Set in 2068, the series depicts a "war of nerves" between Earth and the Mysterons: a hostile race of Martians with the power to create functioning copies of destroyed people or objects and use the reconstructions to carry out specific acts of aggression against humanity.
Earth is defended by a military organisation called Spectrum, whose top agent, Captain Scarlet, was murdered by the Mysterons and replaced with a reconstruction that later broke free of their control.
Scarlet's double has a self-repairing ability that enables him to recover from injuries that would be fatal to any other person, making Spectrum's strongest asset in its fight against the Mysterons.
When the Mysterons cryptically threaten to "immobilise" the whole organisation, Colonel White fears that they intend to disrupt this fuel supply and dispatches Captains Scarlet and Blue to investigate the unfolding disaster at Rig 15.
Scarlet requisitions a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and chases Smith down the highway leading to Bensheba, managing to force him off the road before they reach the refinery.
[2][3] According to Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, authors of The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, "Fire at Rig 15" is one of several Captain Scarlet episodes that "seem little more than left-over Thunderbirds scripts.