The Merfolk Murders (audio story)

St Andrews, Scotland, 1940. The Merfolk are a university society meeting through the summer to discuss murder mystery stories. Innocent escapism during wartime, they say. Their latest book is The Casebook of Orion Hood – whose hero is all-too-familiar to the Doctor...

When a real-life murder occurs soon after their gathering, the Doctor's friends encourage him to investigate. Is one of the Merfolk responsible? Was this crime the result of espionage or envy? The Doctor must embrace his deerstalker once more and solve this wartime mystery – before the killer can strike again!

Plot

Part one

The TARDIS lands in St Andrews in August 1940 and the Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan meet Athena, to whom the Doctor introduces his companions as prospective students of the University of St Andrews. Athena invites the group to join a gathering of the literary and dramatic association, the Merfolk, at Castle Sands, an offer which the Doctor accepts upon learning that the society will be discussing The Casebook of Orion Hood. In the meantime, the travellers head into town and are split into two groups when Tegan holds Adric back to discuss the fact that the Doctor seems to be hiding something from them. The Doctor and Nyssa bump into Seb, who points them to a tearoom and keeps the fact that he recognises the Doctor to himself.

Tegan takes Adric to a bookshop and finds a copy of The Casebook of Orion Hood whilst Adric looks at books on mathematics and meets Henry, a fellow wunderkind and member of the Merfolk who puts the copy of The Casebook of Orion Hood on his account when Tegan finds it. The two of them are shown the way to Castle Sands by Professor Hodgson, the Merfolk's patron, where they are reunited with the Doctor, Nyssa, Athena and Henry and meet Seb and Kowalski, a soldier. Before the meeting, Adric and Tegan confront the Doctor with the book's illustrations of the previous Doctor and he explains that he and Sarah solved mysteries together which Sarah fictionalised in the beginning of the 20th century under the name "Sarah Joan Watson".

Athena leaves the meeting when her claim of having witnessed a murder the previous summer is again dismissed as a lie. Once the meeting is over, Adric and Henry eat the leftover sandwiches and go to Henry's dorm, Nyssa learns to skip stones with Kowalski until he has to leave for roll call and Tegan accepts Professor Hodgson's invitation to Seaview House, agreeing to meet up with the Doctor at St Salvator's Quad by sundown. Seb, whose uncle works at the ministry, reveals that he knows that the Doctor is an ally of Churchill and asks for his assistance in finding a German spy in St Andrews, but he declines. When he regroups with his companions, he learns that Henry and Professor Hodgson have received letters from Athena claiming to have proof of the murder she claims to have witnessed.

The travellers are given rooms at St Salvator's Hall and the Doctor and Tegan go to Athena's, but Seb informs them that she has not returned to the building since the morning and that he too received one of her letters. Before midnight, the Doctor, Tegan and Seb go to the ruined castle per the letters' instructions whilst Adric and Nyssa spot and join Henry and Kowalski on Castle Street and go to the castle despite the Doctor's orders to keep watch from their rooms. Nyssa and Kowalski attend to Henry when he falls ill and the Doctor and Tegan find Athena in the castle, murdered by strangulation despite nobody having seen anyone enter the castle.

Part two

Nyssa, Tegan, Professor Hodgson and Seb discuss the murder whilst Kowalski finds a phone box to contact his commanding officer and the Doctor and Adric take Henry to the hospital, learning that he had ptomaine poisoning from Athena's sandwiches. Tegan joins them at the hospital and appoints herself as the Doctor's assistant as he investigates the murder, but he does not wish to get involved and goes with her to give their witness statements to the police, leaving Adric with Henry. When Kowalski returns from his phone call, he tells Nyssa that his letter asked him to meet with Athena at 11:30 rather than at midnight like the others and that he is in trouble for sneaking away from barracks.

to be completed

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

The Doctor - Peter Davison
Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
Tegan - Janet Fielding
Athena McDonnell / Anna - Pearl Appleby
Professor Margo Hodgson - Josie Lawrence
Henry Cuthbertson - Will Kirk
Private Aurek Kowalski - Tom Alexander
Sebastian Callow - Angus Imrie

Worldbuilding

The Doctor previously visited St Andrews in the 30th century.
Marmalade is Professor Hodgson's dog.
Mrs Crane runs a bookshop.
Athena claims that Mr Abbott put some salmon paste aside for her.
Kowalski's mother is Nina.
Henry hands Adric Death on the Caledonian Express
Morris became porter of St Salvator's after Patterson died.
St Salvator's Hall and Seaview House are locations around the university in St Andrews. Castle Street is nearby. Unnamed locations include a beach, a ruined castle and a clifftop.
In October 1940, a bomb will be dropped on the university's library.

Orion Hood novels

The Merfolk are reading The Casebook of Orion Hood.
The Orion Hunt novels were written by Sarah Jane Smith under the pseudonym "Sarah Joan Watson" when she and the Fourth Doctor were stuck at 107 Baker Street for a few months in the turn of the century.
The novels include The Murder of Lord Acra and Death on the Caledonian Express.
A 1960s entry in the series from the Doctor's future, written by "Janet Govanka", is The Return of Orion Hood, which has the Doctor on the cover wearing a colourful coat.

Mathematics

Henry discusses Goldbach's conjecture.

Notes

As a pure historical, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton all readily compared this story to TV: Black Orchid. (BFX: The Merfolk Murders)

Continuity

Tegan claims Adric is looking to study mathematics (TV: Full Circle ^[+]Loading...["Full Circle (TV story)"]) at the university, Nyssa bioelectronics, (TV: The Keeper of Traken ^[+]Loading...["The Keeper of Traken (TV story)"]) and she herself would be studying aviation. (TV: Logopolis ^[+]Loading...["Logopolis (TV story)"])
The Doctor refers to his "detective outfit", seen in TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang ^[+]Loading...["The Talons of Weng-Chiang (TV story)"].
The Doctor refers to the events at Cranleigh Hall, seen in TV: Black Orchid ^[+]Loading...["Black Orchid (TV story)"].
"The Doctor" is known as an ally of Winston Churchill, reflecting their friendship first seen in TV: Victory of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Victory of the Daleks (TV story)"], and further established in audio stories such as AUDIO: Their Finest Hour ^[+]Loading...["Their Finest Hour (audio story)"] and Baker Street Irregulars ^[+]Loading...["Baker Street Irregulars (audio story)"], with Churchill's files including a description of the Fifth Doctor, as well as several other incarnations.
Adric remembers clearing out Romana's TARDIS bedroom (AUDIO: Psychodrome ^[+]Loading...["Psychodrome (audio story)"]) after she left the TARDIS, choosing to remain in E-Space. (TV: Warriors' Gate ^[+]Loading...["Warriors' Gate (TV story)"])

External links

Official The Merfolk Murders page at bigfinish.com