Goodbye Piccadilly (audio story)
Goodbye Piccadilly was the twenty-second story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range by Big Finish Productions. It was written by James Goss and featured Tom Price as Andy Davidson and Samuel Barnett as Norton Folgate.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Sgt Andy Davidson wakes up in the 1950s. He's chained to a bed, his clothes are missing and the building's on fire. Norton Folgate needs his help.
The streets of Soho are swarming with gangsters, rumours and betrayals. Somewhere out there is a mysterious alien artefact, and Andy and Norton have to get to it first. Because tonight they're going to save Torchwood.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Sgt Andy Davidson wakes up in the 1950s chained to a bed, naked, with Norton Folgate, in a building that is on fire. Norton reveals that he is on the trail of a group of gangsters led by Fat Kim, who are looking for an alien artefact. He is also attempting to clear his name in the process, as Torchwood suspects him of being a double agent. He has used Torchwood technology to bring Andy to the 1950s to act as his assessor.
The pair escape the building to Alejandro's, where Norton has been keeping a painting of an alien in which part of its soul is trapped. The painting has killed everyone who looks directly into the eyes of the alien because they cannot cope with the message it is projecting but as Andy is from the future, the voice of the painting is only transmitted into his head.
Norton and Andy must get the alien message out of Andy's head before it kills him. They find Chegwold, an exceptional linguist, in Margot's bar on Poland Street to try and understand the message but have to hide to avoid Fat Kim, who is looking for Norton because he has been selling alien weapons to her and a trade has gone wrong. They run into the Vicar, who mentions he has sent black squads after Norton with shoot-to-kill orders as an incentive. Norton assures Andy and the Vicar that his weaponry dealing with Fat Kim and perceived treachery is part of a complex sting operation and that he is innocent.
Norton and Andy retrieve a spatial dislocator hidden in a public toilet. They are arrested for gross indecency when the police raid the building. Fat Kim meets them at the jail, threatening Andy with torture if she does not receive the artefacts that she wants, including a key to an alien object in her possession. Norton and Andy escape to Carnaby street using the spatial dislocator.
Andy realises that the alien message trapped in his head is the key that Fat Kim is looking for. They visit Belissa's art school - a brothel - to meet a psychic, Madame Belissa, in hopes of getting rid of the alien message. She sends them to Shiva, an alien psychic working as an exotic dancer in the Peek-a-boo parlour but Shiva cannot get the key out of Andy, nor say what it is for.
They are intercepted by Fat Kim, who threatens to take the key she needs from Andy's head by force. The Vicar orders them all to surrender and fighting breaks out. Fat Kim takes Andy to Leicester Square, where the key in his head activates her mysterious artefact: an alien war machine. Norton explains that during the 1890s, aliens invaded Earth and H.G Wells helped Torchwood cover it up. Fat Kim plans to use the war machine to destroy areas of London to build flats on, amassing more power. Andy offers the key to Fat Kim, which she accepts, and having it in her head kills her. The key is now gone and so the war machine is not responding, eventually crashing and killing the Vicar in doing so.
Andy realises that Norton has set everything up as an elaborate plan to stop the investigation into his betrayal of Torchwood and getting the two people who knew him to be guilty killed. He suspects that Norton only brought him to the 1950s to get the alien key into his head to catalyse his plan. Before Andy can question Norton further, Norton sends him back to the 21st century.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Andy Davidson - Tom Price
- Norton Folgate - Samuel Barnett
- Fat Kim - Lucy Sheen
- The Vicar - Liam Hourican
- Alejandro - Wilf Scolding
- Margot - Rachel Atkins
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Cover Art - Lee Binding
- Director - Scott Handcock
- Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Music - Blair Mowat
- Writer & Producer - James Goss
- Script Editor - David Llewellyn
- Sound Design - Thea Cochrane
- Theme Music - Murray Gold
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Torchwood covered up an alien invasion in the 1890s with the help of H. G. Wells.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The title of the story is a reference to the line "Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square" from the song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".
- This story was originally released on CD and download.
- The details in the story about underground life in Soho are inspired by Gangland Soho by James Morton.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Andy mentions that last time he met Norton he was a ghost whilst Andy was physically in the 2010s. (AUDIO: Ghost Mission)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Goodbye Piccadilly page at bigfinish.com
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