2019 XMas Special

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!

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, 19^th 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!