Parasite (audio story)

Gangsters are vanishing from the streets of Soho, there's a deadly Nazi secret on the loose, and something's moving in the smog. Norton Folgate should be sorting this out, but the Torchwood agent is in disgrace. Who's going to save London this time?

1. The Man From Room 13

2. Meet Mr Lyme

3. The Mould

4. The Spread

5. The Dead Hand

6. The Liberty of Norton Folgate

Plot

The Man From Room 13

At Room 13, Norton Folgate answers a telephone call concerning another dead Nazi and hands it over to his boss, Lizbeth Hayhoe, who deals with it and lets them know that Norton is "good enough" to speak with them. The Nazi, who had belonged to Project Hermod, had been killed after Norton informed the monastery that he had been travelling to of his arrival in search of a crystal skull. Norton is bored of dealing with petty Nazis, having come close to taking over the Torchwood Institute but ending up stuck in Room 13, and Lizbeth tells him to sit still, behave and celebrate the dead Nazi with crumpets.

Gideon Lyme attempts to catch the attention of a waitress, who ignores him until Norton sits with him and asks for tea and scrambled eggs with no more nasal hair in Lyme's than in his. Norton leaves with Lyme, who says that he is a reporter on Fleet Street, and heads to work where he finds that there is a power cut and Lizbeth is using the fag-end of candles to see. She tells him that something suspicious and likely bound for gangland is being shipped to the UK through the Suez Canal, something that she suspects is extraterrestrial. Norton, however, is flippant and leaves for "dreamland".

Norton goes to Margate and asks Belle Epoch about the Stagnant Pond's activities, learning from her that the Stagnant Pond were aware of the packages and that they intend to steal them before they reach their rivals. Norton sneaks his watch into Belle's pocket and threatens to blow a whistle to attract the attention of plainclothes police officers, forcing her to disclose that the pickup will be happening at Margate Pier.

The two head to Margate Pier and find that the pickup is late. Eventually, the motorboat arrives but is driven by someone other than Konstantin; it is driven by a creature which crashes into the pier and, aflame, chases Norton and Belle, unperturbed when Norton shoots it in the head, heart and major organs. Norton pulls out a disintegrator gun and uses its last shot to kill the creature. He determines that the package has been intercepted and leaves with Belle.

Lizbeth arrives at Room 13 and finds that Norton has arrived early and prepared a bacon roll with which he hopes to keep her from telling him off. She reads him a memo from Reginald Rigsby bemoaning Norton's behaviour and then scolds him herself for getting his hands dirty, having gone beyond Room 13's remit and gaining little to nothing from the excursion. However, Norton theorises that others were interested in the package and that Konstantin had been working with the alien, the other men involved having been shot. He asks Lizbeth to get more resources from Rigsby in order to investigate, which she agrees to do.

Norton returns to the café where Lyme is waiting and tells him that he was recently overlooked for a promotion. When Belle comes in looking for Norton, who is flirting with Lyme, Lyme invites him to his home the following night as he rushes off to speak with Belle. The landlady kicks Belle and Norton out and Belle tells him that there has been no sign of Konstantin.

Norton tells Lizbeth what he has learnt and asks Miss Clarke for a report on Konstantin, whom they believe to be in possession of the package and likely to be a target of the Stagnant Pond. A whistle heralds a delivery which Norton hopes to be Konstantin's location coaxed from the Metatraxis by Miss Clarke, but it turns out to be the forms that they have to fill in and a message that she is going home and can action it tomorrow. Lizbeth tells him that he should be nicer to the clerks and that they have to find Konstantin before anyone else in London does.

Meet Mr Lyme

Arriving in London, Lyme is told that his luggage has been lost and tells the foreman that he needs a clean shirt as he is starting a job as a journalist today. When the foreman proves unhelpful, Lyme tells him that he will be working for a crusading newspaper and that he will be back.

Lyme arrives at the newspaper and, despite receiving a job offer following his application letter enclosing clippings from the Tobago Times, is turned away due to the colour of his skin, being accused of deceiving them by not telling them that he was black. He then goes to the accommodation at Lancaster Gardens that he had arranged to stay at, but is turned away by the Mrs Fortescue for the same reason and tells her that his luggage might arrive there in the future. In despair, he stands in the way of a car in the fog but is saved by somebody who quickly disappears, leaving behind their briefcase.

Lyme returns to the newspaper with the briefcase, the contents of which concern Torchwood and impress the editor. The editor shakes his hand and welcomes him to the team, telling him to find out what Torchwood is. Later, he receives a phone call from Mrs Fortescue, letting him know that she has changed her mind and that she is welcome to stay at Lancaster Gardens. His luggage shows up, containing a note inviting him to the Lavendish Tea Rooms.

At the tea room, Lyme asks a man if he is the man that he is meeting, but he tells him to go away. The waitress asks if Lyme is begging and demands that he sit down and wait for her to take his order, which he does. He asks the man if he knows about Torchwood and he tells him to stay there before leaving, after which Norton enters and sits with him.

Lyme is told by the editor, who repeatedly calls him "boy", that he is being funded by the George Ezra Fund, meaning that he is not costing the newspaper any money, but that he has to come up with something. He goes to lunch and meets with Norton, who he feeds ducks with in a park. Norton suggests that they sneak behind a bush to have sex, but Lyme declines and instead suggests that they do so in a neglected stockroom at Norton's library. Norton says that that would not be possible and that, knowing that Lyme likes romance, suggests that he visit Lyme's room one evening, but Lyme says that that too would be impossible. Norton tells him that he has somebody staying over and that he will be busy for the next few days.

Without access to Norton, Lyme tells his editor that he has lost his source and will have to find another. The editor tells him to find another "low-hanging fruit", which Lyme recognises as homophobia.

Days later, Lyme is with Norton at the Lavendish Tea Rooms when Belle enters and calls for Norton. He gives Norton his address quickly as Norton goes after Belle. He follows them and listens to them talk about Konstantin before reminding Norton to meet him tomorrow. After Norton leaves, Lyme talks to Belle, who invites him to visit the Stagnant Pond for a quart of gin and points out that taxis without passengers are being driven by shapes. She says that Norton will have to put right whatever is happening in London.

Lizbeth scolds Norton for burning crumpets on the fire and tells him that there is another package, but Norton cannot stop thinking about Konstantin's, a statement that makes Lizbeth scoff. She shows him a telefax of the package taken by an operative using a long-distance lens and the two begin looking through documents to determine who it was being sent to. After Norton finds something, Lizbeth calls Rigsby and visits him, but he believes that the package likely contains counterfeit cigarettes given that "the wrong sort" were beginning to move to England. He changes his mind once Lizbeth points out that the crate contains a hidden Project Hermod insignia.

Norton suggests that he drive to Dover to impound the boat at customs, but Lizbeth is sceptical of his driving ability and points out that, in any case, the boat is docking at Portsmouth. The two stay at Room 13 overnight and, in the middle of the night, Lizbeth says that they must find a way to make it seem that the package is not intercepted. Rigsby visits them, accompanied by Nancy, and hears from them how the package will be transported from Portsmouth by Royal Mail to 58 Lansmeer Terrace instead of 53 thanks to an operative changing the label. Impressed, Rigsby calls for Nancy to bring him tea.

Rigsby goes to his club for a nap whilst Norton and Lizbeth stay up, excited about what they believe will be their way out of Room 13 and back into Torchwood's good graces. Lizbeth then reveals that the package will be delivered to Room 13 first and it soon arrives. She opens it and finds a locked briefcase which she breaks into using a paper knife, finding a spongey egg inside. Norton becomes suspicious, believing that they might have been tricked by Project Hermod into bringing the egg into Torchwood. Lizbeth points out that it is more like a mushroom and it then emits something into the air, making her cough. A bell begins ringing and Andy Davidson appears out of nowhere, telling Norton to take his hand or he will die.

The Mould

to be added

The Spread

to be added

The Dead Hand

to be added

The Liberty of Norton Folgate

to be added

Cast

References

Arts and literature

Norton mentions Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Rigsby writes that writing his memo meant that he missed out on the Lord Chancellor's recitation of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Lyme wrote for the Tobago Times, which he is told is "hardly the Morning Star".
Gideon's mother chose his name from the Bible, where she got most of her good ideas.
Norton is aware of Quatermass.

Food and drink

Lizbeth suggests that she and Norton toast some crumpets. They eat them with margarine.
Norton asks for two teas and two scrambled eggs with no more nasal hair in Lyme's than in his. He later orders two teas, two ham sandwiches and no bogey in the pickle.
Belle used to eat jellied eels at Margate Pier as a girl.
Norton uses the last shot of a disintegrator gun and says that doing so always feels like finishing off a duty-free bottle of crème de menthe.
Norton makes Lizbeth a bacon roll and notes that it is proper bacon with no bits. He says that it has "more sauce in it than Danny La Rue".
With the end of rationing, Norton has found that he does not enjoy having so many sugars in his tea.
Norton suggests that he visit Lyme's home and they share pale ale, a pork pie and a candle.
Curry is from India.
Nancy gives Rigsby tea and a custard cream.
Lizbeth tells Norton to put on some coffee without chicory.
Norton makes Lizbeth some cocoa.
Mrs R gives Rigsby an egg when he asks Nancy to do something with.

Individuals

Torchwood used to send keen ex-Wrens to Lizbeth before becoming wise to her sexuality.
Lizbeth intends to stay at Room 13 long enough to get a pension, a cottage in Hebden Bridge and "a bitter old bull dyke called Marjorie" to "bicker out [her] twilight with".
Lyme's aunt has a London biscuit tin with Tower Bridge, Big Ben and a guardsman.
Norton mentions Princess Margaret.
Rigsby attended Eton College and had a fag. He was head boy.
Norton calls Lizbeth "Joan Littlewood".
Miss Clarke is a clerk. Norton says that he would kiss her bunions if she managed to coax Konstantin Gregor's location out of the Metatraxis.
Rigsby says that he has an appointment with the Cabinet Secretary.
Rigsby calls his wife "Mrs R".
58 Lansmeer Terrace was owned by an old tobacconist who was blown to smithereens whilst walking his greyhound, Lucky, in 1943. His daughter lives in Ontario and makes periodic visits.

Locations

A Nazi has been killed in the Ganges, downstream from a dark monastery where Norton heard on the grapevine that he would be searching for a crystal skull.
Lyme works on Fleet Street.
Lyme stays in Room 3 at 14 Lancaster Gardens.
The packages are being shipped to the UK through the Suez Canal.
Norton knows of a Project Hermod member in Panama.
Norton blew up Leicester Square, but "saved the other half".
Rigsby's memo says that he was having dinner at Chequers.
Norton says that Rigsby learnt his management style from Emperor Ming.
A telefax of the second package is sent from Lahav.
Lansmeer Terrace is a bombed street; whilst the even numbers are largely untouched, the odd ones are severely damaged.

Technology

Norton uses a disintegrator gun.
Norton's heater requires sixpences to power the meter.
Andy's vortex manipulator has a "psychic mode" which can locate people.
Torchwood use telefax.
Lizbeth says that the second package might contain a pulse bomb which, as Norton says, could cause one's eyeballs to bubble.
Norton fetches a torch.

Miscellaneous

Some say that the smog is caused by Battersea Power Station.
Lyme jokes that Norton has solved racism and the smog.
Lyme says that there would be rioting in the streets after one day without the BBC and electrical lighting.
Lyme is paid by the George Ezra Fund, which funds the employment of colonials.
Whilst ducks cannot break one's arm, a swan can.
Lizbeth says that Norton is meditating with all the dignity of a chorus boy with the clap.

Notes

As has been the case for numerous audio spin-offs of Torchwood set in different eras, this set introduces a 1950s Torchwood theme. Previous themes have been the Victorian theme for adventures set in Victorian London and a 1970s disco theme for The Dollhouse.

Continuity

Norton Folgate tries to persuade Lizbeth Hayhoe to investigate the "living fog", to which she responds that Torchwood is leaving well alone, especially since the event in 1952. The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble had previously defeated the Fumifugium in London, 1952. (AUDIO: The Creeping Death)
Lizbeth states that Norton's previous attempt at seizing leadership of Torchwood One failed miserably. (AUDIO: Goodbye Piccadilly)
Andy Davidson claims to be "sort-of working for Torchwood". (AUDIO: Red Base et al)
Andy claims he was sent to Norton's time by Jack Harkness to stop him from dying early and creating temporal instabilities. Andy is working for Jack following Torchwood Three's second downfall. (AUDIO: Thoughts and Prayers)
Norton recalls saving Andy from the "martians" and the "vats". (AUDIO: Goodbye Piccadilly)
Andy is using a vortex manipulator to travel through time. Jack Harkness of Torchwood Three regularly used a vortex manipulator. (TV: The Empty Child, Everything Changes et al)
It is noticed by numerous members of Torchwood that the taxis and their drivers are acting suspiciously. Similar events happened during the Christmas of 2007, (TV: The Runaway Bride) and the electric carriages investigated by the Paternoster Gang. (AUDIO: The Cars That Ate London)
Before her time working with Folgate, Lizbeth Heyhoe had been investigating those who had had their faces stolen before the coronation. These people's faces had been stolen by an alien known as the Wire. The Wire was later defeated by the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler in 1953, and the faces of the victims were restored. At the time, the Doctor was unaware that those "kidnapping" the victims were Torchwood. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern)
While in their final moments, Reginald Rigsby is of the opinion that if the right woman can run an Empire, then perhaps the right woman can run the Torchwood Institute. One day, Yvonne Hartman will be one of the most successful and well-known leaders of Torchwood. (TV: Army of Ghosts et al)

External links

Official Parasite page at bigfinish.com