, the Wombat, the hover-tank, and co-builders of the World Space Patrol Fireball fleet and the WASP ocean going vessels, it is said that if U.E.I collapsed Earth's space empire would collapse too." High stakes, it would seem. And considering the spate of technological disasters already seen in Thunderbirds, who were there only to save lifes, someone else had to be behind the scenes to look into the other side of the story. This man is Bob Develin - The Investigator!
"Bob Develin was born in Sydney, Australia in 2022. His father, Professor James Develin, was chief technical officer at the Australian Spaceport research unit at the Woomera Spaceport. Educated at Geelong Grammar School, Bob won a scholarship to Cambridge where he gained degrees in Space engineering, computer mechanics and physics. After a further period at Harvard University, where he studied astro-physics, Develin took up the post of Head of Science research at Istanbul University. in 2047, he joined Universal Engineering Incorporated as Deputy Scientific Controller. His dynamic and ruthless application of a scientific approach to business soon made him a company director, and experimental overlord. He soon earned the title The Investigator and it is as U.E.I.'s trouble-shooter that Bob Develin has earned his reputation."
"The Investigator's main job is to iron out any problems that arise on any U.E.I products whether it is the crashing of a Fireflash liner to installing atomic power stations on Saturn." Such was the format of the series in a nutshell.
Aiding him was Marc Carter: The twenty eight year old scientific genius of the U.E.I has worked for Develin since he took over the overlord job. As a child prodigy, Carter was personally educated by the top professors of the World Academy at Unity City. A great future was expected for him in the scientific branch of the World Government but while investigating the Mediterreanean Tunnel disaster, Carter ment Develin, then Deputy Scientific Controller of U.E.I."
Also introduced in the preview is Inspector Talbot, who you would presume to be a third regular but he is actually only a cypher for getting Develin involved in the first story, and is replaced later but the similarly faceless Chief Inspector Gordon.
The Investigator strip guide
Story One
Writer: Unknown. Artist: Don Harley, 1 page b/w.
Part 1: TV Century 21 Issue 74, dateline 18 June 1966
Inspector Talbot of the Australian Security Police has called on Bob Develin, Technical Director of Universal Engineering Incorporated, and known as The Investigator, to enquire into the disappearance of 106 men from the U.E.I. experimental plant X9. Their car soon nears the plant...
Marc Carter calls ahead for there to be no delay at the gates but is told the plant is closed to visitors today. The guards are also under orders not to permit entry as a dangerous experiment is in progress, and the site will remain closed for four hours. As Develin calls from the gatehouse, Carter sees the experiment - great arcs of lightning flashing between structures. Develin believes it to be some form of energy control, but then Carter spots three frightened men fleeing the area before they are struck by the energy...
 Part 2: TV Century 21 Issue 75, dateline 25 June 1966
The energy dissolves the men, much to the horror of Develin, Carter and Talbot. Develin orders the guards to open the gares now - or find another job - and orders the driver Potter to through. Alarms blare out, and hovertanks move to intercept the Rolls. Potter tries to evade them but then a discharge of energy reveals a two-headed, multi-armed creature in its path, and the car careers off the road...
Part 3: TV Century 21 Issue 76, dateline 02 July 1966
The Rolls overturns, and the creature disappears as the men clamber out. Before any of them can act, they are stunned by fire from the hovertanks and taken away, as another strange energy flash dissolves the Rolls into thin air. Recovering consciousness in hospital, Develin and the others are confronted by Professor Jace. Develin demands Jace's resignation, but Jace believes the 109 missing men may still need his help...
 Part 4: TV Century 21 Issue 77, dateline 09 July 1966
Develin asks what happened to the 109 men but Jace does not know. He shows them an old man - but in reality he is only twenty-two years old, one of the 109 who disappeared when caught in lightning flashes from the dome. The purpose of the X9 station is to develop a natural powered electrical generator which converts static to current for commercial use. The man reappeared in a cubicle four months later during an experiment. But can Develin help get the other 108 back...
Part 5: TV Century 21 Issue 78, dateline 16 July 1966
Carter believes that extracting the natural electricity from the body made Smith old, and with a double magnetic coil they are able to reverse the process. But when Professor Jace asks him what happened, Smith has no recollection of the events. Develin decides the only way to find the truth is for he and Carter to enter the cubicle and go through the same experience themselves...
Part 6: TV Century 21 Issue 79, dateline 23 July 1966
In a flash of lightning, Develin and Carter are transported to a strange jungle, and have become old men. Searching, they find a fire and a group of missing men who have also become old like themselves. Their leader will not tolerate any more 'dreamers' - those who believe there is an escape - and when Develin speaks out that it is possible to return to X9, he is ordered to be killed...
 Part 7: TV Century 21 Issue 80, dateline 30 July 1966
Develin identifies himself as the Investigator, and tells the men he would not have risked his own life for nothing. The upturned Rolls which had disappeared is hefted back on its wheels as part of Develin's plan, and Carter reveals he does not believe they are on a strange planet but are actually still on X9, separated by an invisible dimension barrier...
Part 8: TV Century 21 Issue 81, dateline 06 August 1966
Develin gets the men to push the car back to the glade where they first arrived, which Carter believes is also the site of the X9 laboratory. Even though the car has also been drained of its electricity, the metal parts and dynamo, when charged manually, offer a means of escape. The first two men are successfully sent back, and the long job of sending them all continues. Develin and Carter are the last two to return, and Jace congratulates them, but thanks to the professor the Investigator has lost his expensive company car!
Notes:
• Develin's car is a Rolls Royce in a similar style to that of Lady Penelope's FAB 1 - glass-roofed, but with only four wheels.
Story Two
Writer: Unknown. Artist: Don Harley, 1 page b/w.
Part 1: TV Century 21 Issue 82, dateline 13 August 1966
At U.E.I. Head Offices in Sydney, Develin calls Gollan and asks him to give Professor Smith of the British Government Research Centre who is arriving today, and give him a tour. But when Smith arrives, an x-ray security camera gives an alarm as there is a humanoid robot in the hall. Gollan has no time to react before 'Smith' smashes throgh security bars and explodes, causing a fire which sets the whole ground floor ablaze...
Part 2: TV Century 21 Issue 83, dateline 20 August 1966
Carter urges Develin to get clear but first the Investigator needs to get a video recording of the incident. Flying clear by helicopter, they arrive at Develin's flat where the tape reveals Smith was a robot double which exploded. Develin and Carter fly from Sydney to England to investigate Smith's headquarters, and are met by two police drivers courtesy of Chief Inspector Gordon. But Carter's miniature X-Ray reveals they, too, are robots...
Part 3: TV Century 21 Issue 84, dateline 27 August 1966
Develin and Carter decide to play along so they can get to the bottom of the mystery. The drivers take them to Gordon, who is revealed to still be human, and who has known Smith and the driver Jackson for years. Gordon decides to them them personally to the research station, but Jackson is watching and relays information to 'Master-System'. The orders are to convert Gordon, and kill the others, and on Tower Bridge, Jackson veers into the path of their car and forces them off the road...
 Part 4: TV Century 21 Issue 85, dateline 03 September 1966
The stricken vehicle keels over and Carter and Develin are thrown clear. The police car stops and Gordon is confronted by Jackson, who carries him to the car and makes off. The robot double reports partial success to 'MasterSystem', as Develin and Carter are still alive. Discharging themselves from hospital later that day, Develin and Carter watch Smith's laboratory on an isolated area of Romney Marshes, and wait for dusk to fall before attempting to break in. But they are found by armed guards, who tell them MasterSystem has been expecting them...
Part 5: TV Century 21 Issue 86, dateline 10 September 1966
The guards are joined by a white-coated technician, who tells Develin and Carter that the scheme is a bid for world domination. The guards take them to a detention room, where hundreds of men sit like statues - the originals of those replaced by robots, including Smith, Chief Inspector Gordon and driver Jackson. The white-coat returns, and tells them they are to be converted. Their bodies will be stored here forever, but their personalities will live on... as robots...
Part 6: TV Century 21 Issue 87, dateline 17 September 1966
Develin and Carter are taken to the conversion room, where the replica will be created. In a brief lapse, Develin is able to throw the guard and white-coat off balance, and Carter stuns them with a fire extinguisher. But as they examine the sophisticated robots, another identical white-coat and guard appear in the door...
Part 7: TV Century 21 Issue 88, dateline 24 September 1966
The newcomers are the originals, who recovered when the robots were smashed. Carter realises if the other robots are destroyed then the other men will recover - but they are already spread around the world. MasterSystem is the key man so he must be found. Using a radio-wave detector, Develin traces the orders MasterSystem is giving to the other robots to a room in the complex...
Part 8: TV Century 21 Issue 89, dateline 01 October 1966
Develin kicks the door open, only to find the room empty bar a gigantic computer. Seeing a monitor carries a picture of the original bodies, Carter ponders if the computer is 'MasterSystem'? The white-coat confirms it, as he was one of the men working on an experiment to build a machine that could think for itself. MasterSystem itself addresses them - it built the robots, and planned the replacement of humans. Develin realises there is only one way to stop it, and that is to remove the programming cartridges. But MasterSystem has booby-trapped the switch... Develin is killed instantly by electricity, but the computer is stopped also. The scheme is over, and a distraught Carter is releved that 'the reign of the robots' is over.
'But one man died with them. Bob Develin, no-one here will ever forget you!'
Notes:
• There is a nice artistic touch to part 5 - we do not see the eyes of the guards or white-coat until the last frame, when they are revealed to be blank orbs. However, this highlights an apparent 'continuity error' in that Professor Smith in part 1 must have been the same - wouldn't Gollan have noticed?
• Considering Don Harley worked extensively on Dan Dare, one has to wonder if the reference to 'the reign of the robots' - the same title as a classic Dare story from 1957 - is deliberate.
The artist on the strip was Don Harley, making his TV Century 21 debut. Harley's clean cut style matched the dry scripts, in much the same way his later work on The Mark Of The Mysterons would. Bizarrely, a photo of Robert Vaughn, Napoleon Solo from the popular Man From UNCLE series, with glasses added was used to depict Bob Develin in the strip masthead. One can only ponder on why this should be, as Harley's own depiction of the character was markedly different.
No doubt written as the strip was in swing, Bob (using his full first name Robert) Develin also led readers on a tour of the U.E.I. in 'Investigation U.E.I.' in the TV Century 21 Summer Extra for 1966. This gave a more comprehensive view of the organisation, as well as its history, but became a largely redundant addition to the backdrop of 2066 when the strip came to a sudden end.
Unlike the high adventure of other strips, The Investigator was more thoughtful stuff so fell short of any real drama for its first story. One can see some Quatermass style inspirations in the form of a scientific investigator-come-troubleshooter but that series was character driven, and this is where the brevity of script lets it down as Develin and Carter do not have much scope there. Another fault was a kind of meandering between elements, as the plot seemed to lurch out of control. There's a nice element of mystery in the opening instalments but it peters out in an unsatisfactory and slightly fanciful way, and we never find out what the mysterious 'creature' is.
 Some of these issues are resolved for the second story, which has a tighter (and again Quatermass-style) feel to some scenes, such as Develin and Carter observing the laboratory on Romney Marshes (Winnerden Flats, anyone?) until captured by armed guards. The main plot thread betrays one of the great ironies of TV Century 21, and that is similarity of format. The idea of computer controlled robot duplicates is almost identical to the format of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons - one explodes in the first part (a la Captain Brown) and they are detectable by x-rays! As the pilot script of the television series was also completed in the summer of 1966, a chicken and egg speculation exists here. Did one inadvertantly influence the other, or is it just a coincedence? We may never know for certain, but whatever the truth the death of Develin in the final part signalled the death of The Investigator as a strip too. But a similar threat called 'The Titans', humanoid robots who could assume the forms of others, would re-emerge in Secret Agent 21 in the latter days of TV21 towards the end of 1968.
Some plots never die. They just get... replicated.
Version 1.1 - 01.05.05
Any comments or notes about any of the strips, please contact technodelic@blueyonder.co.uk.
All text © The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History, and its respective writers, and may not be reproduced without permission.
All images © their respective copyright holders
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