A Message From Sir Andrew (home video)
A Message From Sir Andrew was a P.R.O.B.E. video short by BBV Productions, originally exclusive to the P.R.O.B.E. Case Files - Volume 2 DVD release but later made available on the BBV website as a standalone download. It was the first Case File not to have Bill Baggs as Giles as its primary cast member, instead featuring the live-action debut of Sir Andrew, played by Simon Fisher-Becker.
Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Andrew Williams video-calls Giles to scold him for using the P.R.O.B.E. Video Case Files frivolously and wasting his time.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
A very tetchy Sir Andrew Williams sends Giles a video message, explaining that he has just finished watching through Giles's "first set of video recordings on the P.R.O.B.E. log", on the Preternatural Research Bureau Online Database, is "not impressed" by their lack of concision, taking a particularly dim view of the time Giles used one of the slots for a "DVD unboxing video". After exhorting Giles to abide by "standards, man!", underlining that it is not a simple internal matter as the videos might be accessed by others at the Ministry of Defence up to and including the minister, and prove crucial for P.R.O.B.E. to secure funding in the future. Having fished his spiel, he sighs deeply, and, after taking off his glasses, grows quieter as he asks Giles to continue taking good care of Tasha, before ending the recording.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
Mentioned only[[edit] | [edit source]]
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Sir Andrew Williams reads out an item of policy which states that "the Preternatural Research Bureau Online Database is meant for concise documentation of the disarmament and cataloguing of outworldly encounters".
- One page of the database is dedicated to "mystic daggers" and includes icons for Varunastra as well as a bloodied dagger used on Perihelion, a silvery dagger glowing green and labelled Majus-XVII, and a dirty blade glowing with an eerie red light, labelled Azmodae.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The static "interface" screen in which the video is embedded features the message "Giles online", suggesting that the viewer is placed in Giles's shoes and the webcast technically "depicts" Giles himself watching the video message.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Sir Andrew Williams notes that the file on the Shadow People, i.e. WC: Shadow People [+]Loading...["Shadow People (webcast)"], did fall within what he was looking for, much unlike the "DVD unboxing video", i.e. WC: Doctor X [+]Loading...["Doctor X (webcast)"]. Although the DVD turned out to have a curse on it, Giles did begin filming in that short with the explicit belief that he was using his work camera for a personal video in a manner which he technically shouldn't.
- Images of past threats and topics covered by past case files include:
- Box, first seen in HOMEVID: When to Die [+]Loading...["When to Die (home video)"];
- The EMF meter seen in WC: Peckham Poltergeist [+]Loading...["Peckham Poltergeist (webcast)"] and HOMEVID: Fog [+]Loading...["Fog (home video)"];
- A laptop depicting the Facebook page from WC: Peckham Poltergeist [+]Loading...["Peckham Poltergeist (webcast)"];
- Maxie Masters's scanner as seen in WC: Varunastra [+]Loading...["Varunastra (webcast)"];
- the Time Projector from WC: Shadow People [+]Loading...["Shadow People (webcast)"];
- the Ecto-Space device from HOMEVID: Goo! [+]Loading...["Goo! (home video)"];
- Giles's work phone showing an incoming call from Maxie, also as seen in HOMEVID: Goo! [+]Loading...["Goo! (home video)"];
- the Sherwood Sorceress from WC: Sherwood Sorceress [+]Loading...["Sherwood Sorceress (home video)"];
- the Shadow People from WC: Shadow People [+]Loading...["Shadow People (webcast)"];
- the pink slime from HOMEVID: Goo! [+]Loading...["Goo! (home video)"];
- the Peckham Poltergeist from WC: Peckham Poltergeist [+]Loading...["Peckham Poltergeist (webcast)"];
- the head of the Cyberon from PROSE: The Blue Scream of Death [+]Loading...["The Blue Scream of Death (short story)"], already seen on the Dr Smith shelf in WC: Varunastra [+]Loading...["Varunastra (webcast)"] and WC: P.R.O.B.E. CASE FILES - TRAILER [+]Loading...["P.R.O.B.E. CASE FILES - TRAILER (webcast)"];
- Varunastra as seen in WC: Varunastra [+]Loading...["Varunastra (webcast)"];
- a bloodied knife labelled Perihelion, referencing PROSE: Preternatural Nights [+]Loading...["Preternatural Nights (short story)"];
- an image of Liz as seen in HOMEVID: Goo! [+]Loading...["Goo! (home video)"].
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official A Message From Sir Andrew page at bbvproductions.co.uk
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