Curios (audio story)

During World War Two, the Torchwood Archive has been stowed away in a Welsh coal mine along with countless other treasures. Bilis Manger is among them. And there's something hunting him in the dark.

Jill has been sent to catalogue the collection. She's on her own, she's in disgrace and there's something hunting her on the slopes of the mountain.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Senior Producer - David Richardson
Additional Themes - Ben Foster
Cover Art - Tom Webster
Director & Script Editor - Scott Handcock
Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Jason Haigh-Ellery
Music - Blair Mowat
Writer & Producer - James Goss
Sound Design - Peter Doggart
Theme Music - Murray Gold

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Lizbeth Hayhoe sent Jill Anderson on the assignment.
The Torchwood Archive includes paintings by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds of an adventuress named Lady Kitty deWinter, as well as a photograph of her with Queen Victoria. According to Bilis, she bought a house in 1777 that she was still living in in 1920. The Archive also contains Lady Kitty's firedogs (made of skulls of "real firedogs"), an electric chair, a painting of a "screaming Medusa" that has strange visual properties, and something labeled a Darkonian gun. Bilis calls this last a mishearing, presumably of "Draconian."
Bilis Manger is trapped in the Torchwood Archive due to him "accidentally" being part of the collection. The monster that follows Jill in the shadows is Manger's bodyguard.
Bilis uses the role of the genie in the lamp to attempt to strike a deal with Jill, his freedom for her wishes. He references Aladdin.
Bilis refuses to elaborate as to whether he stands for good or evil.
Jill notes that, despite being trapped within the Archive, Bilis does not require food to survive. Furthermore, she notes that he has the ability to manifest his frustration into the entities that went on to kill the workers that had come before her. She reaches the conclusion that Bilis is perhaps more than just human. When she approaches him on this, Bilis brushes her off and mentions that he has sherry and the cake that she brought.
Jill is able to discern that no-one above ground knows about Bilis by keeping his existence to herself. When she eventually brings this up with him, he is impressed with her and admits that he is an "accidental prisoner".
- Bilis explains that his accidental imprisonment was due to his attraction to the Torchwood artefacts in the Archive. Upon his arrival, it became clear to him that the high concentration of radium surrounding the mine was leaving him unable to use his powers to leave. His frustration at his circumstance caused the creatures, which had attacked and killed the workers that had come before Jill Anderson.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story was recorded remotely on 7 April 2021 by Mayfield Records and Will Wadham.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Bilis Manger tells Jill Anderson that his games with Torchwood extend through history and are like a game of cat and mouse. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness, AUDIO: A Kill to a View et al)
Jill has been sent to catalogue the Archive by Lizbeth Hayhoe, who runs Room 13 for Torchwood: Soho. (AUDIO: Parasite et al)
Despite Jill Anderson being unable to discern whether Bilis Manger is a force of good or evil, it was clear to her that he at least worked for himself. He previously worked against his opposite Cafard Manger, both of whom served equal and opposite Gods who wielded dangerous powers. (PROSE: The Twilight Streets) His later opening of the Rift in the early 2000s caused his master Abaddon to escape his prison and roam Cardiff, causing the deaths of numerous citizens, as part of his "work". (TV: End of Days) However, when Bilis remained trapped within a carnivorous hotel, he fed Jack Harkness enough clues to help Jack work out how to defeat the evil within. (COMIC: Broken) His continued grievance with the Committee could also be debated as Bilis on the side of good, or perhaps simply Bilis working against those who oppose him, and thus being on his own side. (AUDIO: Deadbeat Escape, Dead Man's Switch, A Kill to a View)
Other Torchwood storage facilities hidden in the Welsh countryside, included one hidden on the Wrexham bypass, near Llangollen. It was hidden within a slag heap, accessible by a biometrically-coded portal disguised as a rock shaped like a heart. This was nicknamed Torchwood Wrexham by Gwen Cooper. (AUDIO: Forgotten Lives)

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

Official Curios page at bigfinish.com