Widdershins (audio story): Difference between revisions

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|number in range = #88
|number in range = #88
|main character  = [[Iain Thompson|Iain]]
|main character  = [[Iain Thompson|Iain]]
|featuring      =  
|featuring      = [[Jack Harkness|Jack]]
|enemy          =  
|enemy          =  
|setting        = [[Llandyth]]
|setting        = [[Llandyth]], [[21st century]]
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|publisher      = Big Finish Productions
|writer          = Guy Adams
|writer          = Guy Adams
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|series          = ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]''
|series          = ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]''
|prev            = The Hollow Choir (audio story)
|prev            = The Hollow Choir (audio story)
|next            =  
|next            = Bad Connection (audio story)
}}{{Audio stub}}
}}
'''''Widdershins''''' was the eighty-eighth story in the ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]'' by [[Big Finish Productions]].
'''''Widdershins''''' was the eighty-eighth story in the ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]'' by [[Big Finish Productions]].


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== Plot ==
== Plot ==
At the suggestion of his [[doctor]], [[Claudia (Widdershins)|Claudia]], [[Iain Thompson|Iain]] records an audio [[diary]] with the help of his parents, [[Isla Thompson|Isla]] and [[Doug Thompson|Doug]], to give himself a sense of control over a supposed [[alien]] encounter he believes that he experienced. He retells how he was obsessed with the supernatural when he was young and how he walked widdershins, i.e. anti-clockwise, around the [[Church of St Swithun]] and [[Llandyth Rock]], a [[standing stone]], to raise [[the Devil]]. The stone glowed and something filled the [[night]] [[sky]], filling him with a sense of dread.
At the suggestion of his [[doctor]], [[Claudia (Widdershins)|Claudia]], [[Iain Thompson|Iain]] records an audio [[diary]] with the help of his parents, [[Isla Thompson|Isla]] and [[Doug Thompson|Doug]], to give himself a sense of control over a supposed [[alien]] encounter he believes that he experienced. He retells how he was obsessed with the supernatural when he was young and how he walked widdershins, i.e. anti-clockwise, around the [[Church of St Swithun]] and [[Llandyth Rock]], a [[standing stone]], to raise [[the Devil]]. The stone glowed and he found himself pulled into a fleshy [[spacecraft]] in the [[sky]] with the rest of [[Llandyth]]. He is unable to recall exactly what happened afterwards, but he felt that his [[eyeball]]s left their sockets and saw [[Gloria (Widdershins)|Gloria]] from the [[pub]] disassembled and kept alive with a funnel put into her [[mouth]]. He then understood that the same was happening to him.


''to be completed''
Iain awoke in [[bed]] the next [[morning]] and learnt that he and the other villagers had all been missing for three days. They proceeded to be taken by the [[British government|government]] to the [[college]] and interviewed about their whereabouts and whether they had seen anything strange, but Iain felt guilty for walking widdershins around the [[graveyard]] and decided not to tell them about the stone or the ship. The villagers came to believe that they had been the victims of a [[terrorism|terrorist]] [[gas]] attack and were returned home, after which Iain ran clockwise around the stone in the hopes of reversing what he had done. He then met two members of [[Torchwood Institute|Torchwood]], neither of whom Isla and Doug can recall, and agreed to show them around to ensure that he seemed [[innocence|innocent]]. They explained that the spaceship belonged to alien cataloguers who have left behind traces of [[traumic radiation]].
 
Iain takes Isla and Doug to the church to retrace his steps and remembers that Torchwood read [[myth]]s of the Devil visiting Llandyth every few [[century|centuries]] to make the villagers play games which not everybody would survive, most recently in [[1702]]. He admitted that he walked widdershins around Llandyth Rock, which Torchwood then inspected and identified as an [[antenna]] left behind by the cataloguers to help them return. It was thus a coincidence that Iain walked around it when he did. Using a device he received anonymously in the post, Iain detects radiation in the house and Isla finally admits that she remembers the spaceship arriving and that she was the only one left behind. She agreed to help the cataloguers to save herself and told them all about human society as the experiments were being carried out.
 
Iain cuts ties with his mother and spots the [[Torchwood SUV]]. [[Jack Harkness|The American man inside]] reveals that he was the one who sent him the traumic radiation scanner and offers him a job at Torchwood. His answer is a maybe.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
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== Worldbuilding ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* [[Claudia (Widdershins)|Claudia]] is Iain's [[doctor]].
* [[Claudia (Widdershins)|Claudia]] is [[Iain Thompson|Iain]]'s [[doctor]].
* [[Llandyth]] is in [[Pembrokeshire]] and dates back to the [[Bronze Age]]. It has a population of around 600.
* [[Llandyth]] is in [[Pembrokeshire]] and dates back to the [[Bronze Age]]. It has a population of around 600.
* [[Evans (Widdershins)|Mr Evans]] runs Llandyth's local [[shop]].
* [[Evans (Widdershins)|Mr Evans]] runs Llandyth's local [[shop]].
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* [[Swithun]] was an [[Anglo-Saxon]] [[miracle]]-worker and a "fan of [[rain]]".
* [[Swithun]] was an [[Anglo-Saxon]] [[miracle]]-worker and a "fan of [[rain]]".
* [[Llandyth Rock]] is a prehistoric [[standing stone]].
* [[Llandyth Rock]] is a prehistoric [[standing stone]].
* Three explosions are reported to have happened in [[Baghdad]].
* [[Doug Thompson|Doug]] offers Iain [[marmalade]] on his [[toast]].
* [[Jonathan (Widdershins)|Jonathan]] lives next door to the Thompsons. He drinks [[scotch]].
* [[BTEC]]s were put on hold after the people of Llandyth returned.
* Doug [[sarcasm|sarcastically]] tells Isla that she is not [[Julia Anderson]].
* Iain received an [[email]] from someone about [[traumic radiation]].
* [[Hugo Small]] was once the [[vicar]] of St Swithun's.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* ''Widdershins'' was recorded at [[The Soundhouse]] on [[13 March (production)|13 March]] [[2024 (production)|2024]].
* ''Widdershins'' was recorded at [[The Soundhouse]] on [[13 March (production)|13 March]] [[2024 (production)|2024]].
* The premise of the story was suggested to [[Guy Adams]] by [[James Goss]].<ref>[[BFX]]: ''Widdershins''</ref>


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
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[[Category:2024 audio stories]]
[[Category:2024 audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in Wales]]
[[Category:Stories set in Wales]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 21st century]]

Latest revision as of 09:55, 7 November 2024

RealWorld.png

Widdershins was the eighty-eighth story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range by Big Finish Productions.

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

One night long ago, Iain tried to raise the Devil. He walked the wrong way round an ancient stone in the village graveyard. He didn't think anything would happen, not really.

But something did. Something far worse than the Devil came to Llandyth.

And now, many years later, Iain's trying to work out what really happened that night. Did Torchwood ruin his life?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

At the suggestion of his doctor, Claudia, Iain records an audio diary with the help of his parents, Isla and Doug, to give himself a sense of control over a supposed alien encounter he believes that he experienced. He retells how he was obsessed with the supernatural when he was young and how he walked widdershins, i.e. anti-clockwise, around the Church of St Swithun and Llandyth Rock, a standing stone, to raise the Devil. The stone glowed and he found himself pulled into a fleshy spacecraft in the sky with the rest of Llandyth. He is unable to recall exactly what happened afterwards, but he felt that his eyeballs left their sockets and saw Gloria from the pub disassembled and kept alive with a funnel put into her mouth. He then understood that the same was happening to him.

Iain awoke in bed the next morning and learnt that he and the other villagers had all been missing for three days. They proceeded to be taken by the government to the college and interviewed about their whereabouts and whether they had seen anything strange, but Iain felt guilty for walking widdershins around the graveyard and decided not to tell them about the stone or the ship. The villagers came to believe that they had been the victims of a terrorist gas attack and were returned home, after which Iain ran clockwise around the stone in the hopes of reversing what he had done. He then met two members of Torchwood, neither of whom Isla and Doug can recall, and agreed to show them around to ensure that he seemed innocent. They explained that the spaceship belonged to alien cataloguers who have left behind traces of traumic radiation.

Iain takes Isla and Doug to the church to retrace his steps and remembers that Torchwood read myths of the Devil visiting Llandyth every few centuries to make the villagers play games which not everybody would survive, most recently in 1702. He admitted that he walked widdershins around Llandyth Rock, which Torchwood then inspected and identified as an antenna left behind by the cataloguers to help them return. It was thus a coincidence that Iain walked around it when he did. Using a device he received anonymously in the post, Iain detects radiation in the house and Isla finally admits that she remembers the spaceship arriving and that she was the only one left behind. She agreed to help the cataloguers to save herself and told them all about human society as the experiments were being carried out.

Iain cuts ties with his mother and spots the Torchwood SUV. The American man inside reveals that he was the one who sent him the traumic radiation scanner and offers him a job at Torchwood. His answer is a maybe.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. BFX: Widdershins

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]