Brendon Public School

Brendon Public School
Also called:	Brendon School
Type:	School
Location:	Heskith, Hertfordshire
First appearance:	Mawdryn Undead [+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"]
Appearances:	see list

Brendon Public School, originally Brendon School for Boys, was an English school in Heskith, Hertfordshire. (PROSE: Business Unusual ^[+]Loading...["Business Unusual (novel)"])

History

It was a Queen Anne mansion originally called Brendon Court and was the country seat of the Mulle-Heskith family. It was sold in 1922 upon the death of Sir Barrie Mulle-Heskith and there was considerable debate on whether it should become a boys' school or an asylum. (PROSE: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (novelisation)"])

Jacob Douglas attended Brendon School for Boys in 1973. (PROSE: Moon Blink ^[+]Loading...["Moon Blink (novel)"])

In 1983, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, formerly the commander of the British division of UNIT, was a teacher of A-level mathematics at the school, having joined the teaching staff in 1977, a year after retiring from UNIT; and Turlough, an undercover Trion exile, was one of the students. Six years earlier, before Turlough came to Brendon, Lethbridge-Stewart suffered some sort of nervous breakdown, resulting in partial amnesia; and Dr. Runciman found him collapsed on the hill above the school.

In 1983, Turlough and Ibbotson stole Lethbridge-Stewart's car from the school grounds and crashed it a short distance away. (TV: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"]) Their peers included Bolam, Matthewson, McMullen, Pradie, Rogerson, Shaw major, Shaw minor and Watt. (PROSE: The King of Terror ^[+]Loading...["The King of Terror (novel)"])

The school's staff included Mr. Sellick, the headmaster; (PROSE: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (novelisation)"]) Dr. Runciman, the resident physician since at least 1977; and Miss Cassidy, the matron. (TV: Mawdryn Undead ^[+]Loading...["Mawdryn Undead (TV story)"])

On 1 January 1990, the Brigadier met his illegitimate son Albert Wilson for the first time when he visited him at the school. (PROSE: The Enfolded Time ^[+]Loading...["The Enfolded Time (short story)"])

Daniel Hinton also at one time attended the school until he was expelled in 1992 for dabbling in black magic; the fourth year dormitory was terrified and Matron's cat received a shock from which it never recovered. Twickers was the school secretary in the 1990s. (PROSE: Downtime ^[+]Loading...["Downtime (novelisation)"])

Charlie Gibbs was another of Turlough's classmates. However, Turlough did not learn until 2013 that Gibbs was also from Trion and that his family supported the opposing faction in the civil war. (AUDIO: Eldrad Must Die! ^[+]Loading...["Eldrad Must Die! (audio story)"])

Turlough's other classmates included Peter Smythe, Henry Lucas, Barney Adams and Kenneth Smith. (AUDIO: The Memory Bank ^[+]Loading...["The Memory Bank (audio story)"])

Turlough enjoyed studying history while at the school. (AUDIO: Phantasmagoria ^[+]Loading...["Phantasmagoria (audio story)"]) However, he hated William Shakespeare's works. (AUDIO: The Emerald Tiger ^[+]Loading...["The Emerald Tiger (audio story)"])

In his 1996 book Who Killed Kennedy, the journalist James Stevens described it as "a minor public school for boys". (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy ^[+]Loading...["Who Killed Kennedy (novel)"])

References

When Vislor Turlough appeared on the Incredible Power Game, the Hostess introduced him as a student from Middlesex. (AUDIO: Power Game ^[+]Loading...["Power Game (audio story)"])

Behind the scenes

The school scenes for Mawdryn Undead were filmed at Trent Park campus of Middlesex Polytechnic, Cockfosters, Hertfordshire.