Requiem (audio story)

Heartbroken by Abby’s betrayal, Shawna and Cleo keep up the investigation. Going through Abby’s notes leads them to something called the Requiem Group – an online support group for "those who’ve lost somebody." But who is the mysterious Requiem, and why won’t she turn on her camera?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

From Cleo's flat, Cleo and Shawna listen to a mysterious advert as a woman only calling herself "Requiem" describes the Requiem Group: an support group for people who have lost close ones, with a special discount for anyone who can provide information about the Doctor. Shawna explains that she recovered the advert from Abby's laptop and tries to convince Cleo to join so they can have a lead on the disappearing people. Reluctantly, Cleo accepts. Later, with Shawna in the bath, Cleo answers her phone to Shawna's Nana Thompson, asking if her granddaughter is OK after running off to Glasgow. Cleo reassures her that Shawna is fine, but passes on information about her falling out with Abby. Meanwhile, Shawna listens to the voicemail that Abby gave her on the day that they met, asking to meet up again. She chooses to keep the message.

Cleo phones Abby while walking through London, still angry at her defection to UNIT. Cleo demands to know how she could do this, stating that she must change or they can no longer be friends. After Abby doubts her intentions, Cleo hangs up.

That night, Cleo returns to her flat to see Shawna waiting in a Zoom call to join the Requiem Group meeting. Eventually, they enter alongside twenty others, but quickly notice that Requiem herself has her camera off, which she brushes off by stating that she must remain anonymous. After promising to help heal the group's wounds, she lets various members discuss their stories of loss and forgetting. As a woman called Rachel talks, she is abruptly cut off by static and not heard from again, leading Cleo and Shawna to wonder exactly what to make of all of it.

Inside a UNIT lab, Abby and Osgood work on a project, using Joel's Dimensional Bridging Stabiliser to amplify the noise from a parallel reality that accompanies people's disappearances; on its own, a clear scream can be heard alongside it. Abby presumes that the entity is being hurt, but Osgood insists that technically, there is nothing there, despite it taking on a humanoid shape, just like a ghost. With now thousands of people having disappeared, threatening to eliminate London itself, Osgood decides to recommence the tests, despite Abby's cries.

Requiem next turns to Shawna to share, and she claims that missing Abby is not a "real problem". However, as she opens up about their relationship, she finally admits out loud to being madly in love with Abby despite still being furious at her for choosing UNIT over her friends.

Cleo is then volunteered to discuss Jordan's disappearance, but she tries to instead talk about the previous speaker, Mohammed's, mystery. However, both Requiem and Shawna are confused - there is no Mohammed, even though Cleo can see his camera is still on, just blurry. Shawna begins to seriously worry about her friend's mental state, and Cleo determinedly scribbles down the names of everyone else in the meeting before the same thing happens again. After some convincing, Cleo opens up about her family troubles, with Jordan's disappearance, her father's abandonment, and her mother's rejection of her. Requiem explains that she believes Cleo is outgrowing her mother's narrow-mindedness and has shown much courage and wisdom to get through it.

With their talk done, Cleo decides to move the conversation on to someone else in the group before she realises that nobody else is in the meeting. Furthermore, Requiem and Shawna again insist that it has always been this way, and Cleo's note of the other participants' names has also been destroyed. Finally, she believes that Requiem may be behind all this and could even be the Doctor, citing her anonymity as suspicious. As Requiem tries to explain that Cleo and Shawna are in grave danger and something is coming for them, her voice starts glitching. Adding that the Doctor cannot help them, she adds "I'm coming for you" as the laptop blows up and the girls scream.

Suddenly, Cleo's laptop begins tuning in to random radio stations before settling on the distant voice of the Thirteenth Doctor, searching for Cleo again. However, with her feed breaking, the only message she can pass on is, "Whatever you do, don't touch the ghosts."

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cleo Proctor - Charlie Craggs
Abby McPhail - Lois Chimimba
Shawna Thompson - Holly Quin-Ankrah
The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
Requiem - Doon Mackichan
Petronella Osgood - Ingrid Oliver
Nana Thompson - Clare Perkins
Additional Voices - Karim Kronfli, Siena Kelly, Kieran Hodgson, Natasha Hodgson, Ken Cheng and Ambika Mod

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Written by Àjoké Ibironke and Juno Dawson
Additional Writing by Ella Watts
Produced and Directed by Ella Watts
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Sound Engineer: Paul Clark
Studio Assistant: Jacob Tombling
Sound Design: David Thomas
Additional Sound Design: Arlie Adlington
Original Composition: David Devereux
Production Co-ordinators: Sarah Sharpe and Sarah Nicholls
Script Editor: Tasha Dhanraj
Recorded at Sonica Studios, Clapham

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Requiem Group meeting starts at 7 pm Greenwich Mean Time, while Cleo later jokes upon nearly being late that she runs on "British Cleo Time".
Cleo likens using the word "whom" to the speech of the cast of Bridgerton.
When discussing people listening to others making highly unlikely claims, Shawna points out how Joe Rogan got a Spotify deal.
Other known members of the Requiem Group include Peter, Christina, Ellie, Rachel, Mohammed, and Dave.
Osgood says that first London, then Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong could be wiped out by the disappearances.
Shawna claims that Abby is smart enough to win a Nobel Prize or join the United Nations, adding she is as in love with her as Kristen Stewart in a rom com.
Shawna mentions the podcast has covered Russian bots, QAnon, ATMOS and Saxon-truthers.
With the Thirteenth Doctor's interference, Cleo's laptop briefly tunes into Sounds of the 70s and a French advert.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cleo again uses the phrase "alien foetus in a jar" when describing a generic alien. (AUDIO: SOS, et al.)
Nana Thompson mentions Shawna running off to Glasgow. (AUDIO: Angels)
Shawna jokes that Abby could join the United Nations one day, unaware that they already own UNIT. (TV: The Invasion, et al.)
Though not by name, Vastra refers to her wife, Jenny, who has long died of old age.

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

Official Requiem page on the Doctor Who website