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{{title dab away}}
{{title dab away}}
{{real world}}
{{real world}}
{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image            = Iceberg (audio story).jpg
|image            = Iceberg (audio story).jpg
|number            = 38
|number            = 38
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|story number      = 6.2
|story number      = 6.2
|main character    = [[Owen Harper]]
|main character    = [[Owen Harper]]
|enemy            = [[Spore (Iceberg)|Spores]]
|enemy            = [[Amira Hussein (Spore)|"Amira Hussein"]]
|setting          = [[Queen Victoria Hospital]], [[2007]]
|setting          = [[Queen Victoria Hospital]], [[2007]]
|writer            = [[Grace Knight]]
|writer            = Grace Knight
|director          = [[Scott Handcock]]
|director          = [[Scott Handcock]]
|music            = [[Blair Mowat]]
|music            = [[Blair Mowat]]
Line 17: Line 17:
|cover            = [[Lee Binding]]
|cover            = [[Lee Binding]]
|publisher        = Big Finish Productions
|publisher        = Big Finish Productions
|release date      = [[20 May (releases)|20 May]] [[2020 (releases)|2020]]
|release date      = 20 May 2020
|format            =  
|format            =  
|production code  = BFPTWCD38
|production code  = BFPTWCD38
|isbn              = ISBN 978-1-83868-100-5
|isbn              = ISBN 978-1-83868-100-5
|series            = [[Big Finish Torchwood series|Big Finish ''Torchwood'' series]]
|series            = ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]''
|prev              = Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes 4 (audio story){{!}}Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4
|prev              = Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes 4 (audio story){{!}}Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4
|next              = Dinner and a Show (audio story)
|next              = Dinner and a Show (audio story)
|soundcloudtrailer = soundcloud.com/big-finish/torchwood-iceberg-trailer
|soundcloudtrailer = soundcloud.com/big-finish/torchwood-iceberg-trailer
}}{{audio stub}}
}}{{Dab_page|Iceberg (disambiguation)}}
{{you may|iceberg|n1=the titular natural feature|Iceberg (novel)|n2=the novel}}
'''''Iceberg''''' was the thirty-eighth story in the ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]'' by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Grace Knight]] and featured [[Burn Gorman]] as [[Owen Harper]].
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the thirty-eighth story in the [[Big Finish Torchwood series|''Torchwood'' audio series]] by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was written by [[Grace Knight]] and featured [[Burn Gorman]] as [[Owen Harper]].


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Dr [[Owen Harper]]'s called to [[Queen Victoria Hospital|the hospital]]. There's a [[ward]] full of remarkable [[coma]] patients and more are coming in. Each patient came in with a dead relative as their [[imaginary friend]].
[[Owen Harper|Dr Owen Harper]]'s called to [[Queen Victoria Hospital|the hospital]]. There's a [[ward]] full of remarkable [[coma]] patients and more are coming in. Each patient came in with a dead relative as their [[imaginary friend]].


Has Owen really discovered a bridge between the living and the dead?
Has Owen really discovered a bridge between the living and the dead?


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
At 1 o'clock in the morning, [[Owen Harper|Owen]] is called by his old friend [[Amira Hussein (Spore)|Amira Hussein]] to help save the life of [[Lucy Sheppard]] at [[Queen Victoria Hospital]]. Upon arriving, he diagnoses Lucy with acute [[hyperkalemia]] and is concerned at how Amira seems to have forgotten her medical knowledge. She also forgets to tell him that Lucy [[hallucination|hallucinates]] and has conversations with her dead sister, [[Ella (Spore)|Ella]].
 
Owen notices that nobody else in the [[ward]] has reacted to them or the noise that Lucy has been making and criticises Amira for acting like. After seeing the [[ghost]] of Ella, he checks on the other [[patient]]s, finding that they are all in [[coma]]s, and confronts Amira, realising that it is not really her. She confesses that [[Amira Hussein|the real Amira]] died in a [[cycling]] accident and that she is a [[Spore (Iceberg)|Spore]], having taken on the form of Amira as [[Fatima Hussein|her mother]] remembered her.
 
To save Lucy, Owen gives her more [[dextroamphetamine]] and tells her that it is a Spore using the form of her sister, then realising that the Spores also used the memories of [[Lucy Sheppard's mother|Lucy's]] and [[Fatima Hussein|Amira's mothers]] and that Amira was now taking his. He forgets how to walk and collapses, waking up in a hospital bed and getting into a [[wheelchair]] to inspect the patients. Whilst everyone in Lucy's ward is in a coma, the other patients and staff members are dead, having been used by the Spores.
 
After working out that the Spores use [[delta wave]]s, Owen offers to provide them with [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]] technology that could artificially produce delta waves and tells Amira to dig out [[Owen Harper's mind-reading device|his mind-reading device]]. He uses it on Lucy, ostensibly to give Ella form but actually to cut off her supply of delta waves, stopping Ella and killing Lucy, before doing the same to kill Amira. He calls [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]] to arrange for a clean-up.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Owen Harper]] - [[Burn Gorman]]
* [[Owen Harper]] - [[Burn Gorman]]
* [[Amira Hussein (spore)|Amira]] - [[Maya Saroya]]
* [[Amira Hussein (Spore)|Amira Hussein]] - [[Maya Saroya]]
* [[Lucy Sheppard|Lucy]] - [[Lowri Walton]]
* [[Lucy Sheppard]] - [[Lowri Walton]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
=== Individuals ===
=== Individuals ===
* [[Amira Hussein]] used to work with [[Owen Harper]] and his fiancée, [[Katie Russell]].  
* [[Amira Hussein]] used to work with [[Owen Harper]] and his fiancée, [[Katie Russell]]. She works in [[psychiatrics]].
* Owen met [[Katie Russell|Katie]] when he was 21 years old.
* Owen met Katie when he was 21 years old.
* It's been 18 months since Owen and Amira spoke at Katie's funeral, and as long since Owen left his job and joined [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]].
* It's been 18 months since Owen and Amira spoke at Katie's funeral, and as long since Owen left his job and joined [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]].
* Amira died a year ago, roughly six months after Owen left to work for [[Torchwood]].  
* Amira died a year ago, roughly six months after Owen left to work for [[Torchwood]].
* [[Lucy Sheppard|Lucy]]'s sister [[Ella Sheppard|Ella]] died from a [[drug]] [[overdose]] at a party.
* [[Ella (Iceberg)|Ella]] died after falling from a [[balcony]] at a [[party]].
* Ella's boyfriend [[Liam (Iceberg)|Liam]] was a "scumbag", according to Lucy.
* Ella's boyfriend [[Leon (Iceberg)|Leon]] was a "total waster", according to Lucy.
* Owen calls Ella a [[ghost]].
* Owen calls Ella a [[ghost]].
* Owen and Amira laugh about how much [[hair gel]] Owen wore before he met Katie.
* Owen and Amira laugh about how much [[hair gel]] Owen wore before he met Katie.
* Amira had a [[bucket list]], which included using her [[GCSE]] [[French language|French]] to visit [[Morocco]].
* The other patients in the hospital include [[Harrison (Iceberg)|Mrs Harrison]], [[Julie Winters]], [[Sarah Hopkins]], [[Maggie Edwards]] and [[Emmanuel Uwarey]].
* [[Fatima Hussein]] had been suffering from [[cancer]].
* Amira had a [[bucket list]], which included using her [[secondary school]] [[French language|French]] to visit [[Morocco]].
* [[Lucy Sheppard's mother|Lucy's mother]] had [[cancer]] and was in [[remission]].
* [[Fatima Hussein]] was taken to the hospital with [[vasospastic angina]].
 
=== Entertainment ===
* Owen mentions ''[[28 Days Later]]''.


=== Food and beverages ===
=== Food and beverages ===
* Owen and Amira drink [[coffee]]. Owen prefers [[cappuccino]] with two [[sugar]]s.
* Owen and Amira drink [[coffee]]. Owen prefers [[cappuccino]] with two [[sugar]]s.
=== Medicine ===
* Owen diagnoses Lucy with [[hyperkalemia]].
* Owen and Amira take Lucy's [[blood]] after applying a [[tourniquet]] and then decide to do a [[lumbar puncture]].
* Owen gives Lucy [[dextroamphetamine]], a [[stimulant]].
* Amira says that Lucy is ''[[compos mentis]]''.
* There are, on average, 400 people in comas in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] at any given time.


=== Organisations ===
=== Organisations ===
* [[Queen Victoria Hospital]] is being closed down and its resources moved to [[St Helen's Hospital|St Helen's]].
* Amira asks Owen which company he went to work and suggests [[MI6]] and [[GCHQ]], to which Owen answers neither.
* Amira asks Owen which company he went to work and suggests [[MI6]] and [[GCHQ]], to which Owen answers neither.


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* Amira compares the formation of a body to the formation of an [[iceberg]]. Just as an iceberg forms around a speck of [[dust]], the spore uses the harvested memories to build a body.
* Amira compares the formation of a body to the formation of an [[iceberg]]. Just as an iceberg forms around a speck of [[dust]], the spore uses the harvested memories to build a body.
* Harvesting the memories and [[delta wave]]s of a host drains the host of their natural bodily functions, such as talking, reading and walking. The "ghosts" [[guilt-trip]] the hosts into producing delta waves, a side effect of [[grief]], which they then use to solidify their bodies, killing the hosts.
* Harvesting the memories and [[delta wave]]s of a host drains the host of their natural bodily functions, such as talking, reading and walking. The "ghosts" [[guilt-trip]] the hosts into producing delta waves, a side effect of [[grief]], which they then use to solidify their bodies, killing the hosts.
=== Medicine ===
* Owen diagnoses Lucy with [[hyperkalemia]].


=== Technology ===
=== Technology ===
* Owen uses a [[mind-reading device (Iceberg)|mind-reading device]], normally used to assess unconscious patients, to erase Ella's delta waves, thus killing both Ella and Lucy. He then uses it to kill the alien Amira.
* Owen uses a [[Owen Harper's mind-reading device|mind-reading device]], normally used to assess unconscious patients, to erase Ella's delta waves, thus killing both Ella and Lucy. He then uses it to kill the alien Amira.


=== Torchwood ===
=== Torchwood ===
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* Amira wonders if Owen works for [[MI5]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Dying Days (novel)|The Dying Days]]'', ''[[System Shock (novel)|System Shock]]'') [[MI6]] ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Fallen (comic story)|The Fallen]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'') or [[GCHQ]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Resolution (TV story)|Resolution]]'')
* Amira wonders if Owen works for [[MI5]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Dying Days (novel)|The Dying Days]]'', ''[[System Shock (novel)|System Shock]]'') [[MI6]] ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Fallen (comic story)|The Fallen]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'') or [[GCHQ]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Resolution (TV story)|Resolution]]'')
* Owen states that "people don't come back from the dead". Owen will later go on to be resurrected following a fatal gunshot wound. ([[TV]]: ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]'', ''[[Dead Man Walking (TV story)|Dead Man Walking]]'')
* Owen states that "people don't come back from the dead". Owen will later go on to be resurrected following a fatal gunshot wound. ([[TV]]: ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]'', ''[[Dead Man Walking (TV story)|Dead Man Walking]]'')
* The real [[Amira Hussein]] was present at Katie's funeral. [[Jack Harkness]], his future boss, was also present. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'')
* The real Amira was present at Katie's funeral. [[Jack Harkness]], his future boss, was also present. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'')
* Owen told Amira that he could never save enough patients. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'')


== External links ==
== External links ==
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{{BFTWA}}
{{BFTWA}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Series 6 (BFTW) audio stories]]
[[Category:Series 6 (BFTW) audio stories]]
[[Category:2020 audio stories]]
[[Category:2020 audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2007]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2007]]

Latest revision as of 11:23, 15 March 2024

RealWorld.png

You may wish to consult Iceberg (disambiguation) for other, similarly-named pages.

Iceberg was the thirty-eighth story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Grace Knight and featured Burn Gorman as Owen Harper.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Dr Owen Harper's called to the hospital. There's a ward full of remarkable coma patients and more are coming in. Each patient came in with a dead relative as their imaginary friend.

Has Owen really discovered a bridge between the living and the dead?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

At 1 o'clock in the morning, Owen is called by his old friend Amira Hussein to help save the life of Lucy Sheppard at Queen Victoria Hospital. Upon arriving, he diagnoses Lucy with acute hyperkalemia and is concerned at how Amira seems to have forgotten her medical knowledge. She also forgets to tell him that Lucy hallucinates and has conversations with her dead sister, Ella.

Owen notices that nobody else in the ward has reacted to them or the noise that Lucy has been making and criticises Amira for acting like. After seeing the ghost of Ella, he checks on the other patients, finding that they are all in comas, and confronts Amira, realising that it is not really her. She confesses that the real Amira died in a cycling accident and that she is a Spore, having taken on the form of Amira as her mother remembered her.

To save Lucy, Owen gives her more dextroamphetamine and tells her that it is a Spore using the form of her sister, then realising that the Spores also used the memories of Lucy's and Amira's mothers and that Amira was now taking his. He forgets how to walk and collapses, waking up in a hospital bed and getting into a wheelchair to inspect the patients. Whilst everyone in Lucy's ward is in a coma, the other patients and staff members are dead, having been used by the Spores.

After working out that the Spores use delta waves, Owen offers to provide them with Torchwood technology that could artificially produce delta waves and tells Amira to dig out his mind-reading device. He uses it on Lucy, ostensibly to give Ella form but actually to cut off her supply of delta waves, stopping Ella and killing Lucy, before doing the same to kill Amira. He calls Tosh to arrange for a clean-up.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Entertainment[[edit] | [edit source]]

Food and beverages[[edit] | [edit source]]

Medicine[[edit] | [edit source]]

Organisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Amira Hussein is an alien spore, which uses the memories of two hosts to form its own body. Amira uses Fatima Hussein, the mother of real Amira, and Owen Harper.
  • Alien Amira has been using the hospital to harvest the memories of human hosts and breed more spore creatures. Amira refers to these 'ghosts' as her 'sisters'.
  • Ella's two hosts were Lucy and Lucy's mother.
  • Amira compares the formation of a body to the formation of an iceberg. Just as an iceberg forms around a speck of dust, the spore uses the harvested memories to build a body.
  • Harvesting the memories and delta waves of a host drains the host of their natural bodily functions, such as talking, reading and walking. The "ghosts" guilt-trip the hosts into producing delta waves, a side effect of grief, which they then use to solidify their bodies, killing the hosts.

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Owen uses a mind-reading device, normally used to assess unconscious patients, to erase Ella's delta waves, thus killing both Ella and Lucy. He then uses it to kill the alien Amira.

Torchwood[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Owen phones Tosh to arrange a clean up at the hospital, stating there are 21 corpses and 19 coma patients caused by the alien.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]