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{{Infobox Other CDs||
{{title dab away}}
cd name= Snake Head |
{{real world}}
image=[[Image:Snakehead_cover.jpg|250px]] Cover Artist - [[Red Ink]]|
{{Infobox Story SMW
series=[[Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Spin-offs]] -[[U.N.I.T. (audio series)|U.N.I.T.]] |
|image           = Snakehead cover.jpg  
number= 2|
|range          = UNIT (audio series)
main character= <ul><li>[[Emily Chaudhry|Colonel Emily Chaudhry]]</li><li>[[Robert Dalton|Colonel Robert Dalton]]</li></ul>|
|number in range = 2
featuring= |  
|series         = ''[[UNIT (audio series)|UNIT]]''
enemy= [[ICIS]]|
|number         = 2
year= |
|main character = [[Emily Chaudhry|Chaudhry]], [[Robert Dalton|Dalton]]
writer= [[Jonathan Clements]] |
|featuring       = [[Will Hoffman|Hoffman]]
director= [[John Ainsworth]] |
|enemy           = [[Vârkolak]]
producer= [[David Darlington]]|
|setting        = [[Southend]], [[January]] [[2005]]
publisher= [[Big Finish Productions]] |
|writer          = Jonathan Clements
release date= [[January]] [[2005]] |
|director       = [[John Ainsworth]]
format= 1 CD |
|music          = [[David Darlington]]
production code= BFPUNITCD02 |
|sound          = David Darlington
isbn= ISBN 1-84435-114-9 |
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions
previous story= [[Time Heals]] |
|cover          = [[Red Ink]]
next story= [[The Longest Night]]}}
|release date   = January 2005
|format         = 1 CD<br/>Download
|production code = BFPUNITCD02
|isbn           = ISBN 978-1-84435-114-5 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78178-635-2 (digital)
|prev            = Time Heals (audio story)
|next            = The Longest Night (audio story)
|producer        = [[Ian Farrington]] and [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
|epcount        = 1
}}{{Spotify|album=2FWhUQ9pgF4X8BPQykWoWT|height=350}}
'''''Snake Head''''' was the third story in the [[Big Finish]] ''[[UNIT (audio series)|UNIT]]'' audio series. It was written by [[Jonathan Clements]].


==Publisher's summary==
== Publisher's summary ==
A mobile phone call to the emergency services, a body found on Government land and an ancient burial site unearthed at an archaeological dig all point toward an odd mystery by the coast...
A [[mobile phone]] call to the emergency services, a body found on [[British government|Government]] land and an ancient burial site unearthed at an archaeological dig all point toward an odd mystery by the coast...


UNIT’s new commander, Colonel Robert Dalton, and its political officer, Colonel Emily Chaudhry, investigate strange goings-on in Southend. What is out there on the beach? What happened to the recently found savaged body? And what of the man who’s just been smuggled into the country?
[[UNIT]]'s new commander, [[Robert Dalton|Colonel Robert Dalton]], and its political officer, [[Emily Chaudhry|Colonel Emily Chaudhry]], investigate strange goings-on in [[Southend]]. What is out there on the beach? What happened to the recently found savaged body? And what of the man who's just been smuggled into the country?


Is this just a simple case for the local police or, as Chaudhry suspects, is there more to it than meets the eye...?  
Is this just a simple case for the local police or, as Chaudhry suspects, is there more to it than meets the eye...?


==Cast==
== Plot ==
* Colonel [[Emily Chaudhry]] - [[Siri O'Neal]]
[[Kevin Lee]] receives a phone call from a distressed [[Sacha (Snake Head)|Sacha]], but cannot understand him as he will not speak [[English (language)|English]]. Sacha screams and the call ends.
* Colonel [[Robert Dalton]] - [[Nicholas Deal]]
 
[[Emily Chaudhry|Colonel Chaudhry]] and [[Robert Dalton|Colonel Dalton]] arrive at [[Southend]] to meet [[Barney Hendrick|Dr Barney Hendrick]]. In his [[caravan]], they discuss the ancient [[skeleton]]s that he and his team have found, including that of a [[Saxon]] war leader, a war [[horse]] and several female [[slave]]s. He shows them where he found a beaten-up mobile phone belonging to a man whose remains washed up on [[Ministry of Defence|MoD]] land at [[Foulness]] and draws their attention to the [[cockle]]s.
 
Dr Hendrick gives a televised [[interview]] on ''[[The Place to Be]]'' with [[Leslie (Snake Head)|Leslie]], discussing where the Saxon's skeleton will be displayed and when the [[beach]] will be cleared. He is asked questions received from the public by [[email]], including one joking about the Saxon being an immigrant.
 
Chaudhry and Dalton go for food at the [[Lucky Dragon]] and discuss the unexplained [[death]]s at the mud flats, believing that the dead were illegal immigrants employed to dig for cockles. Whilst Chaudhry believes that something has been disturbed by the dig and is now killing people, Dalton believes that it is a matter for the [[police]]. Chaudhry calls [[Will Hoffman|Lieutenant Hoffman]], who sends her a sound file from the "loony file" for [[Essex Police]] of Sacha shouting "[[Vârkolak]]". He also passes on a request from [[Francis Currie|Currie]] for a comment on a Chinese gang smuggling somebody into [[Tilbury Docks]] from [[Kosovo]].
 
Chaudhry returns to Dr Hendrick, who speaks [[Albanian (language)|Albanian]], and has him interpret Sacha's phone call. The call is the [[Lord's Prayer]] and a "Vârkolak" is an [[Albania]]n [[vampire]] who allegedly breaks the bones of children and sucks out their [[marrow]]. They are [[invisibility|invisible]] to all but other Vârkolaks and [[Dhampir]] and one is only safe if they have an Orthodox [[priest]] or an [[imam]] in one's family. In [[Yugoslavia]], [[fraud]]sters manipulate peasants' beliefs in Vârkolaks for monetary gain, pretending to be Dhampir. Dr Hendrick's description of a Vârkolak victim matches that of the man who washed up at Foulness.
 
Dalton goes to speak with the Kosovan, [[Goran Dhampir]], who had previously attempted to enter the [[United Kingdom]] on [[Eurostar]] but lied about his convictions for fraud. Goran says that he is a hunter of Vârkolaks and claims to be ignorant of Kevin Lee, known to be a cockle racketeer.
 
Kevin assumes that Chaudhry is from Immigration and looking into his [[marriage]] with [[Anni]], so he shows her around the house when she visits until she tells him she is from [[UNIT]]. He kicks her out, refusing to answer her questions about Sacha's phone calls, and they encounter Dalton and Goran outside. Chaudhry and Dalton promise to deport Goran and lose the evidence of Kevin having smuggled him to the UK in return for information. Kevin tells them that the Kosovans formed a gang and used a Vârkolak to pick off their Chinese competition; the reason he smuggled Goran was to get rid of it before [[summer]] when it might attack tourists and damage his business.
 
Going to one side, Dalton admits that he believes Kevin. Chaudhry calls Hoffman, who feigned ignorance when an [[Internal Counter-Intelligence Service|ICIS]] stooge queried Dalton driving off with an illegal immigrant, and updates him. Dalton, wearing [[infrared goggle]]s, and Goran head out to the beach to draw out the Vârkolak whilst Chaudhry, Dr Hendrick and Kevin watch from the caravan. Chaudhry, Dr Hendrick and Kevin are discussing the [[Silurian]]s, whom the two men do not believe in, when Goran is seemingly attacked by the Vârkolak and claims to kill it. With no footprints or body as evidence, Dalton is disbelieving and humiliated.
 
After an angry call with Chaudhry, Dalton spots the Vârkolak heading towards her using his infrared goggles. He calls for the group to run away, but he is too late; the Vârkolak speaks Albanian and attacks Dr Hendrick. Kevin shuts off the lights at Dalton's command and Chaudhry kills it as it hunts for her, saying something in Albanian about family, with one of Dr Hendrick's measuring sticks. Upon turning the lights back on, they see that the Vârkolak has turned to [[dust]] and that Dr Hendrick has survived his attack. As police cars approach, Chaudhry and Dalton tell Kevin to keep quiet about what really happened.
 
The police arrive and have Chaudhry, Dalton and Kevin raise their hands, a situation which Dalton bets he can use his UNIT ID to get them out of. Goran has vanished and, given how his fraud could have resulted in the deaths of others, Dalton plans to allow the police to consider him their prime suspect.
 
== Cast ==
* [[Emily Chaudhry|Colonel Emily Chaudhry]] - [[Siri O'Neal]]
* [[Robert Dalton|Colonel Robert Dalton]] - [[Nicholas Deal]]
* [[Barney Hendrick|Dr Hendrick]] - [[Ian Brooker]]
* [[Will Hoffman|Lieutenant Hoffman]] - [[Robert Curbishley]]
* [[Will Hoffman|Lieutenant Hoffman]] - [[Robert Curbishley]]
* [[Dr Hendrick]] - [[Ian Brooker]]
* [[Kevin Lee|Kevin]] - [[Ian Hayles]]
* Kevin - [[Ian Hayles]]
* [[Goran Dhampir|Goran]] - [[Toby Longworth]]
* [[Goran]] - [[Toby Longworth]]
* [[Anni]] - [[Jane MacFarlane]]
* [[Anni]] - [[Jane MacFarlane]]


==References==
== Crew ==
''to be added''
 
* Cover Art - [[Red Ink]]
* Director - [[John Ainsworth]]
* Music and Sound Design - [[David Darlington]]
* Producers - [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] and [[Ian Farrington]]
* Writer - [[Jonathan Clements]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* [[Barney Hendrick|Dr Hendrick]] lost three [[mobile phone]]s in [[France]].
* [[Emily Chaudhry|Chaudhry]] drinks her [[coffee]] without [[sugar]].
* Dr Hendrick only has [[powdered milk]].
* [[Alan (Snake Head)|Alan]] is a [[police officer]]. He guards Dr Hendrick's dig site during the day.
* Dr Hendrick listens to [[Radio 4]].
* "Dalton" is a [[Saxon]] name which dates back a thousand years to the north of [[Germany]].
* Dr Hendrick assumes that Chaudhry and [[Robert Dalton|Dalton]] are with [[UNESCO]].
* Dalton says that he would like [[Chinese (food)|Chinese]].
* Dalton refers to [[Dick Van Dyke]], [[Germaine Greer]] and the idea of [[Occam's razor]].
* [[Anni]] says "two soups", referring to a famous sketch by Victoria Wood.
* [[Will Hoffman|Hoffman]] answers the phone as "[[Pizza Hut]]".
* Dalton says there could be a reasonable explanation, rather than a "[[The Doctor|John Smith]]" explanation.
* Chaudhry tells Hoffman to dump the case of an old woman in [[Birmingham]] seeing the face of [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] on a [[potato]] onto [[Internal Counter-Intelligence Service|ICIS]].
* [[Kevin Lee|Kevin]] married his wife in [[2002]].
* Dr Hendrick drinks [[scotch]].
* Dr Hendrick met [[Barney Hendrick's wife|his wife]] in [[Bulgaria]] or [[Romania]] whilst on a dig.
* Dr Hendrick speaks [[Albanian (language)|Albanian]].
* Kevin was born in [[1965]]. Anni was born in [[1977]].
* The last sighting of a [[Vârkolak]] was in [[Kosovo]] in [[1959]], just before the country became [[communism|communist]]. However, since the fall of communism in the [[1990s]], attacks have been recorded again.
* Kevin drinks [[whisky]].
 
== Notes ==
* This is the only audio drama in the ''UNIT'' series not to feature the [[BBC]]/[[Planet 3]] journalist [[Francis Currie]], however he is referred to.
* This audio drama was recorded on [[6 August (production)|6 August]] [[2004 (production)|2004]] at [[the Moat Studios]].
* [[PROSE]]: ''[[Rise of the Dominator (novel)|Rise of the Dominator]]'' places this story as occurring in [[2004]].
* This story was originally released on CD. It is now available as a download only.
* The story was re-released as part of the ''[[UNIT: The Complete Series]]'' box set in [[May (releases)|May]] [[2020 (releases)|2020]].


==Notes==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Alistair]]'s introduction of the [[Silurian]] ambassador can be heard in the background at the beginning of the story. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Coup (audio story)|The Coup]]'')


==Continuity==
== External links ==
''to be added''
{{bigfinish|releases/v/u-n-i-t-snake-head-407|Snake Head}}
{{dwrefguide|unit02.htm|Snake Head}}


==Timeline==
{{BF UNIT}}
*Snake Head occurs after: [[Time Heals]]
*Snake Head occurs before: [[The Longest Night]]


==External links==
{{TitleSort}}
*{{bigfinish|12-UNIT-Snake-Head|Snake Head}}
*{{dwrefguide|unit02.htm|Snake Head}}


[[Category:Big Finish Audio Dramas]]
[[Category:Big Finish UNIT audio stories]]
[[Category:2005 audio plays]]
[[Category:2005 audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in Essex]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2004]]
[[Category:UNIT audio stories]]
[[Category:One part audio stories]]

Latest revision as of 20:58, 19 January 2024

RealWorld.png

▶︎
Spotify

Snake Head was the third story in the Big Finish UNIT audio series. It was written by Jonathan Clements.

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

A mobile phone call to the emergency services, a body found on Government land and an ancient burial site unearthed at an archaeological dig all point toward an odd mystery by the coast...

UNIT's new commander, Colonel Robert Dalton, and its political officer, Colonel Emily Chaudhry, investigate strange goings-on in Southend. What is out there on the beach? What happened to the recently found savaged body? And what of the man who's just been smuggled into the country?

Is this just a simple case for the local police or, as Chaudhry suspects, is there more to it than meets the eye...?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Kevin Lee receives a phone call from a distressed Sacha, but cannot understand him as he will not speak English. Sacha screams and the call ends.

Colonel Chaudhry and Colonel Dalton arrive at Southend to meet Dr Barney Hendrick. In his caravan, they discuss the ancient skeletons that he and his team have found, including that of a Saxon war leader, a war horse and several female slaves. He shows them where he found a beaten-up mobile phone belonging to a man whose remains washed up on MoD land at Foulness and draws their attention to the cockles.

Dr Hendrick gives a televised interview on The Place to Be with Leslie, discussing where the Saxon's skeleton will be displayed and when the beach will be cleared. He is asked questions received from the public by email, including one joking about the Saxon being an immigrant.

Chaudhry and Dalton go for food at the Lucky Dragon and discuss the unexplained deaths at the mud flats, believing that the dead were illegal immigrants employed to dig for cockles. Whilst Chaudhry believes that something has been disturbed by the dig and is now killing people, Dalton believes that it is a matter for the police. Chaudhry calls Lieutenant Hoffman, who sends her a sound file from the "loony file" for Essex Police of Sacha shouting "Vârkolak". He also passes on a request from Currie for a comment on a Chinese gang smuggling somebody into Tilbury Docks from Kosovo.

Chaudhry returns to Dr Hendrick, who speaks Albanian, and has him interpret Sacha's phone call. The call is the Lord's Prayer and a "Vârkolak" is an Albanian vampire who allegedly breaks the bones of children and sucks out their marrow. They are invisible to all but other Vârkolaks and Dhampir and one is only safe if they have an Orthodox priest or an imam in one's family. In Yugoslavia, fraudsters manipulate peasants' beliefs in Vârkolaks for monetary gain, pretending to be Dhampir. Dr Hendrick's description of a Vârkolak victim matches that of the man who washed up at Foulness.

Dalton goes to speak with the Kosovan, Goran Dhampir, who had previously attempted to enter the United Kingdom on Eurostar but lied about his convictions for fraud. Goran says that he is a hunter of Vârkolaks and claims to be ignorant of Kevin Lee, known to be a cockle racketeer.

Kevin assumes that Chaudhry is from Immigration and looking into his marriage with Anni, so he shows her around the house when she visits until she tells him she is from UNIT. He kicks her out, refusing to answer her questions about Sacha's phone calls, and they encounter Dalton and Goran outside. Chaudhry and Dalton promise to deport Goran and lose the evidence of Kevin having smuggled him to the UK in return for information. Kevin tells them that the Kosovans formed a gang and used a Vârkolak to pick off their Chinese competition; the reason he smuggled Goran was to get rid of it before summer when it might attack tourists and damage his business.

Going to one side, Dalton admits that he believes Kevin. Chaudhry calls Hoffman, who feigned ignorance when an ICIS stooge queried Dalton driving off with an illegal immigrant, and updates him. Dalton, wearing infrared goggles, and Goran head out to the beach to draw out the Vârkolak whilst Chaudhry, Dr Hendrick and Kevin watch from the caravan. Chaudhry, Dr Hendrick and Kevin are discussing the Silurians, whom the two men do not believe in, when Goran is seemingly attacked by the Vârkolak and claims to kill it. With no footprints or body as evidence, Dalton is disbelieving and humiliated.

After an angry call with Chaudhry, Dalton spots the Vârkolak heading towards her using his infrared goggles. He calls for the group to run away, but he is too late; the Vârkolak speaks Albanian and attacks Dr Hendrick. Kevin shuts off the lights at Dalton's command and Chaudhry kills it as it hunts for her, saying something in Albanian about family, with one of Dr Hendrick's measuring sticks. Upon turning the lights back on, they see that the Vârkolak has turned to dust and that Dr Hendrick has survived his attack. As police cars approach, Chaudhry and Dalton tell Kevin to keep quiet about what really happened.

The police arrive and have Chaudhry, Dalton and Kevin raise their hands, a situation which Dalton bets he can use his UNIT ID to get them out of. Goran has vanished and, given how his fraud could have resulted in the deaths of others, Dalton plans to allow the police to consider him their prime suspect.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

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