The Fall of the House of Pollard (audio story)

The Fall of the House of Pollard
Main character(s):	Charley Pollard
Main enemy:	The Viyrans
Main setting:	London, November 1936
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Matt Fitton
Director:	Nicholas Briggs
Cover by:	Mark Plastow
Release details
Release number:	1.3
Release date:	8 May 2014
Production code:	BFPCMBOX001
ISBN:	978-1-78178-303-0
Charlotte Pollard
← Previous	The Shadow at the Edge of the World
Next →	The Viyran Solution

The Fall of the House of Pollard is the third audio story in Big Finish Productions' first series of Charlotte Pollard.

Publisher's summary

On the night the R101 airship went down, Louisa Pollard lost a husband as well as a daughter. Lord Richard Pollard has been a reclusive shadow of his former self ever since, unable to face the loss of his dear Charlotte.

With their fortunes in a downward spiral and the country estate up for sale, the Pollards retreat to their London townhouse, cared for by their one remaining servant, Mrs Warren. When psychic medium Michael Dee claims to bring a message from Charlotte, a desperate Louisa overcomes her scepticism in the hopes it will bring closure for Richard.

But as they try to make contact with Charlotte, no one can imagine what is about to cross over into their world from beyond the veil...

Plot

to be added

Cast

• Charlotte Pollard - India Fisher
• Lord Richard Pollard - Terrence Hardiman
• Lady Louisa Pollard/Viyran - Anneke Wills
• Michael Dee - David Dobson
• Violet Warren/Viyran - Charlie Norfolk

References

• The Pollards own an estate in Hampshire. Lady Louisa hopes to sell it as they are running short of money but her husband Lord Richard objects to the idea.
• Charley refers to Guy Fawkes' Night.
• Michael Dee was born on 11 March.
• Charley refers to the Eighth Doctor as "an unbelievable, impossible, marvellous man."
• Richard has been reading the works of Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson. Arthur Conan Doyle and J. M. Barrie as well as The Wizard of Oz.

Notes

• This is the first Charlotte Pollard audio drama to mention the Doctor by name.
• This story was recorded on 11, 18, 19 and 20 November 2013.
• Although apparitions of Lady Louisa Pollard appeared in Zagreus, The Next Life and Memory Lane, this is the character's first real appearance.

Continuity

• Charley refers to jumping through the Ever-and-Ever Prolixity portal in Scotland. (AUDIO: The Shadow at the Edge of the World)
• Charley recalls holidaying in Ostend, Belgium as a child. (AUDIO: The Girl Who Never Was)
• Lady Louisa discovered Edith Thompson's body after she committed suicide in December 1930. (AUDIO: The Chimes of Midnight)
• Margaret and Richard heard tales of Charley dancing with a man named Alex Grayle in Singapore on 31 December 1930. (AUDIO: Seasons of Fear)
• Simon Murchford, whose place Charley had taken aboard the British airship R101 on 4 October 1930, visited the Pollards after Charley's disappearance. (AUDIO: Storm Warning)
• Louisa refers to the fact that Charley's diary was found in the wreckage of the R101. (AUDIO: The Chimes of Midnight)
• Louisa mentions "the business with that dreadful Simpson woman." Shortly afterwards, on 11 December 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne when it became apparent that he would not be able to marry his twice divorced American mistress Wallis Simpson and remain king. (PROSE: Players; AUDIO: Neverland)
• Edith was the only person who knew that Charley intended to stow away aboard the R101 and helped her prepare for the adventure. (AUDIO: The Chimes of Midnight)
• Louisa's brother Jacques Saviltride is helping to support the Pollards. (AUDIO: Memory Lane, The Girl Who Never Was)
• Richard mentions the Graingers. (PROSE: Prologue, Forgotten)
• Michael Dee is able to contact Charley's grandmother Ermentrude Pollard in the afterlife. (AUDIO: Zagreus, The Twilight Kingdom)
• Charley tells her mother Louisa that she has imagined seeing her on numerous occasions. (AUDIO: Zagreus, The Next Life, Memory Lane)
• Charley tells Louisa that the Doctor is dead. (AUDIO: The Girl Who Never Was)
• Richard spent years researching the R101 and can name everyone onboard from Lord Tamworth to "the lowliest cabin boy." Several letters mentioned a rendezvous with a foreign power but he was never able to get to the bottom of it. (AUDIO: Storm Warning)
• Richard tells Charley that her younger sister Cecelia "Sissy" Pollard has become involved with Oswald Mosley and the League of English Fascists, whom he described as "a rum lot." She is living in Munich. (AUDIO: A Blind Eye)
• Richard mentions that Charley's grandmother gave her a copy of Alice in Wonderland for Christmas in 1919. (AUDIO: Zagreus)
• The Viyrans refer to the Lamentation Cipher. (AUDIO: The Lamentation Cipher, The Shadow at the Edge of the World)
• The Viyrans are stationed in several places that Charley visited with the Eighth Doctor, including Karachi (AUDIO: Seasons of Fear), Malebolgia (AUDIO: Minuet in Hell), Endarra (AUDIO: Scaredy Cat), the Cimmeria system (AUDIO: Embrace the Darkness) and Gallifrey. (AUDIO: Neverland)

External links

• Official The Fall of the House of Pollard - Charlotte Pollard Series One Box Set page at bigfinish.com