The Unbegotten (audio story)
The Unbegotten was the third release in the Torchwood Soho audio series. It was written by James Goss and starred Samuel Barnett as Norton Folgate, Dervla Kirwan as Lizbeth Hayhoe, Tom Price as Andy Davidson and Joe Shire as Gideon Lyme.
Publisher's summary
The dead walk the Earth! The air and ground are poisoned!
Mandeville Walk is the most haunted street in 1950s Soho. Norton Folgate has come to confront ghosts of his own, but finds himself caught up in a government cover-up. Andy Davidson is being hunted by demons. What really happened on Mandeville Walk?
- 3.1 A First Breath
- Torchwood visits the most haunted street in London.
- 3.2 The Ghost Wall
- Norton Folgate ruins a carpet. Andy worries about a wall.
- 3.3 The Taken
- An ancient force awakens.
- 3.4 Afterwards They Came
- The demons and ghosts arise. Torchwood learns a lesson.
- 3.5 Confessions
- The grisly secret of the gentleman callers.
- 3.6 Mandeville Walks
- As London falls, everyone turns to Norton Folgate.
Plot
A First Breath (1)
The clock has stopped. A woman says that "they" are coming and asks a man if he is ready to breathe yet.
Norton takes Andy and Lizbeth to Mandeville Walk, a street in Soho supposedly haunted by ghosts and crater demons, and tells them that the Torchwood file on the street is mysteriously missing. They arrive at their temporary base, a room in a knocking shop, and Lizbeth pretend to be a prostitute when there is a knocking at the door. When Norton goes to check that they are not being spied on, he finds nobody there.
When Andy is hesitant to investigate the bombed St Thomas's, which has now become a car park and a soup kitchen, Norton goes to speak with Reverend Brompton instead before spotting Lyme working at the soup kitchen. Lyme is working there whilst he works out what he is going to do next, having broken up with Norton, and asks him to leave him be.
Lizbeth goes to the pub and meets the landlady, Mia. Mia shows her her scrapbook and suggests that the bodies of Florence Jenkins and many who were killed in the destruction of the boarding house at 17 Mandeville Walk were taken by crater demons, which patron Dr Salt says is nonsense as he leaves. She also speculates that the fire services had deliberately let the buildings burn.
The woman asks the man if he is ready to breathe yet and asks him to hurry up and be born.
Norton regroups with Lizbeth at the pub and, after getting a double brandy, admits that he came to Mandeville Walk to find out why Lyme is here, although he does not mention his name. He heads back to see Lyme and Lizbeth takes Mia's leave to check on her lodgings, telling her that she will be back once she has found her ghosts. Lyme tells Norton to leave him alone, but agrees to meet him at St Thomas's later on.
Andy briefly meets Dr Salt, whose patients are malnourshed with lungs full of rubbish and will not move away because of ignorance. He goes to speak to Jim and Judy, living in a damaged house missing an entire wall, and asks them about the ghosts. He returns to the knocking shop and both he and Lizbeth feel that something is strange about one of the room's walls, which is thin when it should be solid brick. They spot Lyme through the window.
The woman says that "they" are all here and asks the man if they have helped enough. The man takes his first breath.
Norton arrives late to his meeting with Lyme, having been distracted by a bomb site, and finds the church empty except for ghostly apparitions. He sees armed men in space suits who hurt him and take him to a van as he calls for help. Andy and Lizbeth hear his shrieks from afar and go to speak with Lyme to find out what is going on. They too start to see ghosts and are surrounded.
The woman says that "he" is coming and that it is time. Time will start again.
The Ghost Wall (2)
to be added
The Taken (3)
to be added
Afterwards They Came (4)
to be added
Confessions (5)
to be added
Mandeville Walks (6)
to be added
Cast
- Norton Folgate - Samuel Barnett
- Lizbeth Hayhoe - Dervla Kirwan
- Sergeant Andy Davidson - Tom Price
- Gideon Lyme - Joe Shire
- Armitage - Greg Austin
- The Man Who Wasn't - Richard Clifford
- Mia - Saffron Coomber
- Helena Brompton - Amy Beth Hayes
- Tilly - Laura Lopez Holden
- Mum - Ruth Lass
- Dr Salt - Shai Matheson
- Cabbie - George Naylor
- Goringe - Homer Todiwala
- Brompton - Milo Twomey
References
- Lizbeth says that the visit to Mandeville Walk is "hardly a day trip" without sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs.
- Neither Norton nor Lizbeth believe in ghosts.
- St Thomas's was damaged by the Luftwaffe.
- There is a cathedral in Llandaff.
- Big churches are often built on the site of something else.
- The locals are happy to go to Mia's pub for a nap and a pie.
- Lizbeth orders a very large gin, which she says is not her drink.
- The church's side-chapel dates back to the 1400s.
- The choir stalls dated back to 1280. They were destroyed by Hitler.
- Norton mentions his father, whose church survived the war unscathed.
- 17 Mandeville Walk was a boarding house with a dozen rooms. It was directly hit and only six bodies were found.
- When Florence "Florrie" Jenkins attempted to dig her out, they heard her cries and an unearthly howling. Her body was never found.
- Jim and Judy remain in Mandeville Walk out of ignorance, according to Dr Salt.
- Lyme serves rolls and swede soup.
- Norton tells Lyme that the dog misses him.
- Judy gives Andy tea and reads his tea leaves.
- Mrs Rudman died in a bombing. Her body landed on Jim and Judy's table and her relatives took her possessions.
- Norton orders a double brandy. Lizbeth drinks it and describes it as "rough".
- Norton says that talk is for Canadians.
- Lyme puts vinegar on his chips.
Notes
- This audio drama was recorded on 10 and 13-14 January 2022 was recorded at the Soundhouse and remotely.
Continuity
- Norton mentions his father and his church. (AUDIO: Ghost Mission, Parasite)
- Norton mentions Lizbeth's dog whom he took in. (AUDIO: The Unbegotten)
External links
- Official The Unbegotten page at bigfinish.com
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
