Season 18, Episodes 8-9

Episode 8: The Girl Who Knew Too Much

London, 1967. Less than one year ago, Polly Wright returned to her ordinary life, working as a PA in the Post Office Tower. And although everybody else seems to have forgotten (thanks to the Torchwood Institute’s diligent coverup), she still remembers WOTAN and its War Machines. And somewhere, an all-too familiar signal has woken up… Enter the Time Lady.

Episode 9: Sound

Summer 1967. The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album has changed everything, redefining the very paradigm of pop music. Is this the end for John Smith and the Common Men? Is electronic music really the answer? And what weird entities inhabit the Plane of Sound? Penelope is about to find out, with a little help from one Delia Derbyshire.

Set in 1967 London, these two episodes had a very different atmosphere.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much felt a bit like an old B&W episode of The Avengers and was also a veritable feast of Classic DW references: in addition to WOTAN, the War Machines and Polly, it featured the character of Dodo and the Counter Measures group, plus some nifty (if I may say so myself) retcon tying the anachronistic tech of The War Machines to the events of Remembrance of the Daleks, all this by the way of Torchwood (who else?).

Sound was a much more psychological affair, with a hefty dose of pop music references and (thanks to Sylvie’s roleplaying talent) some very moving scenes. In the end, the story had an almost poetic feel – with the Beatles’ A Day in the Life providing the perfect soundtrack for its final scene. Its plot resulted from the mix of three separate ideas: the cultural phenomenon of the Sergeant Pepper LP, the electronic music of Delia Derbyshire & co and one of Ramsey Campbell’s early Cthulhu Mythos short stories, The Plain of Sound, from which I borrowed the idea of my plane of sound (and the look of its inhabitants).

Both stories also allowed us to develop the characters of Antonia and Modesty, Penelope’s new protégées and travelling companions, who are now ready to make their first journey to another world – or perhaps the far future?  See you soon for our next episode!