The Doombolt Chase
 
 


This children's serial made by HTV in 1977 for the following year's transmission was unusual in its setting and for the level of co-operation gained from the Armed Forces.

  Synopsis

Episode 1 - Court of Shame

At night, a Royal Navy frigate, HMS Crescendo, patrols the waters off the shores of Britain. On the bridge while talking to his second, the jocular Cmdr. Wheeler receives word from Radio Operator Knox that a signal has been received marked 'Spencecode'. It came on an Admiralty wavelength, but is not a recognised code. Wheeler seems to know what it means and tells them not to log it before going to the chart room alone to decipher it. While he is away, the radar operator detects a small boat ahead. Wheeler deciphers the code and seems troubled but resolute. He returns to the bridge and orders first one, then a second course correction taking them very close to the boat. His Number One, Lt. Cmdr Maddox tries to get him to alter course, but his suggestions are coldly brushed aside. The radar operator warns the bridge they are closing on the boat and are almost on it; indeed, one of the cadets topside sees the small boat dead ahead. Despite his second's protestations, Wheeler orders a final change of course and the frigate smashes right through the other vessel. As Maddox rounds on him for not even looking for survivors, Wheeler tells him to make for Bristol and leaves the bridge without further explanation, leaving his officers convinced he has cracked.

Later, at the naval base, Captain Hatfield is furious; Wheeler has told the authorities it was an accident and has offered no other defence. There will have to be an enquiry, but first there will be a court martial; they have no choice since the papers have got hold of the story. Cmdr. Geoff Vallance offers to defend Wheeler, though if he won't open up to him it'll be a thankless task. There seems to be no motivation behind Wheeler's actions; he has no family problems, even though his wife is dead and he is the lone parent of a teenage son, Richard.

Richard and his friend Lucy are just returning to port in nearby Bridmouth aboard the Wheeler's small yacht, the Rosie Leigh, where they are met by the cadet who was topside when the incident happened. Pete Larabey tells them what happened and confesses that from what he knows of Richard's father as a commanding officer, it was unlike him to act as he did.

Vallance is having no luck getting Wheeler to co-operate; he sticks to his story that it was an accident, although he does tell him the small boat was unmanned but refuses to give Vallance proof of how he knew. He asks Vallance to get Richard away from Bridmouth; any feeling in the town against him could fall on Richard and the boy is put in the care of CPO Parker. In the meantime, the court martial begins and the evidence goes against Wheeler, even though Vallance reminds them that no lost boat has been reported, no sailors or owners reported missing and indeed it seems to be a phantom. Hatfield reminds the court that whether this is true or not, the deed was still committed and they must decide on the evidence. Parker tells Richard that after the adjournment if the ceremonial sword on the board of enquiry's table has the hilt facing Wheeler, he will be acquitted. Otherwise... When they return, the blade faces his father; he has been found guilty, to be sentenced in due course.

Wheeler's fears for Richard ring true; the housekeeper, Mrs Edgar, in Bridmouth cautions him she believes the court martial has it right, and people in the village believe so too. Pete arrives and tells Richard that Vallance has come to see him. The officer wants him to come and see Wheeler, to see if he can get him to open up at all. However, his father won't tell him anything at all, just that he wants him away from Bridmouth. Richard won't go unless he has to and doesn't understand; he knows his father and is sure that it's not an accident as he claims. Later, he talks over the visit with Pete, who tells him that nothing about the radio message received prior to the 'accident' came out. When he mentions 'Spence Code', Richard realises it refers to a joke code that his father and a former Navy officer, Hugh Spencer, made up. When they used to go and see Spencer, it was at the pub The Gloucester Bargeman in Braxtead - maybe he knows what is going on, as he probably sent the message?

Petty Officer Parker arrives at the cottage; he has orders to put Richard on a train to Edinburgh, to family of his father where he'll be out of harm's way. It looks like they won't be going after Spencer until Lucy creates a diversion allowing them to get out of the house and down to the harbour to cast off the Rosie Leigh. Lucy joins them as quick as she can and they set sail out of harbour. Parker doesn't give up though, racing down to the harbour and takes out a small Navy speedboat to give chase...

Episode 2 - Escape To Danger

Pete and Richard's seamanship rounding rocks pays off and they come off unscathed while Parker's propeller is sheered off. Grounding on the rocks, he scales them and Vallance confirms the vessel was a floating unmanned hulk and resolves to reopen the case. However, Wheeler still insists it was an accident and based on what Vallance gives him, Hatfield won't warrant reconvening the court. He is mad with Parker for loosing sight of the Rosie Leigh as the light went, but Parker thinks he knows where they could be going.

Richard notices that to get to Braxtead they'd have to go round the Navy's off-limits testing area, but Pete says it'll take too long; they'll be careful and go through it instead. They come upon a buoy rigged with a photo-electric cell to detect shipping and Pete rows across in a dinghy to disable it while Richard and Lucy sail through. They fend off mines with boathooks and come upon a deserted boat, moored to a buoy with a strange array of aerials and equipment aboard her.

Vallance tells Wheeler that Richard has run away with Lucy and Pete, but Wheeler isn't worried; Pete knows the waters of the Bristol Channel better than anyone he knows. Even so, when pressed if he knows where they could be going or to who, Wheeler still refuses to give Vallance anything.

After looking around the unmanned boat, Pete decides it must be like the one Richard's father rammed; the aerials are what made it seem familiar. All of a sudden the equipment inside the wheel house comes to life and it sets off on its own, forcing them to jump for it and swim back to Lucy and the Rosie Leigh. They continue on their way and finally reach Braxtead. At the Gloucester Bargeman, they get directions to Spencer's place, on top of Farthing Hill. Arriving at the old farm buildings, they find the door to the converted barn unlocked and go in. Climbing the ladder into the loft, they find Spencer's comfortable cabin and a powerful transmitter which Pete thinks was used to send the message. The phone rings and they notice other things; a record has just finished playing, there's the remains of a recent meal and on the wall by an over-toppled table are blood traces. They search round and find a copy of the Navy List, a book of former and current Naval officers that forms the basis of 'Spence Code'. While Richard and Pete copy down the message written in it -

"BANDITS ACTIVATING DOOMBOLT 4AM. IMPERATIVE DESTRUCT SONAR. SAVE BACON."

Pete is unsure of the value of the message, or what it's referring to, until Lucy discovers in Spencer's fridge a map overlay on greaseproof paper, wrapped round the bacon! They are about to check on Spencer's maps when Parker sticks his head through the trap door; his hunch was right.

Episode 3 - Death Beacon

Richard grabs the overlay and Spencer's maps while Pete throws a shelf of books over Parker. They leap out of the window onto the top of Parker's Land Rover and run for it as he and two ratings give chase. They agree to meet at a farm over the hill and split off to shake off their pursuers.

Hatfield tells Wheeler that Richard and his friends are safe, but have yet to be caught and brought back. He also tells him that 'it'll break soon', indicating that the officer may know more about the situation than he has let on before.

Richard shakes off the ratings that he diverted away from Lucy and gets to the farm where she is hiding in the hay barn. While they wait for Pete to arrive, they look over the map overlay along with Spencer's maps and find a place underlined - Scudmoor, which seems to be a manor house fairly close to the farm. When an exhausted Pete arrives they tell him what they've worked out and decide to go there to look for Spencer.

At Spencer's house, Hatfield is irritated at Parker's report that the kids had some papers; things are getting away from them. As he looks over an old photograph of Spencer, the man himself is being carried unconscious into Scudmoor.

The kids thumb a lift from a passing tractor driver. Lucy spins him a story of running away from her wicked step-father to go and live with her uncle at Scudmoor and the driver, Mr Garble, is alarmed; no one goes anywhere near the place nowadays. There are alarms, dogs and fences all around the place, but as a poacher he knows a way in and agrees to show them how to get in.

Vallance has another go at Wheeler, but he has his mind firmly on Richard. Vallance is surprised when Wheeler tells him he was visited by Hatfield, but agrees that both of them are still waiting for a statement of truth from Wheeler.

Garble and the kids get inside the compound under the fence and are about to take a closer look when an alarm goes off. Getting undercover they watch as a small group of people enter a hut across a clearing in front of them and emerge wearing protective clothing and helmets. Garble tells them he's seen them before and the clothing is protection against 'the noise'. He refuses to stay with them when Richard suggests taking clothing as a disguise and goes back. As they enter the hut and start to disguise themselves, a strange noise can be heard and it is only when they don the helmets that they are able to hear properly again; Richard thinks it must be some sort of ultrasonic. They go to take a look at what is happening outside and on the lawn in front of the main house see everyone gathered close to two parabolic dishes that are glowing. One of the people brings down his arm, the sound increases in intensity and at the other end of the lawn two stone statues explode, destroyed by the sound.

When the machinery is shut down, the leader, Dr. Franz Bayard, removes his helmet and tells an interested foreign buyer that his system, Doombolt, is three times more powerful than the Navy's own, which doesn't currently work. He unveils a model showing a stretch of coastline with the beacons shown on Spencer's map overlay and tells him how it is controlled. He also explains how the remote-controlled vessel of the Navy's is used to activate the missiles they have on the seabed, waiting to be guided unerringly to their targets. However, the vessel sunk by the Crescendo was the Navy's; the one currently moored there and the one that was found by Pete, Lucy and Richard, is under his control. All is ready for a test firing using Fiddick Brae as a target. When Bayard and his customer leave for the house, Pete, Lucy and Richard decide to get away and tell what they know to the authorities, but the way they came in is guarded by one of the dog handlers. Instead they steal a Land Rover from right under Bayard's nose and drive out at top speed, crashing through the drive gates with Bayard's people in pursuit...

Episode 4 - Alarm At Gareth's Peak

Escaping pursuit, at least for the moment, Pete, Lucy and Richard ditch the Land Rover and carry on on foot, eventually thumbing a lift to get back to Bristol. Arriving at the base they try to see Vallance, but are told he is out.

Hatfield finally reveals the extent of his own involvement in this; he has been working on the Navy's version of Doombolt and shows to Admiral Lupin film of their last, unsuccessful, test firing. He tells the Admiral that he's worried about the independent opposition - the Bandits - which Spencer, as an undercover man, was working to infiltrate and report back. He contacted Wheeler and got him to ram and destroy the boat that was the Navy's own control vessel because their operational frequency had been discovered; the Bandits could have launched the Navy's missiles against them! Now Hatfield is certain, acting on Spencer's last report, that they have a control vessel of their own which is hidden, and although they have sent down divers to deactivate the Navy missiles so they can't be used against them, the divers reported back that two missiles had been tampered with and removed, to be used by the Bandits against unknown targets. The arrest and court martial of Wheeler must continue until the Doombolt situation is under control and Bayard and his system is stopped, or better still, under their control.

Bayard and his team move out from Scudmoor, taking the equipment and Spencer with them. As the pass over the Severn Bridge on their way to their target, Vallance arrives back at the base and Richard tells him briefly about what they discovered. Vallance decides to take them to see the flag officer, but he is not on the base at the minute, being at his cottage in the Brecon Beacons, and they all set off together. On the way they tell Vallance everything they found out, but Vallance accidentally reveals that he already knew about Scudmoor and not sure whether they can trust him and realising the significance of the point on the overlay marked in the Brecons they overpower him. The Land Rover crashes into a wall and taking the keys they run off. Vallance comes to and gives chase on foot, but comes upon Bayard's convoy of vehicles first and flags them down, leaving the kids to escape.

The unconscious Garble, knocked out while escaping by the Doombolt noise, is picked up by a police car and when he recovers tells the officer what happened. This is passed to Hatfield and Lupin orders Parker and a battalion of Marines to make an assault on Scudmoor, to secure what is there, hopefully the pirate Doombolt beam. However, although part of an acoustic protection suit is found, there is nothing else.

Wheeler is not happy when word comes through about this as well as the sentry's report about Vallance driving off with the kids, especially when it's confirmed to him by Hatfield and Lupin that he was a suspect as Bayard's mole in the Navy. He demands transport to go after them, as at least there is a fix on the radiophone in Valance's discarded Land Rover, and sets off in pursuit of his son and his friends.

They arrive at a farm that hires out ponies for trekking, and they 'borrow' three of the ponies as no one is at home. They leave money for the hire and a note and message for the owner to contact the Navy, and set off on their own.

Bayard and his people start to set up the equipment ready for their demonstration; a ransom note for £5 million has been handed in at the base. Lupin is angry; how can that sort of money be raised within the specified time limit? Hatfield is not certain Bayard expects it to be, as he's probably already had another offer from a competing power.

Leaving Bayard to finish setting up the equipment, Vallance takes some men back after the kids and spots them on their horses. Richard has trouble controlling his mount and falls. While he is unhurt he falls into a bog and starts sinking. Pete starts pulling him out as Lucy spots Vallance and his men coming after them. She takes her mount into the middle of a group of wild horses and stirs them up, getting them between Pete and Richard and the men, but still they approach and it looks like they're going to be caught...

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article copyright PPS / Martin Hearn 2006