The Secret Service - Plot

Plot

The Secret Service follows the adventures of Father Stanley Unwin, the parish priest of a rural English village. Affecting the appearance of an eccentric middle-aged cleric, Unwin moonlights as a secret agent for BISHOP, a top-secret arm of British Intelligence (in full, British Intelligence Service Headquarters, Operation Priest) based in Whitehall. Answering to his superior, codenamed "The Bishop", Unwin resides at his vicarage with Matthew Harding – another agent who, when not assisting the Father on his missions, adopts the manner of a simple gardener. Supporting characters include Blake, a junior BISHOP operative, and Mrs Appleby, Unwin's ageing housekeeper, who is unaware of Unwin and Harding's involvement with British Intelligence.

Prior to the events depicted in The Secret Service, pioneering scientist Professor Humbolt perfected the Minimiser, a device capable of shrinking people or objects to one third of their original size. Following Humbolt's death, it passed into the possession of Father Unwin, who conceals his deceased parishioner's parting gift inside a large Bible. The regular target of the Minimiser is Harding, whom Unwin reduces to a height of two feet (0.6 m) so that he can infiltrate situations to which no full-size person could gain discreet access. In this manner, the puppet interacts with life-size sets and live actors whose faces are excluded from the shot. The Minimiser is also used to shrink enemy agents, bringing them down to Harding's size.

When miniaturised, Harding is transported in Unwin's adapted briefcase, which is fitted with equipment such as a periscope, stores other gadgets as required, and can open from the inside. Unwin's hearing aid is in fact a transmitter that allows covert communication with Harding, who wears a corresponding unit. The Father's preferred means of transport is Gabriel, a repainted and revamped 1917-issue Ford Model T that can travel at speeds in excess of 50 mph (80 km/h). If enemies, police or other authorities challenge Unwin, the Father spouts a form of nonsensical gobbledegook as a smokescreen to confuse the opposition and cover for Matthew.

The Secret Service represents a departure from most earlier Supermarionation television series on account of its contemporary setting: the time depicted is the late 1960s. Supercar, produced from 1960, is set between 1960 and 1962. The events of the episodes "Errand of Mercy" and "The Deadly Whisper" are set on 3 February and 24 May 1969, respectively. However, Gerry Anderson biographers Archer and Hearn argue that the setting is ambiguous: while it is first suggested to be "sometime in the near future", it is also remarked of the set-up that "Morris Minors negotiate leafy country roads while space-age helijets patrol the skies." It is concluded that the production is so fantastic that it "isn't set in the real world at all."