When it was repeated on British television in 1993, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons drew criticism for its use of the codenames "White" (for the benevolent Colonel White) and "Black" (for the villainous Captain Black), with some commentators viewing these opposing colour designations as racially charged and politically incorrect.[5][10] Gerry Anderson responded to these allegations by pointing out that the series features heroic non-white characters in the form of Green, Melody Angel and Harmony Angel.[10] Green's original voice actor, Cy Grant, believed that Captain Scarlet had positive multicultural value and regarded it as spiritually allegorical.[5][7] On black-and-white dualism, he argued that "the 'darkness' of the Mysterons is most easily seen as the psychological rift — the struggle of 'good' and 'evil' — of the Western world as personified by Colonel White and his team. Dark and light are but aspects of each other. Incidentally, green is the colour of nature that can heal that rift."[5] He also discussed the idea of Lieutenant Green being an African trickster hero.[7]
The progressiveness of Green's character has drawn a range of responses.[11] Kurt Barling, who wrote an obituary on Grant for The Independent, described Green as "one of the first positive black fictional characters in children's television".[12] He praised the way that Grant delivered the character's lines, stating that his "mellifluous tones" gave Green a "serene and heroic quality".[12] Mike Fillis of Cult Times magazine praised the Andersons' decision to make a black character Cloudbase's "second-in-command",[13] while The Daily Telegraph referred to the character as a "black defender of planet Earth".[14] A contrary view is expressed by Mark Bould, who comments that Green, Cloudbase's "only officer of colour", performs the role of "aide-de-camp/Uhura-style switchboard operator".[15] Paul Myers of The Guardian argues that of all the characters, Green alone "could be a legitimate target for PC wrath", noting that he is of lower rank ("Why was he only a lieutenant?") and that while his fellow officers fight the Mysterons, he remains "grounded" within Spectrum's headquarters.[16] The authors of The Rough Guide To Cult TV argue that the casting of Green as a main character in the original Captain Scarlet was a result of shifting "TV politics" during the 1960s, pointing out that Gerry Anderson had been frustrated in his attempts to include prominent non-white characters in his earlier series.[17]
In a 2008 article on the portrayal of women professionals in television, Yvonne Cook of the Open University noted that one episode of New Captain Scarlet shows the female Green fending off the persistent advances of a male guest character. Cook cited this episode as an example of how "even programmes aimed at young children can contain quite subtle gender stereotyping".[18]
