Carlton Dial (Mark Frankel) a former British spy in the employ of Intercept Corporation (a San Francisco recovery firm) was ordered to use a tranquilizer gun (that fired six high-potency darts) due to lawsuits against the corporation for over excessive violence by its agents.

When asked about the gun, Dial remarked "It's not the size of the gun that's important. It's how he uses it."

Carlton was also outfitted with a miniaturized camera and audio-transceivers that broadcast what he saw and heard back to headquarters.

TRIVIA NOTE: On the adventure series SEARCH/NBC/1972-73 similar devices were used by field agents of the Probe Division of World Securities who were fitted with earphone implants and miniaturized scanning devices.

The spy drama THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. also used guns with sleep darts. The novelization "The Cross of Gold Affair" by Frederic Davies (#14) featured a discussion of sleep darts vs. bullets as the preferred ammo in the U.N.C.L.E. specials.

Tranquilizer guns were used on the sci-fi fantasy series LOST and HEROES. On LOST Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) was shot with a tranquilizer dart that made him comatose for over 40 hours.

On HEROES, the darts were used to capture a band of paranormals with special powers. To further keep their captives in check, a small medical delivery box with tubes to the nose emitted anesthetizing gas to sedate the captives and leave them in a state of lethargy.

Veterinarians and zookeepers use darts filled with a drug called "Ketamine" to immobilizes chimps, gorillas and other wildlife for examination purposes. The drug has also been associated with the date-rape drug that incapacitates unsuspecting victims.

Although the writers stated that Sayid was under for more that forty hours, it was more likely have been like eight to 1o hours. Doses large enough to put someone to sleep for forty hours could be life-threatening.

External Links

• Fortune Hunter (IMDb)

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