Dead Plates (audio story)
Dead Plates was the sixty-second story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range by Big Finish Productions. It was written by David Llewellyn.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Bilis Manger has been murdered. And he's determined to find out who did it. Four people at dinner are the suspects, and they've each got murky secrets and at least one skeleton in the closet. What is really on the menu at one of Soho's finest restaurants? And will any of the suspects make it out alive?
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
In a Soho restaurant called the Cheery Cossack, three friends are celebrating: muckraker Gerald Spencer, young actress Felicity 'Flick' Templeton and celebrated painter Oliver Barleycorn. Bilis Manger asks if he may join them and, though none of them know him, they're happy enough for the stranger's company in toasting Flick's recent professional success. The restaurant owner, Beryl Finch, pours him a drink.
Shortly afterward, Bilis stars choking and dies -- at which point a second Bilis walks into the restaurant, calm as can be. Accusing Beryl of poisoning his drink, he recounts to the group the first time he and her met, the week previous:
One stormy night, Bilis turns up at the Cheery Cossack. He tells Beryl that he knows of how she secretly killed her husband, when she filled his room with gas. With his sense of smell ruined by his time in the war, he'd unsuspectingly lit a pipe, causing an explosion in which he was burned alive.
When Beryl recognized Bilis, she put arsenic in his drink to ensure he'd never be able to reveal her crime. Bilis is not done with stories, though, as he goes on to explain that he and Gerald also know each other from before:
Gerald is the lone occupant of the Pig and Whistle, staying late to finish an article before deadline, when Bilis walks in. The newcomer explains that he knows how the politician William Sinclair's recent suicide was actually provoked by Gerald blackmailing him about his homosexuality. In desperation, Gerald batters Bilis to death with his typewriter.
Bilis next moves onto Flick:
Two nights previous, after her first performance as Joan of Arc, Bilis shows up in Flick's dressing room. He tells her he knows how the previous actress in the role -- to whom Flick was understudy -- fell down stairs because of a trap Flick set using a line of twine. Her supposed accident is what allowed Flick into the part. Furthermore, he explains that she can resolve the loose end of his knowledge by simply smothering him with the nearby cushion. Unable to stop herself, Flick does so, then somehow forgets the events afterward.
Finally, Bilis asks Ollie to relate their shared history with the others:
Two weeks previous, Bilis showed up at Ollie's studio. He explains to the artist that he knows his secret: When Ollie had discovered his lover has passed away, instead of immediately reporting to the authorities, he simply left to fly to his upcoming show, as he couldn't dare miss it. Bilis originally wanted to provoke Ollie into killing him to silence him, but he now realizes that won't happen, as the artist is genuinely guilt-racked over the choice he made. Instead, he asks Ollie to simply pretend not to recognize Bilis when he and his friends encounter him in two weeks' time.
Bilis explains that he's being hunted by the Vondrax, and his multiple corpses are a way of throwing them off his trail. While he's one short of his planned four deaths, he's sure the group will make up the deficit by night's end. He shares some more stories:
New Year's Eve, 1976: At the Cheery Cossack, Beryl and Gerald notice William Sinclair being intimate with another man. Beryl comes up with the idea for the two of them to blackmail him.
A more recent day at the Cossack, Flick complains that the actress she is understudy for is coasting in her acting. Beryl floats the idea of secretly killing the woman.
SIx months after Ollie's lover's death, Ollie drowns his sorrow and guilt at the Cossack. Beryl drugs his drink, knocking him out. She and Gerald hire an 18-year-old to lie naked next to him and take photos of the scene for blackmail purposes.
Ollie is angered to learn of his friends' involvement in his extortion. As he and a similarly indignant Flick have too much moral character for Bilis' current purposes, they're allowed to leave, though the other two find themselves literally stuck to their seats. The departing pair go to the Pig and Whistle for more drinks. Upon remembering it's the very same place Gerald committed his murder, they decide to track down that earlier Bilis' corpse, which they trace to a nearby alley.
Meanwhile, after being given back freedom of movement, Beryl and Gerald murder Bilis with steak knives. However, as the building's doors are somehow now locked, they still cannot leave. Beryl informs Gerald she plans to blackmail him over what she's learned about him. In response, he kills her. Yet another Bilis, very much alive, appears then; he grants the reporter permission to leave and informs him of Flick and Ollie's current location.
Gerald heads to the Pig and Whistle to kill his two former friends, who he views as loose ends. However, the pair had contacted the authorities about their discovered Bilis corpse. Showing up in a murderous mood, with a bloody knife in hand, Gerald is arrested at the establishment's doorstep.
A year later, Ollie and Flick are reminiscing about the eventful night. They decide to dine at the newly renovated Cheery Cossack, which they heard was completely renovated by new ownership. Upon arrival, they're greeted by Bilis Manger, a French waiter...
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Bilis Manger - Murray Melvin
- Felicity Templeton - Rosa Escoda
- Policeman - Jack Forsyth-Noble
- Tom - Dylan Jones
- Oliver Barleycorn - Hugh Ross
- Beryl Finch - Cleo Sylvestre
- Gerald Spencer - Tony Turner
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Music - Blair Mowat
- Senior Producer - David Richardson
- Assistant Producer - Alfie Shaw
- Cover Art - Sean Longmore
- Director - Lisa Bowerman
- Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Producer & Script Editor - James Goss
- Sound Design - Toby Hrycek-Robinson
- Writer - David Llewellyn
- Theme Music - Murray Gold
- Additional themes - Ben Foster
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Bilis is covering his tracks from the Vondrax.
- Bilis refers to humans as "lower life forms."
- Ollie once appeared on The South Bank Show, in which he spoke with host Melvyn Bragg at The Ivy. He pretended to be drunk.
- The Merry Cossack was named after the real world Hungarian restaurant The Gay Hussar. (BFX: Dead Plates [+]Loading...["Dead Plates (audio story)"])
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Dead Plates was recorded on 31 January 2022 at the Soundhouse.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official Dead Plates page at bigfinish.com
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