Dr. Magnus, before being killed by the Mysterons
Dr. Theodore Magnus was a highly prominent, indeed world-renowned, neurosurgeon, and one of the few doctors who still used X-rays, or Roentgen radiation photography, in his procedures in the late 2060s. His most important contribution to neurosurgery was his "cerebral pulsator," a device that bombarded encephalic ("brain") tissue with controlled, targeted microwaves by which such tissue could be necrotised out of a patient's brain. Adjusting the microwaves from the pulsator too high, however, could have the effect of instead necrotising the entire brain and killing the patient.
However Magnus was always careful with the procedure and it is shown at the beginning of the instalment he is in when he performs an operation on another patient named Mr. Morgan, who afterwards makes a fine recovery.
In "Operation Time"[]
Dr. Magnus killed and reconstructed by the Mysterons
Magnus was the Mysteron take-over victim in the instalment "Operation Time", wherein the Mysterons threatened to "kill time;" by this, as Captain Magenta discovered through the knowledge of the Spanish language he had been acquiring, they meant that their plan was to assassinate General J. F. Tiempo, the commander of the Western Legion World Defence, who was in London for an operation on his brain. After Captain Black arranged for Magnus' Mysteron take-over by killing the original Magnus in a car crash, the neurosurgeon's likeness cooperated with Doctor Fawn on the operation.
The hand and forearm of the Dr. Magnus likeness on General Tiempo's X-ray
But in shooting the Roentgen radiation photographs of Tiempo's skull prior to that surgery, the Magnus likeness carelessly got his hand and his forearm in the way of the camera when the last photograph was shot--and his forearm and hand gradually became visible in monochrome in that photograph! This revealed to everyone that Dr. Magnus was under the control of the Mysterons.
In the meantime, Captain Scarlet had taken General Tiempo's place to prevent the general himself from being assassinated, as the Magnus likeness had seemed too impatient and eager to do the operation in spite of the Mysteron threat on the general's life. The Magnus likeness then deliberately turned up the microwaves of the cerebal pulsator to maximum, killing his supposed victim.
The likeness of Dr. Magnus destroyed by high voltage electricity
However, he is then shown that he had killed the wrong man, and the Magnus likeness attempted to escape, armed with a pistol. But Captain Blue pursued him into one of Cloudbase's electrical-generator rooms. Captain Blue asked the Magnus likeness to give himself up, but he refused and attempted to shoot the Spectrum officer instead.
But Captain Blue knocked over a ladder onto him, knocking the Mysteron Agent into the generator and causing the high voltage current to destroy him.
Though the Magnus likeness was now dead, the Spectrum Organisation had discovered by chance, a lot of information to help them in their fight against the Mysterons. Firstly that Mysteron likenesses were impervious to X-rays and secondly that they were just as vulnerable as normal Earthmen were to destruction from high voltage electricity, leading in time to the Spectrum Research Centre developing two new pieces of equipment; the Mysteron detector and the Mysteron rifle.
Behind the scenes[]
- Created, and destroyed, by Richard Conway and Stephen J. Mattick in "Operation Time", Magnus' voice was provided by Martin King, one of Gerry Anderson's repertory voice artists.
- The super-marionated puppet that was used for Magnus was a Multiple Duty and Revamp Puppet that had previously been used for one of the delegates in "The Trap".