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 them to carry out 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 by a reconstruction that later broke free of their control.
To shorten the journey time to the Red Planet, the Space Administration is fortifying the ships with tritonium metal, allowing them to travel faster while withstanding the higher stresses.
The controller, Commander Rhodes, tells them that the lake around the tower and the undersea mine is prevented from freezing thanks to giant heating elements powered by electric current originating from Eskimo Booster Station.
[2] Although "Noose of Ice" was filmed and originally broadcast after "Flight 104", the running order published by distributor ITC Entertainment places it before that episode, disrupting the series continuity.
[7] "Noose of Ice" marked the fourth occasion in which the puppet's character was killed and reconstructed by the Mysterons: it had also previously played Major Reeves in "Renegade Rocket" and Professor Carney in "Codename Europa".
[6] The puppet playing General Rebus also appeared as the Base Concord Commander in "Renegade Rocket" and non-speaking background characters in "Special Assignment" and "Seek and Destroy".
[2] Geoff Willmetts considers the episode, with its "freezing water", to be "one of the cleverest from a special effects point of view", while Shane M. Dallmann of Video Watchdog magazine calls it "superlative in the miniatures department".