In a few weeks, Lady Penelope’s Odyssey will be back for a new season - the fourteenth!
In the meantime, let's start 2020 with a Christmas (well, technically, New Year’s Eve) Special!
In the meantime, let's start 2020 with a Christmas (well, technically, New Year’s Eve) Special!
Holiday Special: Christmas in Red
Advent 1869. Penelope has decided to spend a traditional Bavarian Christmas in the charming
town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, with its bustling Christmas market, medieval cobbled streets and
quaint local legends… But the Time Lady finds herself
on the trail of TWO mysterious creatures: the ancient Red Rider and the all-new
Red Devil of Rothenburg!
This episode actually
borrowed one of its core elements from the Sarah Jane Adventures story “The
madwoman in the attic” – i.e. the red-skinned, psychic alien child, though I
ignored her time-altering abilities and boosted her psionic ones, giving her
the ability to create “psychokinetic holograms” drawing on the surrounding
persons’ inner fears. And of course, the quaint, 19th century
Bavaria setting gave it a completely different atmosphere.
So to cut a long story
short, my “Red Devil” was actually the poor, Earth-stranded alien girl, whose
barely-controlled powers were the origins of the terrifying apparitions of a
Red Rider, lifted wholly from Terry Gilliam’s Fisher King movie (BTW Rothenburg
does have a corresponding local tradition – see here for more details).
Actual play was really
great, with a lot of quick-witted dialogue, fast-paced detective work and insightful
empathy from our favorite Time Lady – the perfect mix for a Xmas Special!
See you soon - for SEASON 14!
See you soon - for SEASON 14!
